Colony simulation games have always had one core truth: people are your most valuable resource. And after spending dozens (okay… hundreds) of hours in Going Medieval, I’ve realized something important — expanding your settlement isn’t as straightforward as in other colony builders.

In many games you just wait for births or build houses and suddenly new villagers appear. But Going Medieval is different. The world is harsh, dangerous, and recovering from a devastating plague. Every new settler matters, and getting them often requires planning, patience, and sometimes a little creativity.

Many players hit what feels like a hard limit around 10–14 settlers and assume the game is bugged. It isn’t. The system is designed that way. But if you’re dreaming of building a massive stone citadel or a bustling medieval town, there are several ways to push beyond that plateau.

After experimenting with different playthroughs, here are the strategies that consistently helped me grow my population.

Why Population Growth Slows Down

Before trying to increase your population, it helps to understand how the game actually decides when new settlers arrive.

The game uses a dynamic event system that adjusts depending on the size and strength of your colony.

In simple terms: the bigger and safer your colony becomes, the less the game tries to help you grow.

Instead of sending refugees or wanderers, the game starts throwing challenges at you — raids, harsh weather, disease outbreaks, and other disasters.

That’s why growth slows dramatically once your settlement stabilizes.

Settlement Wealth Matters More Than You Think

One thing that surprised me early on is how much settlement value influences immigration.

A group of survivors looking for refuge will be far more likely to join a prosperous fortress than a few muddy huts barely surviving winter.

Some things that noticeably increase settlement prestige:

• Large decorated halls
• Libraries and religious rooms
• Stockpiles of food
• High-quality furniture
• Luxury goods and crafted items

In my experience, once your colony starts looking like an actual medieval town rather than a temporary camp, arrival events become slightly more common again.

Think of it as your settlement developing a reputation.

Leave Empty Bedrooms Ready

This is one of those tricks that long-time players swear by.

There’s strong evidence the game checks whether your settlement has space for new people.

If you have exactly the same number of beds as settlers, the system seems less likely to send new arrivals.

What I personally do is always maintain three to five empty bedrooms.

Not just random beds, but actual decent rooms.

Good recruitment rooms include:

• A proper bed
• Table and chair
• Rugs or decorations
• Candles or torches

Better rooms also increase the impressiveness rating, which may attract higher-quality recruits with better skills.

The Most Reliable Method: Capturing Raiders

If there’s one strategy that consistently works in modern versions of the game, it’s converting prisoners into settlers.

Honestly, this has become the real population engine of the late game.

Instead of waiting for events, you create your own settlers.

Step 1: Stop Killing Raiders Instantly

When you want prisoners, lethal weapons become a problem.

Bladed weapons and bows often kill enemies before they can be captured.

Instead, create a capture squad equipped with blunt weapons like:

• Maces
• Flails
• Cudgels

Blunt damage increases the chance of enemies falling unconscious instead of dying.

Traps can help too. They often wound enemies without killing them outright.

Step 2: Build a Proper Prison

Once enemies are down, you can capture them — but the conditions of their cell matter a lot.

A miserable dungeon slows recruitment dramatically.

A decent prison cell should include:

• Bed
• Table
• Warm lighting
• Acceptable temperature
• Regular food supply

A comfortable prisoner loses resistance faster, which means they join your colony sooner.

It sounds counterintuitive, but kindness speeds up recruitment.

Step 3: Assign a Skilled Warden

Recruitment success heavily depends on your settlers’ Speechcraft skill.

Always assign the best speaker in your colony to handle prisoners.

Over time they will:

• Reduce resistance
• Attempt conversion
• Eventually recruit the prisoner

Religion also plays a role. Prisoners with different beliefs can take longer to convert, especially if your settlement follows a different faith.

Adding religious structures nearby sometimes helps align them faster.

The Caravan Population Trick

This method feels a little bit like gaming the system, but it works surprisingly well.

The event system calculates population based on how many settlers are currently on the map.

So here’s what you can do:

1. Form a caravan with about half your settlers.
2. Send them to a nearby settlement or just outside your territory.
3. Wait for a while.

Now the game thinks your colony suddenly has far fewer people.

This can sometimes trigger newcomer events, like wandering refugees or people asking for help.

Once the event triggers and you accept the new settler, simply bring the caravan back.

Is it an exploit? Maybe.

Is it effective? Definitely.

Starting With More Settlers

If you’re starting a new playthrough, the easiest way to have a larger colony is by using custom scenarios.

The scenario editor lets you adjust your starting population.

Instead of beginning with three survivors, you could start with 10 or even 15 settlers.

However, there’s a catch.

More people means:

• Much higher food consumption
• More housing requirements
• Harder early winters

Without a solid farming plan, a large starting group can actually make the game much harder.

Editing the Population Cap

Players who want truly massive settlements sometimes edit the game files.

Because the game stores many settings in editable files, the population soft cap can be changed manually.

Typically this involves adjusting values related to:

• maximum settler count
• population limits
• event triggers

After modification, the game may allow 30, 40, or even 50 settlers.

However, I strongly recommend backing up files first.

Large populations can cause performance issues because every settler constantly calculates tasks, pathfinding routes, and schedules.

Managing Large Settlements Successfully

Getting settlers is only half the challenge.

Running a huge medieval colony brings its own problems.

Food Production Becomes Critical

Food demand scales extremely fast.

A colony of 20 settlers can burn through supplies at a frightening rate.

Reliable crops include:

• Cabbage
• Barley
• Redcurrant

Once population grows, large-scale farming is mandatory.

Multiple Kitchens Are Required

One hearth simply cannot keep up with a large colony.

For 20+ settlers I usually build three or four cooking stations.

Set them to automated production orders like:

“Cook until you have X meals.”

This prevents starvation during busy seasons.

Sanitation and Disease

Recent updates added deeper sanitation systems.

More settlers means:

• More waste
• Higher infection risk
• Faster disease spread

Without proper hygiene management, a single outbreak can devastate your settlement.

Performance Tips

Large settlements can slow down the game.

Some helpful adjustments:

• Lower job update frequency
• Reduce decorative shadows
• Avoid extremely complex building layouts

These tweaks can significantly reduce lag once you reach large populations.

Bigger Isn’t Always Better

After many long playthroughs, I’ve come to an interesting conclusion.

A colony of 15 skilled settlers often performs better than 30 untrained villagers.

Highly skilled settlers can:

• craft faster
• fight better
• manage resources efficiently

Meanwhile large populations often introduce chaos — idle workers, food shortages, and logistical headaches.

Still, if your goal is to build a sprawling medieval fortress or recreate a living medieval city, expanding your population is incredibly satisfying.

And honestly, watching dozens of settlers defend your walls during a raid is one of the coolest experiences the game offers.

Final Thoughts

Growing your population in Going Medieval requires patience, strategy, and sometimes clever manipulation of the game’s systems.

The most effective approach combines several methods:

• maintaining empty housing
• increasing settlement prestige
• capturing and converting prisoners
• occasionally using caravan tricks

Master these systems and your humble settlement can evolve into a thriving medieval stronghold filled with life.

And if you’re like me, you’ll eventually reach the point where your biggest problem isn’t finding settlers — it’s remembering all their names.