Manor Lords dev reveals more big changes to one of 2024's greatest city builders: 'As some of you have requested, changes to ale and water distribution are finally coming'

Manor Lords, a popular indie city builder, is getting an update introducing new water and ale management systems, along with a mountainous map, all designed to enhance gameplay and provide more strategic depth.

Viral indie city builder Manor Lords is getting an update that changes the way water and ale are distributed amongst your citizens, as well as a fresh map to play on.

Sort-of-solo developer Greg Styczeń shared some photos on Twitter of the new features coming to Manor Lords. When I played it at launch, I remember popping a well down and then forgetting about water for the rest of my playthrough – I never ran into any shortages. That's about to change, as wellheads will soon display the supply and demand of water in a given town, so you'd better keep an eye on it and build more if you don't want your subjects getting dehydrated.

Back in ye olden days, people often drank ale or mead instead of water because the fresh stuff could be unsafe for consumption. A bit of alcohol can help to kill bacteria and keep people healthy. So, it makes sense that the way ale is handed out in Manor Lords is also changing. One of the pictures shared by Styczeń shows a tavern with an entertainment supply and demand value. It's unclear at the moment if this is how many houses the tavern's radius covers, how much ale there is compared to how much people want, a combination of both, or lumped in with a broader entertainment need.

The developer notes that "some of you have requested" these features and they are currently in closed testing. So, we don't know when we'll be seeing these added to the game, but hopefully it won't be too long a wait – my people are thirsty.

As some of you have requested, changes to ale and water distribution are finally coming. They are now in closed testing (plus I attached an extra shot from the new map). pic.twitter.com/lwiFhPb9YnNovember 2, 2024

We also got a sneak peak at the new map being added to the game. Currently, there is only one available, but the resources get randomly generated for each campaign, helping to keep things fresh. While the original is a slightly hilly, forested landscape, this new one looks far more mountainous. This could help tremendously with the game's difficult real-time strategy combat component. I tend to play on the peaceful modes, or at least turn off unprovoked AI aggression because I find it too difficult to properly defend an entirely exposed town, so starting a city in a more defensible region with a mountain on one or more sides would be amazing.

There are more maps in the works, but Styczeń hasn't revealed anything about them yet. What we do know is they'll stick to the medieval European theme unless a "future expansion" comes out. Other than that, the developer is doing "nothing 'cool' sadly, it's hard work that's needed," so we can expect more improvements to Manor Lords to keep trickling in.

If you're thinking about diving in for the first time, we've got some Manor Lords beginner tips that will help you survive the harsh winters and deadly raider attacks.