Idle Hero Game Tips: Stocked Posts, Happy Heroes, No Aleya Lights

Every child who grew up in Bengal has heard the tales: the clever jester who talks his way out of anything, the brave princess with her bow, the two prince brothers who ride into the forest. These idle hero game tips are built around Folk Heroes, our free 3D hero game, where those heroes defend three camps against the cheeky monsters of the stories. The monsters are silly cartoons, and nobody ever gets hurt: they simply run off home.

You play Tia. She grew up on her grandmother's bedtime tales, and now the monsters from those tales have come to life and are raiding the village for its sweets. Thakurma, who knows every story by heart, guides her, Chhotu keeps the camp board by the storyteller's hut, and later Haru, the lamp keeper, helps with the aleya lights.

Learn the loop first

Every hero in Folk Heroes has a post at the front and a workshop at the back. In the workshop a craftsman makes the hero's gear, and you can watch the next batch pile up on a pallet. When it is complete, the craftsman sets it out on the hero's wooden cart in the yard: pots of sweets for Gopal, bundles of arrows for Kiranmala, drums for Dhol Kaka.

Stand at the cart and the gear jumps into your hands. Walk round to the back door of the post and it goes onto the racks. The hero then deals with the monsters waiting in line, one at a time, and every monster runs off dropping coins for you.

That is the whole game in one sentence: gear from the workshop to the hero, before the monsters get bored.

Keep every post stocked

The most common way to lose coins is an empty post. When its racks run out, the monsters at the front wait, a little bubble with the hero's picture appears over their heads, and their faces slowly turn red. If they wait too long, they wander off without dropping any coins.

So keep an eye on all three posts, not just the one you are standing at. Fill your hands at whichever cart is fullest and drop the gear where the line is longest. The yellow guide arrow helps here: it points at the post that needs you most.

A full cart is a warning too. When a cart is full, the next batch has to wait in the workshop, and a FULL sign blinks over it. Your hands hold six pieces of gear at the start and two more with every post you open, so later trips carry much bigger stacks.

Read the workshops

The workshops are more than scenery: they are the clock. A small pile on the pallet means the next batch is far away; a tall one means it is nearly ready. The camp board by the storyteller's hut shows every workshop's next batch in seconds.

Use this to plan your walk. If the sweet kitchen's pallet is piled high and the drum maker's is nearly empty, wait near Gopal's cart first and fill Dhol Kaka later.

Grow the posts

Stand at a post to see its card. It shows the level, the tricks the hero knows, the next batch and what the next new look brings. You can buy one level, ten levels or as many as your coins allow, or press E on a keyboard.

New looks come at levels 10, 25 and 50. The woven bamboo post with its striped awning becomes painted wood, then stone, then royal red with gold trim. The workshop behind grows with it: another rack, then a workbench, then a brick floor. Each new look brings a bigger batch and one more trick, so Gopal adds riddles, jokes and laddu traps to his sweet tricks, and Kiranmala adds whistling arrows, flower arrows and golden arrows. Newer tricks bring more coins.

Levels 10, 25, 50, 75 and 100 also double what the post earns, so a post just below a milestone is often the best thing to buy.

Hire helpers early

Every post's card has a button to hire a helper. A helper carries the gear from that hero's cart to the post's back door all day, and from level 25 a post can take a second one.

Helpers free you for the post that needs you most. They also keep the camp earning while you are away: a post with a helper keeps earning for up to eight hours. Hire one for every post before you spend big on levels.

Scatter the aleya lights

After about seven minutes of play, the first aleya lights arrive. In the old tales these are mysterious glowing lights over the marshes at night. Seven of them float over the yard, Haru's lantern blinks, and the craftsmen at that camp put their tools down until every light is gone.

Walk straight at each light and it drifts away with a soft glow. The guide arrow leads you to the nearest one. The lights never take your gear or your coins; they only hold up the next batches, and they drift away on their own after a little over a minute.

Once you can afford him, hire Haru at the lamp post. From then on he rides the bullock cart to whichever camp has lights and scatters them himself, so they no longer pull you away from the lines.

Follow the festival nights

Now and then a festival night pushes one hero, or every hero, for a few minutes. A sweet fair night fills Gopal's line, a full moon brings more monsters to Kiranmala's tower, a lamp night fills Malua's, and a harvest moon lifts everyone at once.

When a festival night starts, stock that hero's post first and keep it full while it lasts. The note at the top of the screen tells you which one is coming a minute before it starts.

Buy the camp's extras

On the verge left of the gate, each camp has its extras: watch fires, a lookout tower and flag poles, then a taller bamboo wall and a victory arch over the gate. Every extra adds to every coin at that camp, so they are worth buying once the posts are running well.

Open the next camps

When the three posts at the village gate are open, a dashed zone appears at the end of the field. It opens the forest edge, where the prince brothers Lalkamal and Neelkamal guard the gates and Mahua swings in on her rope. Later the river fort brings Malua with her lanterns, Jele Bhai with his nets and Pakhi with her slingshot. Each camp has its own road, its own monsters and its own aleya lights.

Ride the bullock cart between camps: stand at the spot next to it in the yard and tap a camp. When all three camps run well, save up for the Palace Feast, where the whole kingdom celebrates its heroes and every coin counts double.

Little habits that add up

• Fill your hands before you walk. A full stack saves a trip.
• Watch the pallets: a tall pile means a batch is close.
• Scatter the aleya lights the moment they come.
• Stock the festival night's hero first.
• Zoom out with a pinch, the mouse wheel or the minus key to see the whole camp.

If you enjoy this kind of game, try Gram Bangla Farm with our idle farm game tips, or Health Complex with our idle hospital game tips. You can find more in the idle games and strategy games categories, and signed-in players can read how GamesYap points work.

FAQ

Is Folk Heroes free to play?

Yes. Folk Heroes is free to play in your web browser on phones, tablets and computers, with nothing to download or buy. Every hero, level, helper and camp is paid with coins you earn in the game, and heroes join in a fixed order with no summons. Signed-in players also earn GamesYap points for new posts and five achievements.

Do the aleya lights come at random?

No. The aleya lights follow a fixed clock as you play, at your camps in turn, and each visit ends on its own after a little over a minute. They never take your gear or your coins. They only make the workshops rest until you scatter them, and Haru can do that for you.

Why are monsters leaving without dropping coins?

A monster wanders off when it waits too long at an empty post. A hero can only deal with monsters while there is gear on the racks, so bring it from the cart behind the post, or hire a helper so the racks never run dry. A bubble over a monster's head shows which hero it is waiting for.

What should I buy first?

Open Kiranmala's Tower as soon as you can, then hire a helper for each post and level the post with the longest line. Buy the watch fires once they are cheap, and save for Haru before your first trip to the forest edge, so the aleya lights there do not pull you away from the busy posts.