Banished

A Graveyard of Dead People

stargrace May 26, 2014 No Comments

I started up (yet another) new village in Banished, and am now on year 15 or so. I finally had my first disaster, a wooden house caught on fire. The only well in the village was up North quite a ways, so I had some fear that the fire would spread, but since it was winter I had extra labourers (I remove the farmers from working in the winter since fields are stagnant) and they managed to put the fire out with only the one home falling apart. Of course that meant the family living there had no home, so I got to work repairing it.

I’m currently working on expanding the town up north, which is where the only stream and body of water is located. I wanted a place to fish, so right now there’s a big long road, an area with docks, a single home where the fishermen live, and a storage shed close by so labourers don’t have to travel too far with their goods. Eventually I’ll start building up that road with new homes and create a trade rout, but for now I have been focusing on survival.

I know the main ‘jist’ of the game is survival, seeing how long your little village can manage, but once you have ‘beaten’ that aspect of the game (pretty easy to do on my settings) the ‘game’ at least for me, becomes expanding and watching your little town thrive much like a sims game. That’s the point I’m at now, though the town is still quite tiny. I think I have 35 total adults, a handful of students and some children. The older generation has been dying off (the NPC you start with) and thankfully I had more than enough new labourers to cover their jobs.

I love Banished, and have ever since I started playing it. For such a well priced game ($20) I have really gotten my moneys worth out of it.

Back to Banished

stargrace May 9, 2014 No Comments

With my PC up and running, I was eager to get into gaming again. I was sad that I had to start over with the sims 3, but I was even more sad that I had to start over with Banished because I had a town that was finally doing well. I made it to year 10 or so and no one was dying from the plague (yet).

So I started a new town. This one has sheep (neat). My previous towns only had chickens or cows, I didn’t even know sheep were an option. I started out by building a giant pen for the sheep, and then a farm for potatoes. A mine was constructed in the mountains, a gatherer’s hut, along with some hunting shacks. Next came a school and hospital. My town is pretty far away from water, so I don’t think I will build any fishing yet until it grows and I have houses out that way.

Still, it was fun to see the village expand. I know others are still put off by the fact that the game is quite easy to “win” but I think that depends on your definition of winning. For me the fun comes from building and expanding. Even if nothing “new” ever happens, I can play for hours. Plus I don’t have all of the buildings up yet, that will come with time.

The game is very relaxing and perfect to play on my days off. I’m really glad to be getting back to normal in my daily routine and that includes playing games, of course.

As always, happy gaming, no matter where you find yourself!

P.S. I have far too many games on my plate these days, and it’s fantastic. I’m playing WildStar, ArcheAge, and Landmark, and that doesn’t even include the single player Steam games I have been playing.

Third Time is the Charm?

stargrace March 14, 2014 1 Comment

My second village in Banished did just as poorly as the first due to some poor decisions I made in getting started. So far, the third village is doing MUCH better. I’m on year 7, which is the furthest I have taken the game so far – and I know that isn’t very far, but I’m still pleased that the entire town hasn’t died yet.

My only annoyance is that the chickens, especially on high speed, are loud and get bothersome to listen to. I have 66 of them. Anything more gets turned into KFC for the villagers. The trader has stopped by twice, but never with any alcohol which is what I was looking to trade for. I have most of the basics in place, a mine, quarry, school, hospital, added some extra buildings so families could expand past the default homes, and have been working on restoring some of the forest area so that hunters and gatherers have more space to get their work done.

I haven’t personally encountered any natural disasters yet, but I know that’s just the way of the game and it will probably hit when I least suspect it. In the mean time I enjoy the fact that my town is fed, warm, and clothed. Now the key is to expand – but not too quickly, and not so slowly that everyone just dies out.

As always, happy gaming, no matter where you find yourself!