I keep getting the same totems but am waiting for that red one with the tongue sticking out in the Puzzles picture... is there really one?

Yep! Just be patient.

I had seven of the eight totems and it took me until I had 27 totems until I got the last one.

Oh gosh.... that's alot of totems. But waiting that long just to get the last one...hmmm...

I must admit I don't really like managing my 'Master' village because there's far too many villagers and it's soooo messy!! I'd far prefer to manage a smaller one. Hence I don't think I'm going for THAT many Totems..Oh well...

Is it a must to increase the population to the maximum to gain some form of milestone in the game?

dont think so, but max pop is over 100 (probably as high as 110)

I "manage" my larger village by dressing them by job skills. It really helps to know who's who and then dress them differently when they reach Elder, so I don't have to "manage" them again. There are other threads about this and seems to work for many people.

So far I've got my max population up to 115.

I just got my 1st Totem (i had to tell you)from one of my original villagers Anmina (Esteemed Elder), she's mastered research, building, farming & is just half way with healing & parenting (she has only had 2 children as she is my runner so i have her helping where i need some speed). I only have one blue smiling totem at moment. Cant wait to see the others when i earn them. I only have pop of 19 & will keep it at that until i know i have enough food, doctors etc to help keep my villagers healthy.

How many totems are there in total?

I had 3 now.. my pop just reach 19 only..

1. Light blue one with tougue sticking out
2. Red one with big tougue sticking out
3. Purple and yellow that look like crying

There are 8 types of Totems in total.

There are 8 different totems and you will be able to collect a total of 50.

How do you get the Totems?

When you get your first Master in a skill, you'll be told

I have masters in everything? So what am I not doing right?

You have to train a villager to Master 3 Skills to get a Totem.

Please edit the topic title and put SPOILER in it.

The reason that no one told her exactly how to do it before was because of the absence of SPOILER or POSSIBLE Spoiler in the topic title.

Actually, the game tells you how to get an elder the first time a villager masters a skill. It's really not much of a spoiler.

You know I never thought about there being a certain amount of totems, I'm not sure how many different ones, I know I do have the one sticking it's tongue out. I might have all eight and just didn't think to count them.
What determines what kind of totem you recieve? I have the dark blue one a lot. Does it have something to do with what they master in or not? I mean I wouldn't think so because I try very hard to get them to master the 3 easiest which is fishing,research and parenting. If there is something to build I try real hard to get that one first.

I have 2 totems now, one who is a master researcher, builder & last of all parent. She is now 65yo so dont know how long she will be with me. I have 4 master builders 2 of which are esteemed elders.

Thank you I have only 2 skills mastered so back I go!!!!!!!!!!

the totems you recieve are completely random. Once you get an elder you could get any of the 8 totems. I actually had a game when i got 7 different ones, got a repeat then the 8th. So close to getting all 8 different ones for first 8. I alsmost thought there was a pattern. Next game i got 3 of the same ones first. Doh.

i thought there was only 1 .. wwwwaaaaa.

I got my first totem thank you for the help!!!!!!!!!

The first time I played I thought there was only one design of totem. My first three were all identical. After that I started getting different ones. The next game I got different totems for the first five; it was only on the sixth did I get a duplicate.

I tried a new game to see if there was a pattern to the totems, skills order of receiving etc, but i got nothing, i think what happens is it gives the villager a random totem at birth, and then its all about who you decide to get to elder status that determines your totem designs.

I now have 4 Totems, 2 brown with mouth wide open, 1 blue with wide grin & a green laughing one....