1. Desirability, Happiness, and Work Speed
Desirability determines happiness, and happiness directly affects work speed.
Food shortages, lack of coal, or similar issues decrease happiness.
If all basic needs are met, focus on improving desirability to maintain high happiness.
There are events that can impact happiness but those are clearly visible.


2. Worker Travel Distance
Green dot = Short travel time → Ideal.
Yellow dot = Moderate travel time → Acceptable.
Red dot = Long travel time → Reduces work efficiency and happiness.
Non-production buildings like Inns, Puppet Theaters and Messenger Guilds do not suffer from reduced efficiency.
Key Tip: Workers must return home to eat, so long commutes mean less time working.


3. Managing Global Happiness
Happiness is an average across all fablings and affects everything globally.
You don’t need maximum desirability for every single house.
100 happiness is difficult and not necessary until you unlock nobles.
Aim for 80–90 happiness for a 130–140% productivity boost.


4. Optimizing Homesteads (Manually Build Them!)
Smaller is better – A 2x2 foundation is space-efficient; 5x5 is unnecessary.
Prioritize food production – Always add two food-producing buildings (e.g., Chicken Coop, Beehive). They outperform desirability buildings, as 3–6 desirability points are nearly useless.
Use decorative buildings inside free spaces within the foundation.


5. Optimizing Condominiums (Manually Build Them!)
A 5x4 foundation is enough for: 12 houses, 1 shop, and 1 decorative building.
No need to build arches – they aren’t required.
One shop is enough if placed correctly.
Decorative buildings can be placed in free spots inside the foundation.
Entrances to buildings can be inside the foundation itself.


6. Don’t Fear Negative Impacts
It’s okay if production buildings lower desirability.
You can’t always plan around every impact.
Later happiness buildings give massive buffs, so -5 or -10 desirability doesn’t matter much in the long run.

Encounters & Events

Always get the beanstalk. The golden goose you get from it is incredible.
Leave Bob Barksin and Eric One-Eye alive. Their buffs are amazing, especially Bob Barksin’s, which can help you ignore certain events and save on influence.
Fight all other encounters.
Fighting = XP, and it doesn't cost you anything either.
If your hero is close to death, just walk him away and lure enemies out instead of charging in.
More hero XP = higher hero level = more carrying capacity for your fablings = less travel time.



Gameplay (Max Difficulty Focused)

Street Performance buildings are generally not worth it - at most useful for tightly packed condominiums.
Advancing fast is better than playing slow because trading is superiour to having your own, small, production.
Build the Bank ASAP and raise taxes. Money is king because trading is great.
Get your hero early and start leveling them ASAP.
Hold off on decorative buildings until you unlock a 4x4 decorative building for better cost efficiency.

City Layout:
Palace & condominiums in the center
Homesteads around them
Farms near homesteads (they also serve as a buffer between condominiums)
Production buildings near condominiums
Peasants should work the fields and take jobs Commoners can’t be assigned to.
Mid-to-late game desirability/happiness buildings outperform early-game ones significantly. If it makes sense, replace the old ones.