Ok, I've been playing this game for a few weeks now, and it's getting really frustrating because my village keeps getting wiped out. At the rate the villages amass tech points, it's obvious the game is not designed to be played with constant supervision by the player. So I check in on my villagers every once in a while .. until they all wind up suddenly dead, for no apparent reason.

Maybe someone can help me out .. how is the game supposed to be played? Do I need to pause the game every time I have to stop playing? Am I expected to watch over the villagers while they eek out tech points and painstakingly build and forage?

The longer you leave your villagers unattended, the more likely it is that things will go awry while you're away. Trying to grow your village population too early can lead to problems, too. Early in the game it's important to achieve a good balance between growth and food production. Even 7 villagers can consume a large amount of food (especially on fast speed). It's really not necessary to pause the game unless you know you are going to be away from it for more than overnight, since it will slow down your progress even more. Once you have stabilized your food supply (and discovered ways to access new food sources), you can really start growing your population and the research points will come very rapidly.

Also, the villagers are more productive (in virtually everything they do) when the game is on. Game balance will be adjusted when the Village Sim update is released, but for now you just might want to check in on your villagers a little more frequently. Another thing that will help you is if you can leave the game running on AC power with your Palm powered on for a few hours at a time (if possible). That will give your villagers a little boost that could make a big difference in your success.

Thanks Lady. I'll keep trying, and try to remember to pause the game overnight. Hope it does the trick.