Starters Guide
I have collected a few hints that might make your initial voyage in Vinland a little more enjoyable. This is a guide to the very early part of the game.
Early Game Hints
This guide will give just a few thoughts to get you started. If you wish to investigate the game fully on your own, stop reading now. The game is random enough that every play through is very different but I might give away some spoilers here.
Your starting family has randomized skills. Look these over on the character sheet. You will want one family member with a high score in the following Skills: Crafting, Scavenging, and Exploring. A high score is in the thirty's, forty's is better but very rare. Secondary skills in forestry, mining, and hunting are also helpful. If these are in the twenty's or better you are doing well.
Your starting family also has randomized Traits. Traits can be good or bad. At the start of the game each family member will have one good trait and multiple bad traits. Look at these closely. If one of the family members has a trait that gives -25% experience in the primary skill you have chosen for them, then you might want to start over. Even worse if they have -25% experience in everything, you might want to start over.
Early in the game you will encounter a bad guy. Actually it will be several bad guys. In your very first fight, fill your roster with three family members. Pay attention to each family member's abilities and you should win this fight. In your second fight, this happens in the same turn, only put one family member in the fight, I put Eirik. Trust me on this. You can't win this fight so minimize the damage to your family.
Just as the tutorial instructs, the logging camp should be your first improvement.
I found Depression to be a major issue for me early in the game so the second improvement I make is to build the Tavern.
I build the Rest Area or Mining Camp next. The order is up to you.
I found that scavenging your ship once per day will provide enough food for the first week. Scavenging this area also seems to generate greater Depression then other activities so by limiting the scavenging in this area it helps control Depression.
Exploring the island is very interesting. You will find many resources and additional companions. The game does this very well and I find this part of the game extremely entertaining. Most encounters offer multiple options; try them all if you can. Beware this will make for a long game, 29 hours to complete 20 days of game time.
Ropes become one of the scarcest resources. Your initial scavenging will provide you with enough to get started and fights with bad guys can drop more, they are random drops. I could not find it documented anywhere so here is where you make ropes... in the Forge. You will need hemp to make rope so the Herbalist and/or the Garden are needed.
While exploring you will discover other companions. So far I have discovered two couples and three individuals. These companions can help greatly. They give an extra set of skills and an extra set of actions per turn. Note that they also require food and water every turn. My own guideline is that once you have so many stations that you can't fill them all with the family, you should consider adding a companion.
The Harvesting station provides fruit which can be eaten but the fruit can also be made into juice. In game terms this is an addition to your potable water supply. Note that after a while this station gives less fruit and it generates a large amount of Fatigue to gather the fruit.
