Gristmill

The Gristmill is a Folktails‑exclusive production building that grinds raw crops into flour ingredients for further food processing. It accepts Wheat and Cattail root and produces Wheat flour or Cattail flour; the player chooses which flour the gristmill will produce. These flours are classified as Ingredients and require additional processing in the Bakery to become finished food goods such as Bread, Maple pastry or Cattail cracker.

The gristmill transmits power like the Grill and the Bakery, allowing it to share power output with adjacent powered buildings and reducing the need for extensive Power Shaft when laying out food processing districts. The building’s entrance is located on the far right side of one of its long sides, which affects building orientation and path planning when placing the structure in a tight layout.

Production capacity and supply relationships are fixed in practical terms: a gristmill producing Wheat Flour provides enough Wheat Flour for two bakeries producing Bread or three bakeries producing Maple Pastry. A gristmill producing Cattail Flour provides enough for two bakeries producing Cattail Crackers. Because the gristmill only produces Ingredients, it is best placed close to one or more bakeries to minimize transporter travel time and keep flour stocks available for continuous bakery production.

The gristmill has a development history within the game: it was introduced in Open Alpha, later gained the option to switch between Wheat Flour and Cattail Flour, and was made Folktails‑exclusive in a subsequent update. Outside the game, traditional gristmills date back over 2,000 years and historically used a pair of large stones (a stationary bedstone and a rotating runner stone) with carved furrows to cut and crush grain; the term “grist” refers to grain brought to a mill to be ground.

• Place gristmills near fields (Wheat or Cattail) and adjacent bakeries to reduce transporter work and improve throughput.
• Use the gristmill’s built‑in power transmission to link it into a powered food district and avoid extra Power Shafts.
• Choose Wheat Flour if you plan to supply Bread or Maple Pastry (one gristmill → enough for 2 Bread bakeries or 3 Maple Pastry bakeries); choose Cattail Flour if targeting Cattail Crackers (one gristmill → enough for 2 cracker bakeries).
• Orient the building so the entrance aligns with nearby paths and storage to minimize travel distances for beavers and transporters.