Dead Villagers: My villagers all die before I can get an unlimited food supply.

It can be difficult getting a game going, especially if you try to focus on puzzles instead of survival at the beginning of the game. The keys to success are:

1. Keep your population at a level that will avoid starvation, usually no more than 12 (depending upon how willing you are to hunt mushrooms), until your tribe has an unlimited food supply. Mushrooms will be more abundant after a rainstorm, so take advantage of the opporunity to gather additional food.
2. Keep an adequate number of villagers researching so that the tribe can discover better technologies.

In VV3, the food supply is very different from that of the previous Virtual Villagers games. There is no farm in VV3, and the food replenishes very slowly on the early food sources. You will need to focus your efforts on exploring the unique features of VV3 in order to gain access to an unlimited food supply.