Hearth and Hamlet Hardest Difficulty and 100% Guide
Finish Hearth and Hamlet on a higher difficulty and you also get the lower difficulty achievements. Challenging 100% took about 10.5 hours for one player with
Last verified: August 20, 2026 — Hearth and Hamlet full release on Steam (app 4315040, launched August 19, 2026). Demo numbers are not treated as live data.
Yes — higher difficulty completion grants the lower difficulty achievements. Phorust confirmed that on the live hub. You do not have to play all four difficulties if you can finish the highest one you care about. One player 100%‘d Challenging in about 10.5 hours with only two defeats and wished they had started on Insane.
Achievements stack
| Question | Answer | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Do I replay Easy/Medium after Hardest? | No. Higher completion grants lower achievements. | Developer |
| How long is 100%? | About 10.5 hours on Challenging for one player | Player report |
| Is Challenging tight? | That player had two defeats and called the price fair for ~10 hours | Player report |
| Insane / Hardest time | Not yet confirmed | — |
The store lists Steam Achievements. The exact achievement list and whether 100% means all achievements plus all upgrades is not yet confirmed. The Challenging player used “100%” for a finished empire on that difficulty.
How Hardest differs in practice
The Cathedral thread that asked about zombies every 30 seconds was on hardest difficulty. Resources were falling. The developer still said Cathedral plus accepting some leavers is the counter, not a restart. See How to Unlock the Cathedral.
A different medium player said endgame material gathering felt unfair, trade wages were too high, food dropped fast, and they could not imagine max difficulty. That is the other end of the skill range. Use Enemy Army Strength Explained so Extreme labels are not a surprise.
A 100% checklist without fake collectibles
- Pick the highest difficulty you will actually finish. Stacking means one good Insane run beats four casual ones.
- Unlock scouting before the raid curve bites.
- Do not miss the Fisherman / Woodcutter top-right lumber prompt. See Fisherman Hut Quest.
- Church → Cathedral when the consecrated-weapons quest appears.
- After the last quest, extras may not exist. See Endgame Guide.
Demo-era “full completion” lists are invalid. This is a single-player campaign with a stop, not a live-service battle pass.
From Community Gameplay
- Four named difficulties: Gentle, Steady, Challenging, Intense. Achievements for finishing each, for winning with no defeats, and Master Builder (every building fully upgraded). (4-min guide, 00:53)
- Gentle is described as second-monitor idle. Turn difficulty up if you want allocation to matter. (4-min guide, 03:19)
- A Challenging 100% Steam post (~10.5 hours, two defeats) wished they had started on the highest setting. Video 100% was ~8 hours with one defeat on a long run. That is a complete game, not a live-service season.
- Saving is disabled during at least one late story battle (Ashenhold refusal). Make preparations before you click Complete Quest. (Kingdom Part 2, 1:21:26)
Sources
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Official Steam store: https://store.steampowered.com/app/4315040/
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Steam Community hub: https://steamcommunity.com/app/4315040/discussions/
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Hardest difficulty thread: https://steamcommunity.com/app/4315040/discussions/0/588435430711584006/
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Challenging 100% report: https://steamcommunity.com/app/4315040/discussions/0/588435430711603468/
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Difficulty overview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uHLR1S-mdK4
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100% / credits run: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dZbX2_stA1I
Fan-made guide. This site is not affiliated with Phorust Studios, Runic Forge, Gamersky Games, Steam, or Valve; all game content and media belong to their respective owners.