Whenever I exit the game and come back to it later, all my villagers have died! It's almost like the game has continued AFTER I've quit and they just expired.

Thoughts or comments anyone?

That is how it works. I runs in "real time". So if you don't want your game to continue when you exit, you will need to go in the menue and pause the game.

it never stops unless you hit the space bar to pause the game, or go into options and select pause. try gaining food and putting the speed on 1/2 time when you arent playing.

Yeah, I always pause my game when I go to bed or work. If you're going to be away from the game for more than an hour or two they may not find enough food for yourselves without your guidance.