Beginner Guide
Learn the interface, choose your starting region, found your first village, and follow a practical opening checklist for the demo.
County of Fortune — Demo Trailer · Aquila Interactive · YouTube ↗
Build an entire medieval county by founding settlements, connecting trade routes, and balancing regional production. Govern mayors, noble houses, and cultures as villages grow into thriving towns. Start with the free demo and prepare for Early Access.
Start Here
Learn the interface, choose your starting region, found your first village, and follow a practical opening checklist for the demo.
Pick sites based on food, forest, stone, and river direction. Learn how equipment, food needs, and building slots affect settlement growth.
Connect market squares, fix broken roads, upgrade transport capacity, and understand when regional trade needs markets or raft ports.
Understand free construction points, carpentry points, and masonry points. Keep guilds supplied so buildings can be completed and maintained.
FROM THE WIKI
Understand the reworked Culture Traits, Traditional Product pairings, and regional population bonuses in County of Fortune's current demo.
Read guideculturesChoose Traditional Products, understand Renown slot unlocks, and combine cultural bonuses using the updated County of Fortune demo rules.
Read guideguideStart a County of Fortune demo region with settlements, roads, equipment, construction points, and a clear path to Commoners.
Read guideguideLearn what the County of Fortune October demo includes, how to start its economy, and which saves carry into Early Access.
Read guideguideCounty of Fortune October demo progress carries into the game, but older Next Fest saves do not work with the October demo.
Read guideguideFind r/CountyOfFortune, its game discussions and update posts, and reliable Steam or Discord alternatives for current demo help.
Read guidemayorsChoose County of Fortune mayor bonuses that fit each settlement's production, and compare new hires with existing mayors after the demo rework.
Read guidemayorsAppoint a County of Fortune mayor through the settlement window's empty red portrait, then compare production bonuses before choosing.
Read guideCounty of Fortune
County of Fortune is a medieval county-building strategy and simulation game from Nepos Games, published by Aquila Interactive. Instead of constructing just one city, you establish several settlements and shape their growth across a connected landscape of roads, rivers, and resources.
Production chains and regional trade link specialized villages into a shared economy, while mayors, noble houses, and cultures influence how the county develops. The free demo supports settlement growth up to level 2, with level 4 and more production content planned for Early Access.
Find help with settlements, transport, construction points, production and regional government. Demo details are distinguished from the planned Early Access content.
Start your medieval county with a guide to founding settlements, choosing resources, and connecting villages. Learn the essential controls and early-game priorities before expanding your economy.
Select Build New Settlement or press C to found your first settlement.
Choose a marked starting location and place the building inside its blue resource area.
Inspect food sources, forests, stone deposits, and river direction before expanding.
Press V to connect neighboring settlements through roads between their market squares.
Develop food and equipment production to satisfy settlement needs.
Learn how to establish settlements, unlock additional building slots, and advance through settlement levels. Understand how food, equipment, and worker availability determine settlement growth.
Select settlement locations according to resources, terrain, and regional transport access.
Supply food recipes and equipment to fulfill consumption requirements.
Select Level Up beside the mayor portrait after satisfying the settlement's needs.
Supply wooden chests or wool tunics to Peasant households to unlock a second building slot.
The demo supports settlement level 2, while Early Access is planned to support level 4.
Master road construction, bridge placement, and transport upgrades to keep goods moving between settlements. Learn how to fix disconnected roads and improve traffic capacity.
Press V to connect the central market squares of neighboring settlements.
Hold Shift to construct diagonal roads and avoid red sections indicating invalid placement.
Use the bridge tool when roads need to cross rivers or other water obstacles.
Produce stone through a quarry and Mason's Guild to enable stone-road upgrades.
Upgrade roads to improve vendor movement speed and transport capacity.
Discover how regional trade works through markets, roads, raft ports, and navigable rivers. Learn to configure automatic deliveries and transport heavy materials between regions.
Upgrade settlements to level 2 to unlock markets and raft ports.
Connect markets by road for land trade or establish raft ports for river transport.
Press T to open trading, select goods, and create a route between regions.
Enable automatic trading to adjust quantities according to regional demand.
In the demo, heavy materials such as logs, stone, clay, and sand require river transport, and rafts travel downstream only.
Understand Free Construction Points, Carpentry Points, and Masonry Points. Learn how construction resources, guild production, and maintenance affect the development of your county.
Free Construction Points accumulate gradually and can replace Carpentry Points during construction.
A Carpenter's Guild and wood supply are required to generate Carpentry Points.
A Mason's Guild and stone supply generate Masonry Points for more advanced buildings.
Insufficient construction-point production can reduce building maintenance.
Construction Point availability appears in the top-right interface and regional overview.
Explore the relationships between raw materials, production buildings, equipment, and settlement needs. Learn to diagnose missing inputs, improve production efficiency, and unlock additional workers.
Local resource availability determines which settlements can produce food, wood, stone, and other materials.
Wooden chests and wool tunics help satisfy Peasant equipment needs and unlock building slots.
Production buildings display warnings when required input products are unavailable.
Additional food recipes can improve settlement efficiency, while equipment increases building slots and worker capacity.
Early Access is planned to introduce over 40 additional production buildings and 50 products.
Learn how mayors, noble houses, and cultures influence your county's development. Discover the updated mayor system and how Traditional Products create cultural production bonuses.
Open the settlement window and select a mayor whose bonuses complement local production.
Negative mayor bonuses and penalties for transferring mayors between settlements have been removed.
Mayors belong to noble houses that influence the political development of the county.
Each culture has six Traditional Product slots, with Culture Traits creating synergies between selected products.
According to the October 28 developer diary, a culture representing more than 75% of a region's population receives twice its Traditional Product bonuses there.
Find information about the free demo, Early Access release, settlement levels, and save compatibility. Compare the demo with the announced Early Access content and learn which progress carries over.
County of Fortune is scheduled to enter Steam Early Access on November 5, 2026.
The current demo includes one map, settlement progression to level 2, and the Commoner social class.
Early Access is planned to expand settlements to level 4 with Artisan and Patrician social classes.
The announced expansion includes over 40 production buildings and 50 products.
Current October demo progress can transfer to Early Access, but earlier Steam Next Fest demo saves are incompatible with the October demo.
The essentials before building your county.
Steam lists November 5, 2026 as the planned Early Access release date.
The October demo FAQ lists one map, settlement progression to level 2 and the Commoner social class.
The current demo FAQ says progress carries over to Early Access. Earlier Steam Next Fest saves are incompatible with the October demo.
No. This is an independent fan-made guide website, not affiliated with Nepos Games or Aquila Interactive.
From the first settlement and its resource needs to roads, trade, construction points, and regional politics, find practical guides for every stage of your county. Start with the demo today and return for the Early Access updates.
Read the Beginner Guide