Wild Animals
Three types of wild animals roam your map from the start of the game. They wander through the forests, flee from your villagers when approached, and gradually drift away from the busiest parts of your settlement over time.
| Animal | Behaviour | Harvest yield |
|---|---|---|
| Deer | Large herd, roams widely | 4 venison + 1 hide |
| Boar | Smaller groups, stays closer to one area | 5 boar meat + 1 hide |
| Rabbit | Plentiful but flighty, fast to flee | 1 game meat |
Wild animals replenish naturally each Spring. Overhunting is possible — if you push populations below sustainable levels, hunters will start coming back empty-handed.
Hunting with the Hunter's Lodge
Build a Hunter's Lodge and assign workers to it. Hunters automatically search for animals within their lodge's range and kill one per production cycle when they find one. The yield drops at the animal's location and is collected by passing villagers.
If no animals are within range, hunters produce nothing that cycle — there's no fallback yield. When game is scarce in the area, consider:
- Unlocking the Animal Tracking upgrade to extend your hunters' search radius
- Building an additional lodge in a less-settled part of the map
- Letting the forest rest for a season or two
Natural Recovery
Every Spring, each animal type adds a set number of new animals to the map, up to a population cap. This recovery is automatic — you don't need to do anything to trigger it. As long as you don't hunt populations down to near zero, the wildlife will sustain itself indefinitely.
Hides
Both deer and boar drop hides when killed. Hides are an input for the tannery, which processes them into leather — a step in the clothing production chain. This makes wild hunting valuable beyond just meat, especially early in the game before you have enough cattle for domestic hides.
See the Production guide for the full clothing chain.
Tips for New Players
- Don't rely on hunting alone for food. Wild populations are limited and can be depleted. Use hunting to supplement farming, not replace it.
- Build lodges near forest edges. Animals drift away from settled areas over time. Hunters near the wilder parts of your map will find more game.
- Collect hides early. Even if you don't have a tannery yet, hides stack up in the barn and will be ready when you research leatherworking.
- Watch for thinning herds. If your hunters are consistently coming back empty, let the area rest for a year or two. The herds will recover.