Hello,
I am a huge fan of Stonehearth but recently I was also playing Northgard (it doesnt mean anything I promise, Stonehearth is still my boo). It’s an okay game but one mechanics that I found really interesting is their winter + event. Let me explain.
In StoneHearth right now, once I have 2 farmers, 1 cook and 1 trapper I can basically feed 30 hearthtlings without ever having to worry about food or food diversity ever again. Same with making weapons and armor. My hearthlings weapons, clothing and amors never break or deteriorate. Basically what I mean is that the “town management” aspect of stonehearth is very limited.
What I think would make things interesting is a broader diversity of events + deterioration of consumables other than food. For example in Northgard, winter affects my villager’s ability to produce food. This means that I need to plan ahead to have food reserves. I know this seems simple just like that but it adds a whole new layer to the game. Add to this random events like blizzards, diseases outbreaks, need for fire wood and you start having some real town management mechanics for really little effort.
I am just saying, I love stonehearth and the direction the game is going. The periodic invasions and increase in their strength forces me to have my town constantly improving. But I feel like many other aspects of the town management are being underutilized.
I know seasons are on the roadmap. I hope they won’t just be aesthetic though. That they’ll really matter.
Cheers!