LOL!

I'll just be the opposite here and say that I like to put my runners on the research table. I've found that the berry bush or field get depleted too soon and in the games that I've been playing I haven't been in a rush on the building projects anyway. (Clearing the lagoon just distracts everyone else into doing laundary!)

At the research table, I try not to overwork them (i.e. restart the research after the "kick") so having one runner who gets things done twice as much as the others is like having an extra villager at the table! Since I try to get the Science Levels early, a runner here can be very useful.

That said, I still make sure that any runner I get early in a game gets trained in farming, building and medicine as well just for when I need that extra boost.

The nice thing about Virtual Villagers is that there really isn't a right or wrong way to do things, and sometimes it is good to experiment with different strategies. IOW, YMMV!

I find them best for building. Farmer-Runners seem to get "caught" on buildings a lot and you lose food. Builder-Runners clear the beach and build a hut faster. I also like to give them the healing skill because later when you need them they make the quickest doctors.

the medical skill is a good idea

i had a set of triplet runner farmers, and then some pandemic hit the village- everyone was sick, so i healed the triplet runners and set them to healing the rest of the village, within minutes they had healed all of the sick villagers

Even though it may seem like food is lost, it really isn't; the food only gets deducted from the harvest ground when it goes into the food bin. Plus, there are no buildings between the ocean and the food bin for a runner to get caught up on.

On the flip side, I've had runners trying to build things, get caught on a building, and lose their building materials. I personally prefer putting an early-game runner on building since the lumberyard and the rock quarry are on opposite sides of the village, and late-game or end-game runners get to fish to their heart's content.

There are buildings between the food bin and berry bush though, and that's when they cause the most problems with a runner. Also between the ground and the food bin. I'm talking about early in the game before you have fishing.

But since you don't actually lose the food in the count, the odd time they get caught doesn't really matter, cos they more than make up for it in the number of trips they can make

It doesn't make it any less of a pain though, Baj, especially when I've decided to restart my game and my food is only like 50.

Like I said, I like runners best for building if I get one as one of the survivors. Get the beach cleared faster. Then get the hut built.

I also though give them a smidge of a healing, farming, and research skill. Then when the beach is cleared and the hut is built but there isn't enough tech points to do the lagoon, I switch their preference to research and plunk them at the table. (Actually, I do this with all my chosen builders.) If the food gets too low before there's enough tech for farming I switch their preference to farming and set them at the berry bush for a moment before plunking them back at the research table.

And of course, as I said before, I love them as healers. Especially when you get that event that makes all your kids sick.

maybe that is why i tend to prefer them to farm, because i have never had a runner before my pop reaches 35. i don't restart games to get a better tribe. the only time i have restarted was when i wanted a hard tribe and i forgot to put it on hard before i started. i think. i could be wrong.

Huh? I'm not following this...



When I feel like starting a new game, I'll sometimes look for interesting likes/dislikes, but not always. I think I like the games more when I don't get a adult runner right away, but it is the kid or one of the first kids born.

that would be me trying to be coherent on two hours of sleep. i meant i never have a RUNNER before my population reaches 35. I chaged it in that post too so as not to confuse too many others.

sorry.