What are cottages and hamlets?
A cottege is a tile improvements that a worker can build to provide additional commerce. For example, a worker can build a cottage on a grassland tile to provide 1 commerce per turn. After having a city work that tile for a certain amount of turns (dependent on your game speed; it’s 10 turns on normal), it will grow into a Hamlet, which provides 2 commerce (these aren’t cumulative). Hamlets will grow into Villages, and Villages into Towns. Villages, which produce 3 commerce, yield an extra one if the player has Printing Press, and towns, normally 4 commerce, have the following bonuses: +1 for Printing Press, +2 commerce for the Free Speech civic, and +1 hammer for the Universal Suffrage civic. Over time, and built early enough, cottages can turn into an important part of your economy, as roads no longer provide commerce bonuses.
