Going Medieval is the kind of game where you can really set your own goals, and determine what success is for yourself. That being said, there are multiple ways to fail, and one of them is by having your settlers abandon your settlement because they’re unhappy. In this guide, we’ll take a look at the steps you can take early on to ensure your settlers are happy.
Not only is keeping your settlers happy important because it ensures they won’t leave your settlement, but it also improves efficiency! Settlers who are exceptionally happy will work faster than settlers who are simply content, and unhappy settlers may ignore your orders entirely.
Checking Your Settler’s Happiness
Select any of your settlers, and you’ll be able to see their mood in the info status box in the bottom right. For a more detailed look at their mood and its modifiers, simply select the mood tab . Here you’ll be able to tell exactly why your settler is feeling the way they are. Hovering one of the modifiers in the mood menu with your mouse will give you more detailed information on the modifier, and sometimes even provide a relevant tip.
That boy need some milk!
You may also notice that on the left side of the screen where the settlers are listed, some settler names are listed in green or red. This represents an exceptionally happy or unhappy settler, respectively. You should pay careful attention to unhappy settlers, and focus on making them happy ASAP.
How to Make Settlers Happy
While you can attempt to just fix problems as they come up, it will be easier to make (and keep) your settlers happy if you anticipate their needs and prepare for them. With that in mind, here is an ordered list of things you should do when you start a new settlement that will make your settlers happy.
#1 – Assign Preferred Jobs
Most settlers will have at least one job that they enjoy doing. One of the easiest ways to raise happiness levels is to assign settlers to those jobs, and make sure they have an opportunity to do them whenever possible. For more information, see our detailed Jobs guide.
#2 – Cook Real Food
Until you construct a Campfire, your villagers will eat whatever’s available, including raw food. Chowing down on uncooked cabbage will make your settlers unhappy, so creating a Campfire should be one of your first priorities.
#3 – Make Bedrooms and Real Beds
Settlers don’t like sleeping outside, and they don’t like sleeping in the same room as the raw cabbage, either. By creating separate rooms with Hay Sleeping Spots, your settlers will sleep soundly and happily. As soon as you can, research Furniture, and replace those Hay Sleeping Spot with Wooden Hay Beds. This will further add to the happiness benefit your settlers gain from sleeping in their own rooms. More information on creating bedrooms can be found in our Rooms guide.
#4 – Create Chapels/Temples
First things first, you should check the religious alignment of all your settlers, which you can do in the Biography tab of their info box. There are two religions in Going Medieval, and your settlers will follow one of those, or else have no religious needs. It’s likely that you’ll need both Oak Brethren and Restitutionist shrines, but it doesn’t hurt to double check. Once you’ve determined what your settlers need in terms of shrines, create a room for them. Again, you can check our Rooms guide for more info on how to do so.
Hover the Religious Alignment bar to see what religion (if any) your settler follows
#5 – Brew Alcohol
Your settlers love to drink! Keep them tipsy and they’ll love you for it. In order to brew alcohol, you’ll first have to research Brewing, and then create a Brewing Station. You’ll also need to make sure you have the required ingredients for alcohol, which should be easy since you need to research Agriculture before you can unlock Brewing.
Rough Wine requires only Redcurrant berries, which you can find growing wild and also cultivate yourself. Ale and Beer require Barley or Barley and Herbs, respectively. Both Barley and herbs are easily grown, although they don’t grow wild.
#6 – Create New Clothes
Most settlers will have negative mood modifiers from the flimsy clothes they start with. Rectify that by researching Tailoring and building a Sewing Station. Crafting new clothes won’t be enough, however — you’ll have to force your settlers to unequip their old clothes by using the down arrow next to their old clothes in the settler’s inventory menu or the Manage menu [I]. See our article on removing chains if you need more detailed instructions on removing equipment.
Once you’ve made them drop their old clothes, they should auto-equip new clothes, as long as “All Apparel” is selected under the Manage menu.
Just look how happy he is!
As a final note, don’t ignore mood warnings! If you get a message that settlers are annoyed, click that message and it will select the settler that isn’t feeling so good. Use your newfound knowledge to figure out why your settler isn’t happy, and fix it!
We hope this guide was helpful. Best of luck keeping your settlers happy, and let us know if you have any questions or comments.
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DanielD
Unabashed FromSoftware fanboy still learning to take his time with games (and everything else, really). The time he doesn't spend on games is spent on music, books, or occasionally going outside.
. Here you’ll be able to tell exactly why your settler is feeling the way they are. Hovering one of the modifiers in the mood menu with your mouse will give you more detailed information on the modifier, and sometimes even provide a relevant tip.
of their info box. There are two religions in Going Medieval, and your settlers will follow one of those, or else have no religious needs. It’s likely that you’ll need both Oak Brethren and Restitutionist shrines, but it doesn’t hurt to double check. Once you’ve determined what your settlers need in terms of shrines, create a room for them. Again, you can check our 
or the Manage menu [I]. See our article on 
