Shaker, Conveyor Belts and Launchers, Filters, Flamethrower, Vacuum, then Cryoblaster. Build one readable material line before copying or widening it.
Understand the first production chain
The early loop is simple enough to debug by sight:
Sand + Water → Wet Sand → Shaker → Gold + Slag
- Breaking Sandsoil gives Sand.
- One Sand pixel and one Water pixel become two Wet Sand pixels.
- A diagonally placed Shaker separates Gold and Slag from Wet Sand.
- Gold is only spendable while it sits inside a Collector.
Research order
- Refining 1: Shaker. Cost 20 Gold. This unlocks the first real processing step.
- Logistics 1: Belts and Launchers. Cost 50 Gold. Belts move solid pixels horizontally, while Launchers lift them.
- Filters 1. Cost 100 Gold. Filters separate selected materials and become essential for readable branches.
- Tools 1: Flamethrower. Cost 250 Gold. It burns Slag, melts Ice, and vaporizes Water into Steam.
- Tools 2: Vacuum. Cost 500 Gold. Use it to recover or reposition large material piles.
- Tools 3: Cryoblaster. Cost 1,500 Gold. It freezes Water and solidifies lava for transport.
- Pipes 1. Cost 2,000 Gold. Pumps, Pipes, and Liquid Vents make water delivery more controlled.
Build for visibility first
Use a short line where you can see every conversion. Keep Sand feed, Water storage, Shaker output, Gold collection, and Slag overflow physically separate. When the line stops, the blocked material should be obvious without dismantling the factory.
Belts for horizontal flow
Only the bottom solid pixels touching a belt are actively moved. A blocked bottom pixel can stop the whole pile.
Launchers for vertical flow
Stack Launchers vertically and angle the top one to send solid pixels into a side branch.
Protect the water supply
Wet Sand consumes one Water pixel for every Sand pixel. Add a buffer pool before expanding the line, seal diagonal block corners, and avoid letting loose droplets travel for long distances. The documented evaporation timer for unsettled droplets is 45 seconds.
Once the Cryoblaster is available, a Snow-to-Steam-to-rain loop can make the factory less dependent on a single natural deposit. See the full water guide before building a large loop.
Use ratios as a planning hint
The official beginner guide gives a rough overall relationship of 2 Sand, 3 Water, and 4 Redsand producing about 3 Gold and 8 Fluxite. It also warns that output varies, especially when burning Slag and during the plant stage.
Treat this as capacity planning, not an exact recipe. Leave overflow space and measure your own line before copying it.
A wider factory multiplies every blockage and particle problem. Stabilize one module, save, then copy or extend it.