Quick Start: Your Early-Game Direction
- Check your current Objectives and the yellow direction marker on the Minimap.
- Begin working with Sand and Gold production.
- Spend Gold on useful Research.
- Use Conveyor Belts, Launchers, and Filters to improve material movement and sorting.
- Use Fluxite to upgrade Inventory items that are limiting your work.
- Meet Factory Level performance milestones to reach more advanced structures and technology.
- Expand into advanced production when your current Objectives lead there.
The exact order can vary with what you unlock and what problem your factory needs to solve.
What to Do First in Sandustry
Start by reading the active Objectives. They identify your current goal, and their yellow Minimap markers point you in the relevant direction.
Sandustry begins from the basic task of sifting Gold from Sand. Because Gold unlocks Research, the useful opening direction is to establish Gold progress and use it to expand your available structures and Inventory items.
Your First Goal: Build Toward Gold and Research
Why Gold Matters
Gold is required for all Research. Research unlocks structures and Inventory items, while more advanced Research is gated by Factory Level.
Shaker
One of the three core structures that refine resources into Gold and produce a by-product for later production.
Kinetic Press
Another Gold-production structure with its own related by-product and production path.
Planter Box
The third confirmed core structure tied to Gold production and a later by-product.
No single Gold-production structure is confirmed as the required first choice, so build around the Research and resources available in your game.
Research, Upgrades, and Augments
Research
Spend Gold to unlock structures and Inventory items. Higher-tier Research is gated by Factory Level.
Upgrades
Spend Fluxite to improve Inventory items such as the Grabber and Flamethrower.
Augments
Find Artifacts while exploring to improve Utility items or character abilities.
Factory Level controls access to higher tiers through performance milestones. Use the milestones shown in your game; there is no single Research order prescribed here.
Learn the Basic Logistics Tools
Conveyor Belts and Launchers
Conveyor Belts move solid resources horizontally, following the direction used when you place them. Launchers move solids vertically or diagonally; the highest point of the shaft is the output, and placement direction determines whether material is thrown left or right.
These logistics structures require no Power and continue operating whenever material is available.
Filters
- Allow lets the selected resource pass and stops the others.
- Block stops the selected resource and lets the others pass.
A basic Filter targets one solid resource at a time. Advanced Filters extend the same single-resource rule to Solids, Liquids, and Gases.
Build Your First Production Foundation
A basic production foundation needs three functions:
- Move solid material with Conveyor Belts or Launchers.
- Send it toward the appropriate processing structure.
- Separate mixed output and by-products with Filters.
Shakers, Kinetic Presses, and Planter Boxes are all tied to Gold production, but there is no confirmed universal first-factory blueprint.
If you do not know what a material is for, the Material Scanner Upgrade for the Grabber can show how it may be refined or used in another process.
What to Prioritize Next
Use Fluxite Carefully
Fluxite unlocks Upgrades for Inventory items. Increasing the Grabber's capacity and capabilities is a useful early investment because it reduces manual handling bottlenecks. This is a practical recommendation, not a required first Upgrade.
Improve Movement and Sorting
As production grows, prevent mixed resources and by-products from accumulating on the same route. Add Filters where outputs split, and use Launchers when solids need to move vertically.
Follow Factory Level Progression
Factory Level milestones provide access to higher-tier tools, structures, and technology. Treat them as the bridge from basic Gold and logistics into more advanced factory systems.
When Water and Lava Start to Matter
Water
Water becomes relevant when a process needs fluid transport or a continuing supply. A Pump acts as the input, a Liquid Vent as the output, and Pipes connect them.
A single pipeline can carry more than one Fluid, but a Liquid Vent cannot select which one to output. Separate different Fluid lines to avoid unintended output.
Lava
Lava is not a mandatory opening task. When your Objectives or production needs introduce it, the supported overview is to cool it into solid material, move it, and heat it again at the destination.
Practical Beginner Problems
You Do Not Know What a Resource Does
Use the Material Scanner Upgrade for the Grabber to inspect possible processing paths and uses.
Manual Material Handling Is Slowing You Down
Consider Grabber capacity and capability Upgrades while your automated logistics are still developing.
Mixed Lines Are Hard to Manage
Use Filters to separate a main output from its by-products. Keep different Fluid lines separate because Liquid Vents cannot filter which Fluid they release.
An Ancient Puzzle Seems Impossible
Some puzzles require a tool or resource that you may not have yet. Leave and return after more progression. If you become physically trapped, use the unstuck command in the pause menu.
What to Do After These Basics
There is no single confirmed point where the beginner phase ends. Once Gold, Research, and basic logistics are working, choose the next direction based on your active goals:
- Expand processing and material sorting.
- Explore and capture creatures that can support factory processes.
- Search for Artifacts and their Augments.
- Develop thermal refining and fluid logistics.
- Prepare for later Energy production and Lava systems.