I have tested keeping a Magic Faction tribe (where food is less plentiful) going with 14-16 villagers, and was able to make it to fishing with a little over 100 food to spare. Of course, I do have some good strategies for playing the game, and I did spend time hunting mushrooms after every rain (and grabbing that extra fruit that drops). I started the game less than 3 days ago, and I never paused it. I used a combination of game speeds from slow to fast, depending upon how much time I had to babysit the peeps.
I now have 21 villagers, having just lost my eldest villager to old age. I have L3 in only one tech (Medicine), and I have completed the first 8 puzzles, along with 10-13. Now I'm concentrating on growing my tribe and gaining tech points. The tribe is successful, and I check in now and then to see how they're doing and to try to grab some colletcibles that I'm missing. I expect to finish the game within the next couple of days.
I guess the point is that there's no point in rushing things. The game is very playable if you take your time and don't push to get things done too fast. Our next game won't be here for a long time, so relax and enjoy VV3 while it's still fresh and new.
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Barbara
Unicorn
Last Day of Work