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The setup for Lonesome Village is simple: you’re an adventurer, seeking to free the residents of a village who’ve been trapped by a cult, using only the power of friendship. It’s adorable, attention-holding, and oh-so-satisfying.

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But like with any game, there are things that dawn on you so many hours into a game that make you realize you’d have had an easier time if only you’d done this differently or prepared that ahead. After playing the game through, we’ve got a handful of helpful hints to make sure you get the most out of your time trying to save the town.

This guide will look at ways to make life easy outside of the Tower itself. For solutions to the puzzles inside the Tower, check out our chapter walkthroughs.

Use The Map To Your Advantage

the completed lonesome village map with fast travel points

One of the first things you notice when you begin the game is that the map is relatively big (and empty, to start). Only a few sections are open initially, but you’ll later unlock the beach to the south, the desert to the west, the mountain to the northwest, the swamp to the east, and, lastly, the jungle to the northeast.

Every area has unique resources to collect and shops to hit. While you’re exploring, be sure to stop and formally meet everyone at their house to begin their friendship quests.

Should you ever forget where you were going, you can zoom in on each section of the map to see who lives there and who has quests available. The map notes if this is a key quest that progresses the story, an important quest that builds the world, or a normal quest for hearts.

Faster Travels

ken walking past the mine shortcut in the mountain in lonesome village

You’ll quickly notice the bird statues littered around the map. The bird statues are fast travel points, but you won’t unlock them until Chapter Three. By helping Didi get their hot air balloon off the ground, you receive the ability to fast-travel.

Think about where you need to go before you call Didi. Between playing the song, seeing the animation, choosing a spot, seeing another animation, and waiting for the new area to load, fast travel can occasionally take longer than just walking.

Another way to get around quicker is to unlock the mining shortcut between Center Village and the Mountain. When you meet Robert at the end of Chapter Two and begin mining in Chapter Three, you’ll receive the tool needed to break the rock in front of the mine in the north part of Center Village. Breaking the rock on the other side as well will save you a ton of walking.

Make The Most Of Your Time

ken and roger talking in lonesome village with ken earning heart points

A good strategy for playing Lonesome Village is to approach your tasks in chunks. With 30 floors in the Tower, you’ll need 27 hearts total to reach the top (some floors have a shrine requiring an item instead of a puzzle to solve a villager). When you need to leave to get these items, it doesn’t hurt to go earn several hearts at once while you’re not in the Tower.

Villagers level up through fetch quests, while shopkeepers level up when you use their shop. Villagers will request specific items in exchange for hearts, gold, or other items, so you're able to diversify how you earn them to your liking.

Bypass Tower Levels If You're Stuck

Ken outside the wizard coyote's tent in lonesome village.

If the puzzles in the Tower are proving difficult, you are able to bypass them - for a cost. The sign outside the puzzle doors has the silhouette of a ticket, and inserting a ticket immediately gives you the item you would receive by doing the puzzle.

You can get tickets from the vendor in the wizard tent in the East Village by the lake. One ticket costs 100g, and each one allows you to bypass one level in the Tower. It's not the most cost-effective way to play the game, but if you're really stuck on something, it's a seamless way to carry on.

Earn Gold The Smart Way

ken talking to california in the shop to sell items in lonesome village

There are many ways to earn gold in Lonesome Village, but among the easiest are villager heart requests. They don’t always pay gold and they don’t always pay well, but it’s a good way to kill two birds with one stone.

If you’re looking for a big, easy payout, rocks with gemstones are your ticket to quick cash. Though you mostly receive iron or gold, these rocks can also give you diamond, amethyst, emerald, and ruby. You do need some for the rarer items that Row sells when you unlock him, but California pays handsomely for these gems.

A final option for making money is redoing the Tower puzzles when you’re able. Some offer additional levels after getting the key item, while others are simply eligible for a second completion. Any additional work will almost always yield some coins.

Save Flowers In Colors You Don't Currently Need

assorted orchids roses and tulips from lonesome garden rainbow

While it may be tempting to sell the excess of everything you’ve found, hold onto some extras in your chest. With only so many resources in the game, you’ll often see villagers requesting similar items – flowers, particularly.

We cover gardening more in-depth in our Guide to Gardening, but there are three flowers that grow multiple colors: tulips, roses, and orchids. The outcome seems to be random each time you plant a seed, so be sure to save other colors of these flowers if you’ve got extras, as you may need another bunch of them later.

Worth noting, though, is that, if a villager asks for so many of a flower, they don’t all have to be that color, but they do have to be the same color. If someone asks for five red tulips, they’ll still accept five yellow tulips, but you can’t combine stacks, so you’d need five of each.

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