The Three Decisions

Each generation you make exactly three choices. That’s the whole loop. It’s easy to pick up and hard to master. Once you decide, the engine resolves everything and the next generation begins with the children grown.

1. Pairings: who has children

Pick which couples pair off. Children inherit a mix of both parents’ traits, with a bit of luck on top. Pair two brilliant scholars and you’ll probably raise a brilliant child, though nothing is guaranteed. This is where your dynasty is bred, generation by generation.

Pairing inside the same bloodline is a gamble. The results swing wider in both directions, so use it with care.

2. Assignments: what your people do

Give every adult a role:

• Farmer. Grows food. Feed your people or they starve.
• Scholar. Generates knowledge, which leads to discovery.
• Warrior. Keeps the village safe from raids and threats.
• Trader. Builds wealth, which pays for everything else.

Match roles to traits. A high-Vigor farmer feeds more mouths, and a high-Intellect scholar unlocks more. Balance keeps you alive. Specialization makes you great.

3. Crisis: one hard choice

Every generation throws one crisis at you: a plague, a raid, a drought, a feud between two of your own, a stranger at the gates. Each one gives you a few options, and the game shows you the odds before you commit. Do you send your most cunning citizen against the raiders, or your strongest? The engine rolls it out honestly, and whatever happens sticks with you. A scar or a blessing that lasts the rest of the run.

What you build here doesn’t stay in this generation. See History Becomes Gameplay for how your choices turn permanent.