Highlights

  • Meat requires sustainable management to prevent overhunting and extinction, but with proper care, players can have an unlimited food supply.
  • Bread production in Manor Lords involves a multi-step process, but once set up, villagers will never go hungry with this reliable food source.
  • Berries are easily gathered and regrow each year, making them a good food source that can be improved with rich deposits and Forest Management.

Naturally, food is one of the most important resources in Manor Lords and without it, villagers will starve to death, especially on harder difficulty modes. Beyond each family eating one food resource every month, a variety of food is also required to keep the settlement's approval rating high and to fend off disease.

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In the current version of Manor Lords, which is still very much a work in progress, there are seven types of food and while they fulfill the same amount of hunger, some food is easier to produce. Therefore, the best food in Manor Lords is the most efficient to make and ideally doesn't require players to spend precious Development Points. Players also need to remember to have a Granary to store all their food, and workers assigned here will set up market stalls to distribute food among the people.

1 Meat

An Unlimited Supply Of Food As Long As Players Give Animals Time To Reproduce

Manor Lords Deer in the woods
  • Hunted by Hunting Camp workers
  • Improved by rich wild animal deposits and the Trapping and Advanced Skinning development points

Sustainability is the name of the game when it comes to producing meat in Manor Lords, as wild animals must be given time to reproduce. If not, they will be hunted to extinction and never return to the region. This fact by itself means meat is not the most reliable food in the historical city builder but with the right management and some key development points, players will soon have more than enough.

The easiest way to get more meat in Manor Lords is to inhabit a region with a rich wild animal deposit, as there will be twice the number of animals. Players can also unlock two of the best early-game development points, Trapping and Advanced Skinning. While traps provide a passive income of meat from smaller game, Advanced Skinning means that every animal hunted will produce two pieces of meat rather than one.

2 Bread

Bread Can Feed The Whole Village, But Goes Through Lots Of Processes

Manor Lords Communal Oven
  • Produced by growing wheat, which is threshed to become grain. Windmills then turn grain into flour, which is used to bake bread in Communal Ovens
  • Improved by increasing field fertility, assigning more workers, and unlocking bakery extensions

In terms of potential, bread is arguably the best food in Manor Lords, and once players have everything set up, their village should never go hungry. However, it takes a lot of time and manpower to make bread, as it is a multi-step process. First of all, players must learn to farm in Manor Lords, as they will need to grow wheat (or later rye) in their fields, which itself is a complicated ordeal.

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Wheat can then be threshed by workers at the Farmhouse to produce grain, which can then be taken to the windmill to become flour. Finally, flour can be baked in a Communal Oven to produce bread. For faster results, the Bakeries development will enable the construction of Bakery extensions in Burgage Plots, which take less time to bake the bread.

3 Berries

Easily Gathered Each Year & Will Always Grow Back

Manor Lords Berries in the woods
  • Gathered by Forager Hut workers from berry deposits
  • Improved by rich berry deposits and the Forest Management development point

Berries grow in the spring and can be gathered all year until winter arrives when they will die off. By placing Forager Huts near berry deposits, players can easily provide their settlement with plenty of food that does not require any processing. This makes berries a good type of food to produce in Manor Lords.

However, there are two ways in which berries can quickly become even better. First of all, if players are lucky enough to spawn in a region with a rich berry deposit, they will already have access to twice as many berries, which can be gathered by assigning more workers. Furthermore, the Forest Management development point doubles all deposits. If both conditions are met, players will have more than enough berries and can trade the surplus.

4 Eggs

The Easiest Food To Produce

Manor Lords Chicken Coop
  • Produced by chicken coop backyard extensions
  • Improved by having more chicken coops

While a lot of the food in Manor Lords requires farming or gathering and lots of processes involving multiple workers, all of the hard work towards producing eggs is done by the chickens. For just 25 regional wealth, players can opt for the chicken coop backyard extension, and guarantee themselves a lifetime supply of eggs.

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The size of the backyard extension does not matter as chickens will produce the same number of eggs regardless, all year round. While eggs won't feed the entire population, having a few chicken coops is easily one of the easiest ways to help in the fight against hunger, while also providing a greater variety of food.

5 Vegetables

Large Vegetable Gardens Have Incredible Yields

Manor Lords Vegetable Garden
  • Produced by vegetable garden backyard extensions
  • Improved by having larger gardens and assigning the family to low-intensity work

There are many great backyard extensions in Manor Lords, and a few of these produce food. However, none are as productive as vegetable gardens, which are tended to by the residing family. What makes vegetables one of the best food types to grow in Manor Lords is that by building large Burgage Plots, there will be even more room for these backyard gardens, meaning the vegetable yield increases.

As each vegetable garden extension costs an initial 15 regional wealth to construct, players should not waste them on small plots and should instead plan in advance by building long Burgage Plots. The only thing to bear in mind with bigger gardens is that this means more work for the family, so it's best to assign them to low-intensity or seasonal jobs.

manor lords
Manor Lords

Released
April 26, 2024
Developer(s)
Slavic Magic
Genre(s)
Strategy , City Builder