Ages & money In the game

How a realm grows from the Dark Age to the Middle Age: what you pay with, what you build with, and how workshops choose their recipe and fuel.

The two ages In the game

Dark Age: town hall 1 to 3

Grain is the money. You build with wood, stone, clay, daub and thatch. Its wonder: the Great Granary (town hall 3).

Middle Age: town hall 4 to 10

Gold coin arrives with the first bank, mint or exchange hall. Bricks, lime, roof tiles and iron; from town hall 6 glass, slate, marble and steel. Its wonders: Straits Lighthouse (4), Star Observatory (6), Exchange Hall (8).

Only two ages

There is no third age. Later content moves into the Middle Age by town hall level, with medieval names.

Money In the game

Prices, wages, fees and card prices are in grain in the Dark Age.
Gold coin exists only once a realm has a bank, a mint or an exchange hall: they are the only issuers. Silver and gold ingots are goods, never money.
From the Middle Age the same prices are paid in gold coin.

Build costs in the Middle Age In the game

A building placed in the Middle Age pays its normal cost plus extra goods, as a share of its base cost (rounded up). The price is fixed when you place the site. Dark Age sites, houses, wonders, fields and the town hall pay the normal cost.

Building class	Town hall 4 to 5	Town hall 6 and up (in addition)
Kilns, furnaces, smithies, bakeries	+25 % bricks, +15 % lime mortar, +5 % iron, +5 % tools	+5 % steel, +5 % slate
Mills and stonecutters	+15 % dressed stone, +5 % iron, +5 % roof tiles	+5 % steel
Faith	+20 % dressed stone, +10 % lime mortar	+10 % glass, +5 % marble
Military	+10 % iron, +15 % dressed stone, +10 % wood	+5 % steel
Water buildings	+15 % wood, +5 % iron	+5 % iron
Monuments	+25 % dressed stone, +5 % marble	+10 % marble, +5 % glass
Farms, fields, pens	+5 % tools	+3 % iron
Stores	+15 % roof tiles, +3 % iron	+10 % slate
Civic and services	+15 % dressed stone, +10 % lime mortar, +5 % roof tiles	+10 % glass, +10 % plaster
Workshops	+15 % bricks, +10 % lime mortar, +10 % roof tiles, +5 % tools	+5 % glass, +5 % slate, +3 % steel

Recipe modes In the game

Some workshops can switch between recipes in their window. Mode 1 is always the classic recipe.

Building	Mode	What it does
Glassworks	Coal glass	2 sand + 1 coal make 1 glass: the everyday melt.
	Clean fire	2 sand + 2 wood make 1 glass. Refuses coal: only a clean fuel keeps the melt clear.
Tile kiln	Roof tiles	1 clay + 1 coal make 1 roof tile.
	Coal-free	1 clay makes 1 roof tile on 1.6 peat, else 2 wood, more slowly. Burns peat before wood.
Lime kiln	Mortar	1 limestone + 1 sand make 1 lime mortar, no fuel.
	Burnt mortar	1 limestone + 2 sand make 2 lime mortar on half a coal, else 1 wood, more slowly. Saves limestone.
	Slaked lime	1 limestone makes 1 slaked lime on half a coal, else 1 wood.
Plaster works	Plaster	1 gypsum makes 1 plaster.
	Calcined	1 gypsum + 1 wood make 1 plaster, faster.
	Lime plaster	1 slaked lime + 1 sand make 1 plaster, slower, with no gypsum.
Daub yard	Daub	1 clay + 1 wood make 1 daub.
	Dung daub	1 clay, half a wood and half a compost make 1 daub. Saves wood.
Limestone stonecutter	Dressed stone	3 limestone make 1 dressed stone.
	Master cut	2 limestone make 1 dressed stone, slower, with less waste.
Tool workshop	Stone / Bronze / Iron / Steel	Tools from wood and stone, or from half a bronze ingot, iron or steel. Same pace in every mode.
Bloomery	Bloom	2 iron ore + 1 coal make 1 iron.
	High shaft	3 iron ore + 3 coal make 2 iron: less ore for more fuel.

Fuels