Breaks

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Villagers taking a break at the Hearth

Overview

Every few minutes villagers have to return to a nearby Hearth for a break, to eat, rest, and satisfy needs. All consumption happens during breaks. Villagers of different species take breaks at different Intervals.

There are two worker status icons used for villager breaks:

• = walking to the Hearth for a break
• = resting at the Hearth

Break Intervals

Break Intervals show how much time each species has between breaks. Longer intervals translate to less consumption. For example, Bats consume around 45% more goods compared to Frogs. Humans consume ~30% more than Frogs.^[1]

Longer intervals also mean that villagers will spend more time doing tasks, but, all else being equal, the difference in output between different species in negligible.

Species
Break Interval	01:40	02:00	02:00	02:30	01:40	02:00	01:40

Break mechanics

Duration

Base break duration is 6 seconds. That does not include travel time, only the time spent at the Hearth. Due to breaks' low duration, travel time to and from the Hearth usually takes up most of the time dedicated to a break. Accessible Hearths and efficient building layout are essential if you want to minimize time your workers spend on breaks.

Cycle timer

The Break Interval is reset when a villager finishes their break.^[2] Travel time from the Hearth to their task after a break is not excluded. Newcomers that arrive in your settlement go straight to the Hearth for a break after they appear.

Place

Villagers will always take breaks at the closest Hearth. Shelters or houses they are assigned to have no effect on their Hearth choice. A break does not involve a visit to Housing, Warehouses or Service buildings.

Interruptions

Villagers will never interrupt their current task to go for a break, i.e. if they are 3 seconds into a 126-second production cycle when it's time for their break, they will finish the cycle before walking to the Hearth. Hauling one stack of resources to and from a Warehouse, completing a production cycle, erecting a building, and Glade Event solving are all examples of singular tasks that breaks cannot interrupt. Similarly, once a villager has decided to go on a break, there is no way to alter their decision.

Consumption

All consumption happens at the Hearth during a break. That includes raw food, Complex Food, Clothing and Service Needs. Shelter and Housing Needs are fulfilled as soon as Shelters and Species Housing are constructed. All Resources are consumed at the end of the break, when villagers are about to leave. The amount of goods consumed is subject to modifiers, the most prominent of which are Parasites and Consumerism from Prestige 7 and 8 respectively.

During a break, villagers will consume food with the following priority (note that all options equally leave them full until the next break):

1. One of each available preferred Complex Food (each will contribute to a Resolve boost).
2. One random raw food.
3. One available Complex Food they don't like.

While  Coats and  Boots will be consumed by villagers to satisfy their respective Clothing Needs as long as you have some in storage, Service Goods have to be stocked in Service buildings to be consumed.

You can modify villagers' consumption behavior using Consumption Control.

Forest Mysteries influencing breaks

Mystery	Penalty	Activation	Prevention
Cold Snap	+50% chance of affected villager eating double during break.	Hostility 3	1x Complex Food
Downpour	+50% chance of affected villager eating double during break.	Hostility 5	1x Housing 1x Services
Eclipse	-33% time between breaks for affected villagers.	Hostility 6	2x Services
Insatiable Hunger	+10% chance per Hostility level for villagers to consume double the amount of food on break.	Hostility 4	—
Nauseating Spores	-33% time between breaks for affected villagers.	Hostility 4	1x Services
Vanishing Goods	+10% chance per Hostility level for villagers to consume twice the amount of goods when using Services.	Hostility 4	—
Inspiring View	The astonishingly beautiful view motivates villagers to work. The time interval between breaks is increased by +25%.	Drizzle	—

Perks and Cornerstones influencing breaks

Break-related Perks and Cornerstones

Name	Rarity	Description	Sources										Price
			Alt	Cor	Ord	Rel	Tra	Dec	Por	Fir	Ser	Bio
Crowded Houses (Stormforged)	Mythic	All houses have room for 1 more villager, and the time between breaks for workers increases by +25%.	Alt	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	0
Drying Boards	Rare	A clever invention that makes it easier to dry clothes. Time between breaks is increased by +10% for villagers with the need for coats fulfilled.	x	x	x	x	Tra	x	Por	x	x	x	20
Generous Rations	Legendary	Global Resolve is increased by 5, but the chance of villagers consuming twice the amount of food during a break is increased by +50%.	x	Cor	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	0
Generous Rations (Stormforged)	Mythic	Global Resolve is increased by 5, and villagers have a +10% chance of not consuming food during a break.	Alt	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	0
Travel Rations	Epic	With provisions, haulers don't have to return to the hearth as often. Increases the time between breaks for haulers by +50% and their carrying capacity by +5.	x	Cor	x	x	x	x	Por	x	x	x	0

Plagues influencing breaks

Plague	Description
Plague of Malady	The Sealed Ones have inflicted a mysterious disease on the settlement. Villagers take +50% longer rests and have a +100% higher chance of consuming twice as much food during a break.

References

1. Testing done by Discord user @aphannnt https://discord.com/channels/418545968666116096/1340489264420356189
2. Break time counter start was tested by Discord user die_die.