I’m not sure how many campaigns I’ve started between singleplayer and co-op in Kingdom Two Crowns, but it’s probably too many. It’s super easy to spend a few hours playing the game… and then find that you’re screwed and have to start over.
Two Crowns brings a lot of new things to the table over New Lands, some of it good and some bad. I’m not here to go into all that, though. We’re here to talk about how you can survive the game’s brutal winter season.
Winter never ended in Kingdom New Lands, but here in Two Crowns it’s only a temporary setback to your ever-expanding kingdom. With that in mind, you just have to steel yourself for the cold season — and honestly, it’s not that hard.
The biome you choose when you first start a campaign completely changes how you should prepare for winter thanks to the fact that pikemen are not available in the shogun biome. This also makes winter more difficult than in the medieval biome, but we’ll get to all that in a bit.
Pre-winter Economy
Here’s how you get a functional economy up so you’re rolling in money whenever there’s grass around:
- Hire several archers
- Cut down trees starting from your base on both sides, so you have expansive hunting grounds for your archers
- Roll in money
If you feel like you’re not making enough money in the warmer months, you need to get some hunting grounds cleared.
If you’re playing in the medieval biome, pikemen are also a steady source of income during all seasons but they do require some upkeep as they will drop their pikes after a few attacks. They should not be relied upon as your primary money source outside of winter, though.
When Does Winter Start and How Long Does It Last?
Winter seems to start somewhere over the 40 total day mark, I’ve heard tale it can start after the 60 day mark. I haven’t seen it happen, though.
Winter’s duration also seems to be random. I’ve had one winter that only lasted a few days with one snow, and another that seemed to last a couple of weeks with five snowfalls.
With this in mind, you need to plan for the worst and hope for the best. You can’t run from winter, even if you hop to another island mid-season. If it’s winter on one island, it’s winter on them all.
How to Kick Winter in Its Medieval Teeth
Your key to maintaining a sustainable income in winter when playing in the medieval biome entirely relies on your pikemen.
To hire pikemen, you must:
- Enter the stone age
- Expand your camp outward with stone walls
Once you notice the leaves on the trees starting to brown, you need to start prioritizing hiring pikemen to fish. I like to have at least six pikemen roaming the camp at a time in winter, and the more the merrier as long as you have enough archers.
Buy new pikes each day over winter, maybe one to four depending on how heavily the Greed are swarming your camp. Do not let your economy tank by slacking on hiring new pikemen, since they drop their pikes after a few attacks.
Some trees will drop extra coins when you cut them down as well. Though it may not be sustainable income, it’s an option if you only have one or two coins and don’t have much else to do.
If you have no source of income at all and no money in your 
pouch, stand in front of your banker each day for three free coins. At least, that’s what happened in my last desolate winter.
How to Kick Winter in Its Shogunate Butt
Surviving winter in the shogun biome is much more of a pain than the medieval one since you don’t get pikemen to fish over the season. Instead, you have to save those coins at your friendly neighborhood banker as soon as the trees’ leaves start to brown.
For reference, the banker is the guy that wanders out of your camp each day.
To give the banker your money, you just drop it near him and he will pick it up. To retrieve your money, just stand in front of him and he’ll spew forth whatever you’ve given him.
The banker can hold a ton of money, but he’s annoying in his own way — it’s sometimes a little too easy to accidentally make him drop the money he has saved.
Once you start to save for winter, it’s imperative that you not dawdle in the main part of your base. Run in, hire your guys, and be careful not to stand anywhere near the banker. You can always toss the money back at him, but that gets old real fast.
Once winter starts, stop on by and get your money. Drop whatever you think you can’t hold as he’s dropping it, otherwise the overflow will drop right into the water and be gone forever.
You can also cut down trees in winter for some coin in the shogun biome, but bamboo does not seem to drop extra coins. The thick, brown trees have a high chance of dropping an extra coin or two, though.
You should be able to get three coins per day from your banker on the shogun biome as well, provided you have no income. I need to test it on this biome, though!
*****
Winter is the least fun part of Kingdom Two Crowns, but it’s only temporary. You have to know it’s coming and be aware of the state of the nearby trees to know when it’s time to buckle down and save — don’t stress it outside of autumn. It’s not hard, really.
