Mountain Shadow advanced tips: the numbers that matter

The biggest wins in Mountain Shadow are cheap: a Stone stove costs just 1 log and cuts the firewood by a quarter, a second Drying rack doubles how much fish you can keep, and resting a tired place brings it back for free. This page shows the real numbers, so you can plan a cosy winter with fewer workers.

Firewood: the best deal in the game

The full wood line for a winter is 12 for a cabin. Other homes change it:

• A grown-up on Wood at a full forest gathers 8 wood in a warm season. So the cabin's 12 is about one and a half grown-up seasons of work.
• The Stone stove costs 1 log and 30 seconds of work. It is the cheapest saving in the game, and it ticks the goal Keep the cabin warm.
• The Big cabin burns 20 % more than the cabin. It gives a bigger warm circle. Build it with a stove.
• Keep extra wood for the storm: it burns about 3 more for a cabin, never more than half the pile. See cold days and the big storm.

Food: fishing math

• Your family eats about 11 food every season at the start: 2 for each of the three people aged 13 and older, 1 for each child.
• One grown-up fishing at a full place gets 14 fish a season. That only just feeds the family, so nothing is left for winter.
• With two or three people fishing, there is fish to spare. But only a Drying rack keeps it: 20 per rack per season, and you can build 2.
• The best fishing spot gives 25 % more, and the Better net another 25 %.
• Every child who turns 13 eats 2 instead of 1. Your food line grows each year.

Potatoes

Your 3 sacks of seed potatoes from the trek give 18 potatoes. A grown-up plants or digs up to 4 sacks in a season. A child works at 70 %, so a child alone plants just under 3 sacks. Put a grown-up or two people on it. Build the Root cellar before the first cold season, or half the potatoes freeze.

Keep your places rested

Each place has five levels. What it gives:

• About 15 seconds of work at a place in one season makes it drop one level. About 90 seconds of work (for example two people for a whole season) makes it drop two.
• A place nobody worked at grows back one level, but only from Spring to Autumn.
• So switch between the lake shore, the river and the deep lake, and between the forests. One season on, one season off keeps a place high.

Walk times

Everyone walks from home at the start of every season. Near places (lake shore, field, meadow) take 1 to 3 seconds. The forests, river and big bog take about 6. The cloudberry bog takes about 26 and the summit 46. The cloudberry bog gives 50 % more berries, but only for the part of the season that is left. Use far places in long warm seasons, never in 30-second cold ones. All walk times are on the fell page.

People: speed adds up

All bonuses multiply. A grown-up on their favourite job with 3 stars works at 1.25 × 1.3, about 1.6 times normal speed. A tired child on someone else's favourite works at 0.7 × 0.6, about 0.4. So:

• Put each person on their favourite job when it is useful.
• Keep people on the same job: stars come after 1, 3 and 6 minutes of work.
• Rest a tired worker for half a season rather than keep them slow.

A strong build order

1. Lean-to (2 logs): a home right away.
2. Drying rack (2 logs): keep the summer fish.
3. Cabin (12 logs): two thirds of the lean-to's firewood.
4. Stone stove (1 log): a quarter less again.
5. Root cellar (3 logs): no frozen potatoes.
6. Second drying rack (2 logs).
7. Woodshed (4 logs): the woodpile holds 56 instead of 16.
8. Barn (14 logs): less hay, milk in winter and 22 more hay room.
9. Fence (4 logs): no more reindeer at the haystack.
10. Boat (4 logs) and Sauna (8 logs).

Help yourself by placing several buildings at once: builders always go on to the oldest one you placed.

See also

• Tips for new settlers: the simple version.
• Buildings, Jobs and The winter piles: all values.
• More strategy guides: the Building Town guide and the Timber Haul guide.
• Put it to work: play Mountain Shadow.

• About Mountain Shadow
• All game guides