Rebuilding civilization in a desolate, post-plague medieval world is the daunting challenge presented by colony-building strategy game Going Medieval. Developed by Foxy Voxel, this game draws inspiration from titles like RimWorld, tasking players with carving out a sustainable settlement from the wilderness with a small band of survivors. For newcomers, the depth of systems governing construction, research, combat, and survival can be overwhelming. This guide provides the foundational strategies needed to establish a stable colony, withstand early threats, and build towards a prosperous future.
Establishing Your Colony’s Foundation
The initial decisions made before your settlers even arrive on the map are critical to your early survival and long-term viability. Going Medieval offers several starting scenarios that set the tone for your entire campaign.
Selecting Your Starting Scenario
The game presents four distinct scenarios, each with varying difficulty levels and conditions. ‘A New Life’ is the recommended beginner option, starting with three settlers in the forgiving season of Spring, allowing a gentle introduction to core mechanics. ‘Peaceful’ mode removes enemy raids entirely, perfect for players who wish to focus purely on construction and management without combat pressure. For a more intense challenge, ‘Lone Wolf’ begins with a single settler in the harsh conditions of Winter, requiring expert resource management from the first moment. ‘Pioneer’ also starts with three settlers but in Autumn and promises unpredictable, frequent enemy attacks, testing defensive capabilities early.
Choosing Your Map and Biome
Biome selection directly impacts resource availability, climate challenges, and defensive opportunities. The Valley offers plentiful vegetation, fertile soil, and clay, with mild winters but fierce summers, making it an excellent choice for agricultural focus. The Hillside provides uneven terrain advantageous for defense, with fair amounts of limestone and clay. The Mountain biome is rich in mineral resources like limestone, gold, iron, and silver but offers little fertile soil and vegetation, coupled with harsh winters, prioritizing mining and trade. Finally, the Marsh is a riverine landscape teeming with fish and plant life but scarce in land animals and mineable resources, emphasizing a different survival approach.
Assembling Your Starting Followers
You begin with three followers, and their skills and traits are paramount. It is advisable to reroll or manually select until you secure a group covering three essential early-game pillars: a Builder with high Construction or Mining skill to erect your settlement; a Farmer/Cook with high Farming and Cooking skills to establish food security; and a Fighter with decent Melee or Ranged skill to defend against early raids and hunt. Traits significantly influence efficiency and stability. Positive traits like Hard Worker, Industrious, or Iron Gut provide substantial boosts, while negative traits such as Glutton or Pyromaniac can create severe, ongoing problems for your colony.
Critical First Steps for New Settlements
The opening hours of a new colony follow a predictable rhythm, but efficiency in completing early goals directly translates to stability. Progress, however, attracts attention, and as your colony grows, the frequency and strength of raids will increase. Focusing initially on foundational survival is key.
Step 1: Immediate Resource Gathering and Stockpiling
Your first action should be to create a designated stockpile zone and command your settlers to gather all loose resources scattered around the starting area. Prioritize wood, stone, and berries, but do not leave any useful material behind. Uncollected resources will decay and be lost, wasting valuable early-game assets.
Step 2: Constructing Basic Shelter Before Nightfall
Settlers sleeping outdoors face risks from animal attacks and exposure, leading to mood penalties that reduce productivity. A simple, rectangular wooden structure with walls, a roof, a door, and a few beds is sufficient for the first night. Avoid overengineering; functional, rapid construction is the priority.
Step 3: Establishing a Sustainable Food Source
Food is the most pressing resource. Initially, rely on foraging for berries and hunting wild game with settlers equipped with bows. As soon as materials are available, build a campfire or clay oven for cooking. Raw food provides minimal nutrition and no mood benefits; cooked meals are essential. Concurrently, plan for farm plots to transition from scavenging to production.
Step 4: Prioritizing Research from Day One
Construct a research bench early and assign your most skilled researcher to it. The early research tree unlocks technologies critical for survival, including improved farming tools, advanced food production methods, durable building materials, and essential defensive structures. A fundamental tip is to never leave the research queue empty; always have the next project ready to maintain technological progression.
Step 5: Preparing for the Inevitable First Raid
Combat is a core mechanic, and raids often occur within the first in-game season on standard difficulty or higher. Preparation is non-optional. Aim to have at least one viable weapon per settler, establish a defensible position such as a wall with a choke point, and stockpile sufficient food and medicine to endure a prolonged engagement.
Managing Food and Agriculture for Long-Term Stability
Ensuring a consistent, high-quality food supply is an ongoing management challenge that underpins every other aspect of colony development. This involves farming, hunting, cooking, storage, and spoilage management.
Early Food Sources and Transition
In the earliest days, utilize all available food sources: forage for berries and wild plants scattered across the map, and hunt animals for meat using settlers with ranged skills. This scavenging phase is temporary and should be quickly supplanted by established production.
Setting Up an Efficient Farm
After unlocking basic farming technology, designate a growing zone on level ground with rich soil to maximize yields. Select crops appropriate to your biome and the current season, noting that most crops only grow during warmer months. Planting in early spring is ideal. Staple crops include Wheat for bread production and its long shelf life, Turnips for cooler conditions, and Herbs for medicinal purposes, though these are a lower initial priority.
Cooking, Quality, and Mood Management
Raw food should be avoided whenever possible. Cooked meals provide significantly more nutrition per unit and grant positive mood bonuses, which are vital for settler productivity and colony morale. As you research advanced recipes, food quality and nutritional value increase. Establish a dedicated kitchen area with a stove, a workbench, and adjacent storage to optimize your cook’s efficiency.
Advanced Food Storage and Spoilage Control
Food spoilage is a constant threat. Construct an underground or partially buried larder to create a cooler environment that dramatically slows decay. During winter, cold outdoor temperatures can act as natural refrigeration, but this exposes food to wild animals and raiders. A key management strategy is to prioritize consuming fresh, perishable food before it spoils, while preserving longer-lasting staples like grains.
The journey from a vulnerable band of survivors to a formidable medieval stronghold is a complex but rewarding process. Mastery begins with these foundational steps: a deliberate start, efficient early actions, and a relentless focus on food security and research. By methodically addressing each pillar of survival—shelter, sustenance, defense, and knowledge—you transform your fledgling colony into a resilient community capable of thriving in the harsh world of Going Medieval. The true test lies not just in surviving the first winter, but in building a legacy that endures.
