Fan-Made Full Release Guide

Hearth and Hamlet Guide

The full game is live. These pages answer the new problems players are posting: sanitation, Cathedral, caravans, enemy strength, and endgame — not a copy of the old demo wiki.

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What Full-Release Players Are Stuck On

Sanitation Debuff

Income penalty with no tooltip. Roads and Town Square are the current fix.

Open

Unlock the Cathedral

It is a Church upgrade, not a map pin. Needed for consecrated weapons.

Open

Enemy Army Strength

Trivial through Extreme, explained by the developer, plus Hunting scouting.

Open

Research to Unlock First

A decision order for food, scouting, and caravans — not a demo tree dump.

Open

Recent Updates

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buildings

Hearth and Hamlet Best Building Upgrade Order Guide

Upgrade food and Church toward Cathedral before vanity Keeps in Hearth and Hamlet. Town Square and roads cut sanitation. Exact level costs remain unmarked for

combat

Hearth and Hamlet Enemy Army Strength Explained

Trivial means few losses. High means a costly win. Extreme means you lose unless you act. Hunting scouting adds counts; Advanced Scouting adds attack and

combat

How Many Soldiers You Need in Hearth and Hamlet

There is no published soldier formula for Hearth and Hamlet. Use Trivial–Extreme labels, Hunting scouting, and food leftover after a fight. Guard drafts are an

economy

Hearth and Hamlet Best Policies and Tax Rate Guide

Official Hearth and Hamlet policies cover tax, worker rules, and guard drafts. There is no verified best tax number yet. Do not copy demo policy tables into a

economy

How to Get Another Caravan in Hearth and Hamlet

Extra caravans in Hearth and Hamlet come from research after Market level three. You must hold the full send cost up front. Later ships unlock the same way.

endgame

Hearth and Hamlet Endgame Guide After the Last Quest

Hearth and Hamlet endgame currently stops after the last quest. You can idle forever with nothing to buy. One Challenging player wanted a longer army-and-peace

Explore the Guide

Full-release problems first. Encyclopedia pages that already exist on older sites are not the priority here.

Guides

Sanitation, Cathedral, quests, Manor titles, and defeat rules.

Sanitation Guide

Roads and Town Square

Unlock Cathedral

Church upgrade

Quest Not Completing

Fisherman and Woodcutter

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Research

What to pick next, first unlocks, and how to turn the book pages.

Best Research Order

Full release decisions

Unlock First

Food, scouting, trade

Research Pages

Bent-corner button

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Combat

Raid labels, scouting research, and soldier counts.

Enemy Strength

Trivial to Extreme

How Many Soldiers

Raid planning

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Endgame

100% time, stacked achievements, and what happens after the last quest.

Hardest and 100%

Achievements stack

Endgame Guide

After the last quest

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Ready to Grow the Hamlet?

Bookmark this guide. We update pages when the developer answers a thread or a full-release number is verified.

Play Hearth and Hamlet

Common Questions (FAQ)

Short answers for the full-release questions players posted in the first 48 hours.

What is Hearth and Hamlet?

A single-player incremental city builder from Phorust Studios. You gather food, wood, stone, and gold, assign workers, research permanent unlocks, set policies, trade, and defend against raids.

When did the full game launch?

August 19, 2026. The Steam store lists the date as Aug 19, 2026. A prior demo existed on itch.io and Steam.

How much does it cost?

The US store listed $7.99, with a 10% introductory price of $7.19 when checked on August 20, 2026. Confirm the live Steam widget; intro discounts expire.

Is it on PS5, Switch, Xbox, or mobile?

Steam lists Windows and Linux only. There is no official console or mobile build as of August 20, 2026.

Can you lose the game?

Usually no. A raid defeat steals resources and some people leave. The developer said one special quest can show a game-over screen, with warnings, and you can reload.

Where is the Cathedral?

It is an upgrade of the Church, not a separate map building. Players looking for a map arrow will not find one.

How do I get another caravan?

After Market level 3, extra caravans (and later ships) come from research. You must have the full caravan cost on hand before you send one.

Does a higher difficulty unlock lower achievements?

Yes. The developer confirmed that finishing on a higher difficulty also grants the lower-difficulty achievements.

Does it run on Steam Deck?

Playable for some people, crashy for others. Try the Vulkan launch option. Proper controller support is not in yet.

Where do I send a correction?

Email wuzhihun_shen@outlook.com from the Contact page. For game bugs, use the official Steam discussion hub — the developer replies there.