Banished is a strategy and urban building game where you will have to create a thriving community from a handful of people, survive harsh winters and deadly famines, and maintain a delicate balance in which your inhabitants remain alive, well fed and happy. Getting started is simple, but initial attempts to create a perfect community will likely fail for strategy game beginners. While Banished is a difficult game to master, surviving isn't impossible.
Steps
Part 1 of 3: Start Playing
Step 1. Start a new game
At this stage, the game is pretty straightforward. To create a new game and start your adventure, you will first have to decide the name of the city, create a random map by clicking on the card icon on the right side of the bar and then select the rest of the options according to your level of play.
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Type of terrain.
Choose between two types of terrain, Valleys and Mountains.
- The valleys are suitable for beginners, because they offer more flat terrain and forests, which respectively allow you to have building zones and resources.
- The mountains have a lot of steep terrain which makes building construction difficult. Also, getting to the other side of a mountain requires tunnels that cost a lot of resources.
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Land size.
Choose the size of the map, between Small, Medium and Large. You can choose whichever you prefer, but most players prefer Medium.
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Climate.
Climate determines the level of climate change in the game. Mild provides short winters; Stiff foresees longer and earlier winters; Medium is the intermediate setting. A harsh climate can lead to famine because cultivation becomes impossible. Medium is a good choice for first-time players.
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Disasters. This option triggers the possibility of natural disasters affecting your village, such as tornadoes crossing the city and fires spreading between buildings.
- When food is scarce, your inhabitants will go hungry and may die.
- When you don't have enough firewood or charcoal to heat homes, you risk freezing.
- If you have cultivated fields, pastures and orchards, there is a possibility of infestation. During this event it is possible that neighboring fields where you grow the same plant or raise the same animals are also infected.
- Dwellers with poor health are at a higher risk of disease, and the presence of Traders and Nomads also exposes your dwellers to disease.
- This option should be enabled to complete the challenges.
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Conditions of departure. This option determines the conditions and resources available at the start of the game.
- With "Easy" you will start with 6 families and a large amount of clothes, food, firewood, building materials and tools. Houses and warehouses will already be built, and you will have seeds for fields and orchards, as well as animals to raise.
- With "Medium" you will start with 5 families, clothes, food, firewood, tools and building materials. You will already find a Warehouse built, and you will have seeds for fields and orchards.
- With "Difficult" you will start with 4 families and a small amount of clothing, food, firewood and tools. You will not have seeds available to plant fields.
- For new players, the best option is Medium, to have an enjoyable gaming experience and understand the importance of resources and food.
Survive in Banished Step 2 Step 2. Focus on resources
At the start of the game, especially in Medium or Hard mode, pay attention to resources. A shortage of food will cause your inhabitants to starve, dwindling your population and complicating matters. Having fewer workers available means a slowdown in the collection of food and the construction of houses. To avoid this situation, create a food source such as the Fishermen's Wharf, the Gatherers' Cabin, the Hunting House, a Farm Field, an Orchard and a Pasture.
- Wood. Obtained from the cutting of trees, the wood is used for buildings, tools and as firewood. Guest Houses help to care for forest trees and allow you to cut down adult ones.
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Stone.
One of the most important building materials, it is produced by collecting the stone piles on the map or by building a Quarry.
- Iron. Used for building and crafting tools, you can find it around the map and you can pick it up, or you can build a Mine to receive a steady supply.
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Firewood.
Used to heat homes during the winter months, you can produce it by cutting wood with a wood ax.
- Coal. You can get it by mining or trading, and a Blacksmith can make steel tools with this resource. You can also use it as an alternative heating source to firewood.
- Leather. Obtained from Hunting Houses or by slaughtering animals in Farms, you can use it to make clothes that help your inhabitants work and stay outdoors longer during the winter.
- Wool. Obtained from sheep farming, you can use it to make clothes.
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Food.
It is produced by Gatherers, Fishermen, Hunters, Cultivated Fields, Pastures and Orchards.
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Herbs.
Collected by an herbalist, they are the source of medications for your inhabitants to stay healthy when their diet is poor.
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Tools.
Built by a Blacksmith, they are required by all workers to perform their tasks faster.
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Clothes.
Created by a tailor, they are particularly important for keeping the inhabitants warm during the winter.
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Alcohol.
Made by a Tavern: Drinking a beer can make your citizens happier.
Survive in Banished Step 3 Step 3. Check your population
At the age of 10, citizens can start working. As in real life, the inhabitants age and die from disease, disaster, accident or old age. To keep your city prosperous, it is constantly increasing its population - remember, however, that a sudden population boom can lead to famine.
- To make your city grow you will need to build houses for your citizens, where they can move and start families.
- Citizens become adults at the age of 10 and can start a family.
Part 2 of 3: Survive
Survive in Banished Step 4 Step 1. Prepare for winter
Now that you know the function of resources, start playing and plan your survival. Surviving the winters and preventing your inhabitants from starving will be the biggest challenge. During the cold months when you can't grow, gathering food is a good alternative, but remember to build the Gatherer Shack in a forest where edible plants grow.
