How Knowledge Accumulates
Knowledge points flow in automatically, day by day, from staffed buildings:
- Town Hall — +1 knowledge per day (slow but available from the start)
- School — +8 knowledge per day (much faster, but the school itself requires research to unlock)
You can check your current knowledge balance and daily rate in the Research panel, opened with F7.
Tip: The school requires 120 knowledge to unlock — your first major research investment. Prioritise it. Once running, it pays for itself many times over by accelerating everything else.
Buying Research
In the Research panel, each card shows what a research entry unlocks, what it costs, and whether you have the prerequisites. Knowledge is spent and the building becomes available immediately — there's no build time or delay.
Buildings without any research entry are available from the very start of the game. Locked buildings appear greyed out in the build menu until their research is purchased.
The Research Tree
Research is organised around chains of prerequisites. A few major branches to know about:
Stone and mining
| Unlocks | Cost | Requires |
|---|
| Stone Mason | 40 | — |
| Quarry | 60 | Stone Mason |
| Brickworks | 70 | Stone Mason |
| Potter | 60 | Brickworks |
| Mine | 80 | Quarry |
| Smelter | 90 | Mine |
| Blacksmith | 100 | Smelter |
Education and medicine
| Unlocks | Cost | Requires |
|---|
| School | 120 | — |
| Herbalist | 80 | — |
| Healer | 150 | Herbalism + Education |
Drinks and food processing
| Unlocks | Cost | Requires |
|---|
| Brewery | 90 | — |
| Tavern | 110 | Brewery |
| Smokehouse | 60 | — |
| Coffeehouse | 80 | — |
| Vineyard | 80 | — |
| Winery | 110 | Vineyard + Brewery |
| Charcoal Kiln | 70 | — |
Farming
| Unlocks | Cost | Requires | Effect |
|---|
| Flower Garden | 50 | Potter | Unlocks flower gardens and the flower crop. Flowers are processed into flower vases at the potter. |
| Three-Field System | 100 | — | Adds a third slot to the farm's auto-rotation (grain → legume → fallow). Helps soils recover without manual fallow years. |
Social and faith
| Unlocks | Cost | Requires |
|---|
| Chapel | 100 | — |
| Candle Maker | 70 | Chapel |
| Cemetery | 60 | — |
Trade and growth
| Unlocks | Cost | Requires |
|---|
| Market | 70 | — |
| Trading Post | 120 | Market |
Better housing
| Unlocks | Cost | Requires |
|---|
| Stone House | 80 | Stone Mason |
| Brick House | 140 | Stone House |
Always Available (No Research Needed)
Not everything requires research. Several important buildings are available from the very start: the Woodcutter's Lodge, Forester's Lodge, Tailor, Tannery, Weaver, and basic housing. You can start clothing production and fuel gathering on day one without spending any knowledge.
Tips for New Players
- Build a Town Hall first. It's the only source of knowledge until you unlock a school. Don't leave it unstaffed.
- Unlock school early. At 120 knowledge it's a significant early cost, but at +8/day it multiplies all future research speed dramatically.
- Plan a few steps ahead. Some useful buildings sit at the end of prerequisite chains — the Healer needs both herbalism and education, the blacksmith needs mine and smelter first. Know what you're building toward.
- Cemetery is cheap and important. At 60 knowledge, the cemetery is one of the best early investments for a healthy, happy settlement. It dramatically reduces grief penalties when villagers die.