Which building should I upgrade first?
The one tied to your scarcest resource or storage cap — usually Food lines or Warehouse early.
At A Glance
This Hearth and Hamlet buildings wiki-style guide covers ~28 chains and ~146 levels — what to upgrade early, how chains map to resources, and when Keep / walls / academy lines matter. Exact level costs: verify in-game (TBA here when unverified). Verified August 22, 2026 · Steam.
| Fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Chains | 28 building chains · ~146 levels |
| Research tie-in | ~323 research upgrades |
| Examples | Keep · Warehouse · Farm · Market · Military Camp |
| Cost note | Level costs TBA — confirm in 1.0 client |
| Platform | Steam · Windows / SteamOS+Linux |
Which Hearth and Hamlet buildings matter first?
Early buildings exist to fix Food, materials, storage, and quest gates — not to decorate the pixel skyline.
| Priority | Building focus | Why |
|---|---|---|
| P0 |  Town Square | Main quest gates |
| P0 |  Farm | Population fuel (with Fishing / Hunting) |
| P0 |  Lumber camp | Wood costs |
| P0 |  Quarry | Stone costs |
| P0 |  Warehouse | Stops overflow waste |
| P1 |  Housing | Only with Food surplus |
| P1 |  Gold mine | Research funding |
Quest buildings first when listed
If the quest log demands Fishing + Lumber huts or a Guardhouse, build those before optional Keep or Road ranks.
Warehouse is an economy building
Treat storage as production. Full piles with nowhere to go are fake wealth. Resource logic: resources.
The full chain list helps you navigate mid-game.
What are the 28 building chains?
Data corpora list twenty-eight themes (levels vary). Use this roster as a map; per-level costs stay TBA until verified in your build.
| Category | Building | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Core | Town Square | Quest gates |
| Core | Housing | Population |
| Core |  Roads | Settlement quality |
| Core | Warehouse | Global storage |
| Core |  Keep | Late fortify / story |
| Core |  Library | Blueprints / research |
| Core |  Church | Faith / military research |
| Core |  Tavern | Mid/late amenities |
| Food | Farm | Food production |
| Food |  Fishing harbour | Food production |
| Food |  Hunting lodge | Food production |
| Materials | Lumber camp | Wood |
| Materials | Quarry | Stone |
| Materials | Gold mine | Gold |
| Materials |  Iron mine | Iron |
| Materials |  Carpenter | Craft chain |
| Materials |  Blacksmith | Craft chain |
| Materials |  Leather workshop | Craft chain |
| Trade |  Market | Expeditions |
| Trade |  Docks | Water / trade |
| Trade |  Cliff | Map feature chain |
| Military |  Military camp | Soldiers |
| Military |  Town guard | Guards |
| Military |  Northern wall | Defense quest |
| Military |  Southern wall | Defense quest |
| Magic |  Magic swamp | Magic gather |
| Magic |  Mage tower | Academy chain |
| Magic |  Alchemist | Alchemy |
Each chain has research
Most buildings own a research branch. Upgrading the building without buying storage/productivity nodes leaves power on the table. See research.
When should I upgrade a building?
Upgrade when a cap, worker limit, or quest requirement blocks you — not because a chain is one level “behind.”
- Do01Storage full → Warehouse or storage research
- Do02Worker slots maxed on a hot resource → that production building
- Do03Quest requires level N → meet the quest, then rebalance
- Do04Gold starving research → Gold mine
- Do05Raid pressure → military / walls / town guard
Blueprints and late costs
Higher levels may require blueprints and mixed resources (Wood/Stone/Gold/Iron/Magic). Do not plan late Keep spikes without checking the live cost panel — TBA exact ranks here.
Military and magic lines have their own timing.
When do Keep, walls, and magic buildings matter?
Keep and walls matter as defense and late quest goals. Magic buildings matter after swamp/academy quests — not in the first hour.
| Line | When to invest | Watch-out |
|---|---|---|
| Town guard | Before serious raids | Upkeep needs Food/Gold |
| Military camp | Train soldiers | Upkeep tax |
| Northern wall | Quest + soft defense | Walls ≠ full army |
| Keep | Story / late fortify | Do not starve economy |
| Magic swamp | After Magic quests | Huge resource sinks |
| Alchemist | Mid/late buffs | Premium spends |
Upgrade decision table
Pick the next upgrade from symptoms.
| Symptom | Upgrade | Also check |
|---|---|---|
| Food crash | Farm / Fishing / Hunting | Workers |
| Build costs blocked | Lumber / Quarry | Warehouse |
| Research unaffordable | Gold mine | gold guide |
| Everything capped | Warehouse | Storage research |
| Raid fear | Military / walls | raids |
| Magic quest active | Swamp / Academy | magic |
After the next upgrade
Matched by build plan, shared topics, and guide progression — not random related links.
What do sample building levels teach?
Verified corpora show how costs and rewards escalate. Treat the numbers as illustrations — re-check the live panel before spending.
| Example | What it unlocks / adds | Lesson |
|---|---|---|
| Iron Dig Site (L1) | Iron mining · Blacksmith · Iron storage | New resources arrive as building unlocks |
| Miner's Drift (L2) | Iron productivity · max workers · storage | Levels buy caps and slots, not prestige alone |
| Ancient Excavation | Magic line entry (heavy mixed cost) | Late buildings eat Gold/Iron/Magic |
| Magic Academy (L2) | Large Magic storage + unlocks | Academy tiers are premium sinks |
| Keep high ranks | Late fortify / story goals | Keep is not an early Food fix |
Cost rank thinking
Building costs scale with level cost ranks and resource ratios. When a level looks absurdly expensive, you are usually missing a research/blueprint gate or underproducing a ratio resource — not hitting a bug.
Upgrade toward quests
If the quest wants Town Square 6 or walls 4, that building is the correct spend even if Farm is “more efficient” on paper. Quest spine: quests.
How do I choose the next building upgrade fast?
Point at the resource or quest that hurts, then upgrade the chain that answers it. That is the entire Hearth and Hamlet buildings skill.
- Do01If Food hurts → Farm / Fishing / Hunting
- Do02If mats hurt → Lumber / Quarry / Gold mine
- Do03If everything caps → Warehouse
- Do04If the quest names a building → that building
- Do05If raids loom → military / walls / town guard
- Do06If Magic quests are active → swamp / academy
Ignore completionism
Leaving Cliff or Tavern a level behind is fine while Warehouse is full. Completionism is how cozy games stall.
Screenshot expensive levels
When a Keep or Academy level asks for shocking mixed costs, screenshot it for your notes. Site-side exact tables remain TBA until verified capture.
FAQ
How many buildings are in Hearth and Hamlet?
About 28 building chains with ~146 total levels in 1.0 data coverage.
Where are exact upgrade costs?
Confirm in the live client. Unverified spreadsheets stay TBA on this page.
Is Town Square a real building chain?
Yes — it carries many early quest gates and multiple levels. Keep it aligned with the quest log.
How many levels does Housing have?
Corpora list Housing among the longer chains (about seven levels). Confirm in-client.
Should I upgrade Roads early?
Roads help settlement quality, but Food, Warehouse, and quest buildings usually beat early Road ranks.
Related pages
Matched by build plan, shared topics, and guide progression — not random related links.