Hearth and Hamlet: What to Do After Cathedral

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.

After you finish the Church → Cathedral upgrade, zombies become much more manageable (developer, full release). If they were winning fights, that is not an instant game over. People leaving actually reduces zombie spawns and increases time until the next attack. Then the run is about leftover upgrades, raids, and whether you are pushing 100%.

Survive the zombie window first

Phorust replied in the Cathedral thread:

• Cathedral is the upgraded Church.
• Once complete, zombies stop being a real threat.
• Do not worry if they are winning fights.
• A chunk of people will leave. That reduces the number of zombies that spawn.
• Losing a battle at this stage also increases the time until the next attack.

That is the opposite of a typical city-builder “never lose a fight” rule. Panic-rebuilding the army while food is crashing can make the window worse. Read Can You Lose the Game? for the actual fail state.

If this is happening	Do this first	Avoid
Zombies every ~30 seconds	Finish the Church upgrade when you can afford it	Searching the map for a new plot
Army keeps losing	Accept some leavers; pressure eases	Spending last food on extra soldiers
Resources falling on hardest	Protect food workers, then Cathedral	Starting extra caravans that drain gold

The “every 30 seconds” timing is one player’s hardest-difficulty report, not a datamined spawn table.

After zombies are manageable

Official screenshots of the full game still show late districts: Harbor, Shipwright, Alchemist, Keep, Tavern, Dwellings, Town Square. Those remain spend sinks after the Cathedral.

A practical post-Cathedral order without fake costs:

1. Restock food until population stops falling.
2. Restore a raid buffer — see How Many Soldiers Do You Need?.
3. If Market is at level three, research extra caravans rather than idling trade. See How to Get Another Caravan.
4. Spend leftover stone on roads and Town Square if sanitation is still taxing income. See Sanitation Guide.
5. If you are achievement hunting, switch to the Hardest Difficulty and 100% Guide.

What is not a new “after Cathedral” chapter

There is no confirmed infinity mode with new upgrades. Players who finished Challenging 100% in about 10.5 hours said that after the empire is built the game just ends, and you can keep it running with nothing left to buy. That is an endgame complaint, not a Cathedral bug. Details live on the Endgame Guide.

From Community Gameplay

• After consecrated weapons, the next beats in one 1.0 completionist run were: Tavern → Dragon’s Hearth / heroes, 1,600 population, University for Anket Nar, Church level 5 for Crimson Veil, 200 soldiers for Iron Rand, then Castle + moat. (Kingdom Part 2, 1:57:49–3:26:43)
• Happiness snaps back once Ancient Evil drops. Turn growth policies on again only after food is green.
• You still trade with Ashenhold after fighting them. That is not a bug in the footage.

Sources

• Official Steam store: https://store.steampowered.com/app/4315040/

• Steam Community hub: https://steamcommunity.com/app/4315040/discussions/

• Cathedral thread: https://steamcommunity.com/app/4315040/discussions/0/588435430711590809/

• Post-Cathedral quest chain: 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.