- The Gatherer Shack can be found in the Food Production tab, and it requires 30 wood and 12 stone to build. The maximum number of citizens who can work as Gatherers is 4, and it is better to use all of them, because Gatherers will find food even when the weather is harsh.
- If you're playing Hard Mode, Gatherers are the best food source in all seasons, so build as many Huts as possible and make sure you space them well. To maximize productivity, don't let circles of influence overlap. Don't forget to build a Warehouse near the Huts where the Gatherers can store food.
- By clicking on the Collector's Hut you will be able to see details. You will be able to see the value of the food limit: once this limit is reached, no more food will be produced. Keep this value as high as possible, in relation to how much your Warehouse can hold.
- Gatherers produce food such as berries, mushrooms, onions, and roots.
- If you are playing in a Mild or Medium climate, you can build a Fishermen's Wharf or Farm to exploit fish and crops as alternative food sources.
- You can build a Hunting House to hunt deer and receive meat and leather. However, cutting down trees will decrease the wildlife population, so make sure the loggers plant new saplings. Since wild animals avoid civilized areas, build Hunting Houses away from cities.
- Pastures are also recommended, but you will only be able to find animals such as chickens, sheep and cows from trades unless you are playing in easy or normal mode.
Survive in Banished Step 5 Step 2. Collect wood and firewood
A Log cabin defines an area where the woodcutters plant and later cut down the adult trees to obtain wood. You should build it right next to the Gatherer's Cabin, as the Woodcutters guarantee the growth of the forest. This means more food to collect.
- In areas with few trees not maintained by loggers, the trees will grow naturally. This process, however, is slower than that guaranteed by the loggers.
- To build a Woodcutter's Cabin, you need 32 wood and 12 stone. The maximum number of woodcutters per hut is 4. By clicking on the building you can see some details.
- By clicking on the "Cut" button you can enable or disable the cutting of adult trees. When the trees are cut down, the Woodcutters will put the wood in the nearest pile.
- By clicking on the "Plant" button you can enable or disable the sowing of saplings. In the details you will also find the wood limit which, once reached, will stop production.
- To survive the winter, your inhabitants will need firewood to avoid freezing. To create firewood you need wood and a sawmill.
- The Sawmill is located under Resource Production, and requires 24 wood and 8 stone, and can accommodate a maximum of 1 worker. When producing firewood, the Sawmills will deposit it on the nearest pile.
Survive in Banished Step 6 Step 3. Build a Market and a Trading Post
If you accumulate resources constantly, be sure to construct these buildings.
- The Market is used as a place of accumulation of all goods produced by the city. Vendors will visit the stacks and the Warehouse to gather all the resources for the Market.
- Build the Market in the center of the city or in the center of the residential area.
- Villagers living near the Market will be able to obtain resources directly from there instead of going to the stacks or the Warehouse.
- Since all the resources are located in the Market, the inhabitants will be able to enjoy a great variety of food and resources to stay happy and healthy.
- You can use a Trading Post to purchase the items the city needs. Here you can trade resources for animals, planting seeds, orchard seeds, meat, wool and more.
- Since Merchants arrive by boat, Trading Stations must be built on the banks of a lake. Note that in lakes that do not have access to the main river that flows through the area, no Merchants will ever arrive.
- Merchants normally bring random goods to the Trading Post, but if you want them to carry a specific good, you can request it in the "Orders" tab.
- Make sure you have enough resources in the Station to purchase the good you want.
Survive in Banished Step 7 Step 4. Build roads and bridges
The roads facilitate travel and promote productivity. Bridges over rivers, streams and lakes allow you to reach the neighboring flat areas. The easier it is to access the other side of the water, the more resources can be transported.
Part 3 of 3: Accepting New Citizens
Survive in Banished Step 8 Step 1. Build a Town Hall
Build the Town Hall as soon as you can, as this allows you to record more information about population, education, health, work, happiness, clothing, resource limits, workplaces, seeds acquired, farm animals, etc.
- If you need more people in the city, the City Hall allows you to invite or deny citizenship to Nomads who want to settle in your city.
- Remember that accepting Nomads will increase the danger of disease. To avoid this possibility, build a hospital.
Survive in Banished Step 9 Step 2. Build a Sheltering Home
If you want to invite Nomads, be sure to build temporary homes for these homeless citizens until you have real homes available. Particularly after a disaster, Care Homes can prevent people from freezing to death while waiting for their homes to be built or repaired.
The Reception Houses require 100 wood and 45 stone, and by clicking on the "Reception Houses" button you will be able to see all the occupants and the inventory
Advice
- As you will soon understand, Gatherers are the best food source, as they can generate up to 3000 food per season. In all kinds of climates, they will continue to harvest food to help you foster the diet and happiness of your citizens.
- Plants and herbs only grow under adult trees, which is why it is advisable to place Herbalists, Gatherers and Hunters near the Woodcutters.
- If your food production is good, the Lumberjacks, Sawmills and Blacksmiths will help you survive regardless of the difficulty level.
- Farms produce only 1000 food per person with 4 workers, an amount not comparable to that produced by the Gatherers.
- Don't build a building if you don't have enough materials.
