The Red Ketchup mod helps to open up the game of Banished by hundreds of hours.  Things like the canal pack and dock set are truly remarkable. These tips are intended to help players learn to maximize the features of the Red Ketchup Mod, which can be added for free through the Steam workshop. Make sure to find the mod (Red Ketchup Editor’s Choice, or RKEC) and “subscribe” in the Steam workshop. But odds are if you’re here, you already know about the pack. Here are some tips:

  1. Make sure to take advantage of food processing.  
    -There are a number of different buildings that will allow the player to extend out the easily hunted and gathered food.  For example, by combining firewood and fish, a player can make smoked fish. This multiplies the resource and can help to stabilize a rapidly growing city.  It’s almost necessary to utilize the smoking, drying, and butchering of food.

  2. The fruit forresters help with both food and logs.
    -In the early stages of a vanilla game, the player can feel restricted to available food types due to the delay in getting additional seeds.  With the RK mod, there are fruit forresters that allow the player to place these special forresters to gather logs as usual. However, after a few in-game years there will be thousands of fruits available as well.  This can help with a food shortage and/or be converted into alcohol.

  3. Random quarries give gems for the jeweler.
    -It might take a while to set up, but the production line for the jewelry maker begins with the random mine.  The yield is light, however after processing the gems and putting them into jewelry it can be quite profitable.  I find that it works better for the mid game rather than early on, but it adds a wonderful new depth to the game.

  4. The armory and weapon makers are fun with an incredible yield.
    -These two buildings in the RK mod allow for a nice growth in different types of materials that can be exported for other resources.  It’s fun to create swords and armor suits based on the types of resources that are available. A random quarry will help with finding more silver and gold to assist with making the higher value items.  It gives the player something to build the city towards.

  5. The “gather” tool is the player’s best friend.
    -The greatest part of the RK mod for me is the gathering tool.  It’s a little icon that looks like an ax on a log. The player can gather food, firewood, flowers, and importantly “fibers” like flax and cotton.  In the early part of the game before the player gets hunting (and a steady stream of leather), this is a good way to turn flax into linen and cotton into cloth.  But the gather tool can stave off starvation (food) and freezing to death (firewood). It really makes the game less stressful in the early stages.


If you’ve benefited from this guide and would like to watch some of my gameplay, feel free to check out my video series on YouTube or follow me on Twitch for some live streams.  I love playing this game.  

If you have questions about the game, check out my socials on Twitter and Instagram, or find me on the Facebook Group the BanishedNation Guild.


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