What size should you build your cemeteries when playing Banished?

Cemeteries are a grim business, but just as in life, you can’t do without them in Banished, a city-building video game by Shining Rock Software. If you’ve already built tons of farms, pastures, houses, and markets, but the feeling that you’re forgetting something won’t go away, check if you’ve built any cemeteries. You haven’t? Well, now you know what you’ve forgotten.

So what kind of cemetery would you even like to build? A big one? A small one? Lots of small ones, with a big one in the middle? Does that even matter?

Yes, it does, and if you’d like to know why it matters, you’ve come to the right place.

Why is cemetery size important?

First off, why do you need a cemetery in your Banished town? 

When I said you can’t do without one in the game, I wasn’t 100% honest. You can build a community without a single cemetery, but it will have consequences. As a city-building game, Banished is very complex and considers many different aspects of human life. It’s not enough to just make sure your people have roofs over their heads and enough food to eat. A lot of things have a negative or positive impact on the happiness of the citizens. 

For example, building houses too close to a mine or a quarry will be a violent hit on the happiness of their residents, whereas building cemeteries will allow your citizens to bury their relatives and friends, which will increase their happiness. You will also notice that a cemetery is a frequent destination point for those who are in the mood to idle. Would you really deny them a few hours of peace they can enjoy visiting a deceased husband or parent?

Cemeteries are an important addition to the life of your community. You just need to decide how big to make them and how many you need, and this is where I can help!

5. The 7x7 cemetery

The smallest cemetery in the game.

7x7 is the minimum size of the cemetery that can be built in Banished. The game won’t allow you to build any smaller than that, and frankly, you wouldn’t really need to. As your citizens die, their graves automatically appear in the cemetery, and it increases the level of happiness for those who have just buried their loved ones.

Don’t worry, those graves won’t stay there forever. Occasionally, the graves disappear, making more spots available for any future graves. The fewer people you have and the better their conditions are, the less frequent deaths are. For instance, having enough food for everyone means nobody dies of starvation, and building warm houses and dressing your citizens in coats means nobody freezes to death. 

Of course, there will always be scenarios over which you have little control. Occasionally, a woman will die during childbirth, or a forester will be killed by a falling tree, but ideally, the major cause of death is old age. If that’s the case, a 7x7 cemetery will last for decades before you’ll need to think of building additional cemeteries.

What is great about this cemetery size

• Small in size and undemanding in resources required to build it.
• Excellent way of boosting your citizens’ happiness without spending any more resources or map space than the present situation requires.
• Fits really well next to small churches or parishes. You can build them together, with a small cemetery right in the backyard of your church, to complete the set.
• Although small, it’s sufficient for the first few decades when your citizens are still young and the death rate of old age is between low and zero.

4. The 10x10 cemetery

Building cemeteries near churches or cathedrals makes your city look more realistic.

The general rule I stick to when planning cemeteries in my town is, build every new cemetery slightly bigger than the previous one until you reach the maximum size allowed. There will come a time when your 7x7 cemetery is no longer big enough to fit any more graves, so you’ll know that it’s time to expand.

Here’s when you should think about building a 10x10 cemetery. It’s bigger, and with the increasing number of deaths (because of the increased population), it’s a good option to turn to. After all, it makes no sense to build as big a cemetery for 500 people as the one you build when you only had 100, right?

What is great about this cemetery size

• It brings a more noticeable impact on the happiness of your citizens. When you had a few dozens of people, a 7x7 cemetery worked, but with the population of a couple of hundreds, you need more space for burying people. Don’t fall behind.
• Although it’s bigger than a 7x7 cemetery, it is still simple and easy in building and does not need too much space.
• You can build a new, bigger church that you haven’t built before, and place this new cemetery in its backyard. Perfect for a visit on a Sunday.

3. The 15x10 cemetery

A cemetery right in the middle of a city is a convenient location for your citizens to idle.

Your population is growing, your birth rate is growing, which also means your death rate is growing. You can’t be satisfied after building only 2 cemeteries. You can’t stop there. Well, not if you want to continue making your citizens happy.

A 15x10 cemetery, since it’s larger, offers space for a higher number of graves. Remember that the graves disappear over time, making space for new ones, and now, you have a whole lot of 3 cemeteries to do that. As long as you keep your people from starving or freezing to death, this should be enough for, let’s say, 250 people.

What is great about this cemetery size

• It makes people happy. Yes, this doesn’t change from cemetery to cemetery. People in this game have spirituality. They want to have their spiritual needs met. By building cemeteries, you’re doing just that.
• More space for future graves. 
• An amazing addition to a larger church or some jaw-droppingly impressive cathedral.

2. The 15x15 cemetery

Big cathedrals call for vast cemeteries.

By now, you may have, what, 400 citizens? 500?

Whatever the number, if you’re thinking about building yet another cemetery, it must be because there’s a need for it. Forget about sticking to the sizes that used to work for you when you had 100-150 people in your care. A 7x7 or a 10x10 won’t do. You need to think bigger. You need to build bigger.

This is where a 15x15 cemetery comes into the picture. It might be more time-consuming to build a cemetery of this size, but you can prepare the area in advance by removing all the resources from it to clear the space for your future graveyard. By the way, they will be plenty, so there’s another advantage for you!

What is great about this cemetery size

• A significant impact on your citizens’ happiness. They will be happy to know that those who are gone can still be remembered, and this cemetery will serve as an excellent meeting point, a bridge between the living and the dead. 
• Clearing the area designated to the cemetery will bring you a lot of resources, such as logs or, for instance, stone, which you’ll definitely need to build the cemetery in the first place.
• Turn your cemetery into a backyard for a cathedral as gigantic as the one I’ve built! Your citizens will definitely visit on a regular basis, just see if they don’t.
• It’ll prove to be useful and functional for many years to come, and it will be a while before you’ll have to think about building another cemetery.

1. The 20x20 cemetery

This cemetery will one day become home for dozens and dozens of souls.

Is it time to welcome the biggest cemetery you will ever build? Yes, it looks like it is.

With hundreds (and I mean hundreds) of citizens under your control, you can’t be too generous in the space you provide for them to grieve and remember their deceased loved ones. Even a 15x15 cemetery can’t do the job anymore, so it is high time you invested in the biggest cemetery in your town.

Let me warn you right away: a 20x20 cemetery is a demanding little thing (well, not so little, I guess). It’s best to prepare in advance: clear the area where you plan to build the cemetery, stock up on stone as much as you can because building it will take a while. The bad news is, you can assign only 2 builders to do the job. The good news is, 2 builders are enough.

What is great about this cemetery size

• Thanks to having to build this cemetery, you’ll get a ton of resources. Some of them will have to be spent on building the cemetery, but you’re gaining so much more than you’re spending.
• What a massive boost of happiness this cemetery will bring to your city! Brand new space for graves and tombstones and a place for your citizens to idle during their free time - that is simply a must-built.
• In addition to the practical use of such a large cemetery, it will look really Gothic and attractive next to the biggest churches that are even available to build in the game. 

Just to clarify, there are no rules as to what sizes your cemeteries should be. You can easily build a random 8x13 or 20x11 cemetery just to feel in some empty space that’s not being used for anything else. But building these 5 cemeteries will really give your city a more neat, organized look, not to mention all the practical use of each of these cemeteries.

Why don’t you build them and see for yourself?

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