Lay out your village however you like in Foundation, a medieval city builder game for Windows PC from Polymorph Games. You start with a few villagers on a modest patch of land, then decide where homes, workplaces, and storage go. There's no grid to follow, and the roads form from where your villagers walk, so every town grows in its own natural shape.
Each session is mostly about keeping the village running. Villagers take jobs at places like a Lumber Camp, and what they gather can be passed on to other buildings that process it. Military companies sent abroad can bring back resources and gold, and you can trade with neighboring villages to fill gaps. All of this matters because villagers need things like water, food, and a place to live, and they grow angry and leave if their essential needs go unmet for too long.
Over time, the goal is to grow the village and shape how it develops. Villagers can be promoted, but each rank brings new needs, so growth has to keep pace with what you can supply. Progress runs through a shared Common path and three estates, Labour, Clergy, and Kingdom, that you invest in as the village grows. Aspirations open new ways to play, and monuments are the big creative project, built from individual parts into landmarks for your town.
- Developer
- Polymorph Games
- Publisher
- Polymorph Games
- Release
- Early Access: 2019-02-01 · Full release: 2025-01-31
- Platforms
- Windows
Game data
Buildings
Buildings are how you grow your village in Foundation. They fall into a few groups: resource, food and goods buildings that make things, logistics buildings such as warehouses and granaries that store and move them, service buildings such as churches, and large monuments tied to the Labour, Clergy and Kingdom estates. Most are unlocked through the progression tree, and every one carries a monthly gold upkeep.
Collectibles
Achievements
Foundation achievements are goals that unlock as you build, trade, and run your town, from growing your population to completing military missions. The Harvest Festival expansion adds its own set, built around festivals, food production, and the Granary of the Realm aspiration. Some achievements, including Feast of Abundance and I 'ave 'un!, need Challenge rules or harder, so check the ruleset before you start a new game.
Foundation Controls
| Action | Desktop |
|---|---|
| Keep a building or part selected | Shift + Left Click |
| Toggle monument snap | T |
| Adjust brush size | Ctrl + Mouse Wheel |
| Hide the interface | Ctrl + U |
| Quick save | Ctrl + S |
| Change game speed | + / - |
| Pause | Spacebar |
| Close all windows | Backspace |
Foundation gameplay tips
- Paint Residential Zones before you place homes. Houses can only be built on zoned land, so use the painting tool to mark the area first.
- Click a villager to see what they're missing. Their panel lists each need, so you can tell whether the problem is water, food, or housing before you build anything.
- Build a well near your first homes. Water comes from wells, so one early well keeps your first families supplied.
- Promote villagers a few at a time. Each rank brings new needs, and some optional needs become essential after a promotion, so a small batch lets you cover the changes before villagers start getting angry.