Town to City Beginner Guide — First Colony Setup & Early Game Walkthrough

Starting your first colony in Town to City can feel overwhelming with dozens of building options, resource chains, and settler needs competing for your attention. This guide distills the first 30 in-game days into a clear, repeatable build order that guarantees a stable foundation. Follow these steps, and your colony will survive the critical early phase with surplus food, a growing population, and walls ready before the first raid.

Day 1 — First Buildings and Settler Assignment

You start with 5 settlers, a cart of basic supplies (200 timber, 50 food), and a procedurally generated map tile. Pause the game immediately and survey the area. Look for dense forest (dark green on the terrain overlay), rocky outcroppings for stone, and fertile soil (dark brown tiles with grass). Water proximity is valuable but not essential — you can dig wells anywhere, but a natural river gives free fishing and water access.

Assign 2 settlers to build a Lumber Camp within 6 tiles of the densest tree cluster. Assign 1 settler to clear trees in the camp's radius — this speeds initial construction. The remaining 2 settlers should begin scouting the immediate vicinity for iron deposits and berry bushes.

Your second action should be plotting 3 Farm Plots on fertile soil. Even before planting, having the plots marked lets your farmers begin soil preparation, which takes 2 days. Plant wheat (faster growth, lower nutrition) for the first harvest; switch to vegetables (slower, higher nutrition) once you have a food buffer.

First 10 Buildings — Priority Order

Building order is not subjective — it is determined by resource dependencies and settler survival timelines. The table below represents the mathematically optimal order for the standard difficulty setting.

Food Supply Management

Food is the silent colony killer. Every settler consumes 1 food unit per day. A population of 10 burns through 10 food daily. A single farm plot produces roughly 8-12 food per harvest cycle (6 days for wheat). This means 3 farm plots feed about 5-6 settlers sustainably at the start. Build additional food sources before accepting new migrants.

Diversify food sources as early as possible. A Fishing Hut on a riverbank adds 4-6 food per day with zero soil requirement. Berry Bushes found during scouting can be harvested manually for emergency rations. A Hunting Lodge on animal trails provides both food and hides, solving two resource chains with one building. Once you reach 20 settlers, invest in a Bakery (requires wheat, transforms 1 wheat into 2 bread — effectively doubling food output).

Food storage matters. Food left in farm plots decays at a rate of 5% per day after harvest. A Storehouse reduces decay to 1%. Upgrade to a Granary (specialized food storage) to reduce decay to 0.5% and unlock the “Preserve” action, which converts perishable food into long-lasting rations for winter or siege stockpiles.

Early Resource Priority Order

Not all resources deserve equal attention in the first 30 days. Over-investing in late-game resources like gold or brick while your settlers are starving is the most common beginner mistake. Follow this priority hierarchy.

Settler Assignment and Migration

You control settler assignment through the population management panel. Each building has a worker slot count. A Lumber Camp needs 2 workers to operate at full efficiency; assigning 1 worker runs it at 40% output, and 0 workers produces nothing. Idle settlers consume food without contributing — always keep idle count at zero.

Migration is triggered by three factors: available housing (empty beds), colony happiness (tavern, food variety, low sickness), and economic opportunity (open jobs). Migrants arrive in groups of 2-4 every 5-7 days once conditions are met. Do not accept migrants if your food stockpile is below a 3-day buffer. You can reject migrants from the arrival notification with no penalty.

Specialist settlers come from caravans and specific buildings. A Smithy attracts blacksmiths; a Tavern attracts entertainers and traders. These specialists work 30% faster in their profession than generic settlers. Prioritize assigning specialists to their matching buildings whenever possible.

Early Trade and Economy

Trade caravans appear once you build a Market Stall and have at least 200 units of surplus goods in your storehouse. Caravans arrive every 3-4 days and travel along roads you have built. They offer resources not available on your map tile — exotic seeds, rare metals, advanced blueprints — in exchange for coins or bartered goods.

The most profitable early trade good is surplus stone. Once your quarry is running at full capacity, you will accumulate stone faster than you can spend it on buildings. Stone trades at 2 coins per unit on standard difficulty. A full quarry produces 40-60 stone per day, translating to 80-120 coins of daily trade income. Use this to buy iron (if no local deposit), coal, and herb stockpiles before winter.

Avoid trading food before day 50. Food prices spike during winter months (days 60-90), and selling early when prices are low and buying back later at inflated prices is a net loss. Build a coin reserve of at least 200 by day 45 to handle winter trade needs.

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