Resources are one of the most critical aspects of any civilization in Empires: Dawn of the Modern World. Citizens must be created and ordered to extract resources off the map such as chopping trees, mining gold, stone, or harvesting food from farms and fishing spots. These proceeds may then be used to build military units (as well as more citizens) to expand the economy.
There are four types of resources in Empires: food, wood, gold, and stone.
Food[]
Food is probably one of the most meaningful and substantial resources in the game. Food is required to create Citizens, the backbone of your economy. It is used to create both military and economic units. Food is also used to research technologies, and further advancement in the game. There are several ways to gather food. A Citizen can gather food from Farms or gather fish using various ships from the Docks.
Gold[]
Gold is a very important resource widely used for many purposes. Gold is used in the training of units, advancing through ages, and researching technologies. In Empire Builder mode, gold mines have an infinite amount of gold. However, in Action mode, gold is quick to run out. Thus, gold remains very important throughout the game.
Stone[]
Stone is primarily a defense resource, used to build defensive structures such as Walls and Towers. Although walls and towers are not the best defense, if used correctly a deadly defense can be constructed.
Wood[]
Wood, while not the most important, is still a vital resource and is often used to build both economic and military structures. Civilizations such as the English rely heavily on wood to sustain their economy.