ROUTE REGISTER / CHECKED Aug 16, 2026 · 16:11 CST
Pick the exact blockage. Every route starts with a direct answer, identifies its build boundary, links the source ledger, and leaves missing facts unresolved.
Use the smallest confirmed loop: break Dirt into Sand, combine 1 Sand with 1 Water to make 2 Wet Sand, and feed Wet Sand into a Shaker for Residue plus a chance of Gold. Spend Gold on Research; the Logistics node costs 30 Gold and unlocks Conveyor Belt and Launcher. This is a source-backed starting loop, not a tested best build order.
Combine 1 Sand and 1 Water to make 2 Wet Sand. Each Wet Sand consumed by a Shaker becomes 1 Residue and has about a 25% chance to also produce 1 Gold. Gold falls from the bottom; Residue is pushed slowly from the top. A 25% chance is not a guarantee that every fourth unit pays out.
The publisher-hosted Research page is marked WIP. Its current first nodes are Shaker for 20 Gold and Logistics for 30 Gold; Logistics unlocks Conveyor Belt and Launcher. Use the tier snapshot below only as a dated reference. Wall Light has no numeric cost on the page, and the complete prerequisite graph is not published.
To save, open Esc → Save, enter a name, and choose Save. To export, open Esc → Load, select the save, and choose Export. On Windows, the official folder is %APPDATA%\sandustry\saves. Mac and Linux save folders, import behavior, and Steam Cloud recovery rules were not published in the sources checked.
Start with the workaround that matches the symptom. For some crashes, try --sandustry-no-overlay-gpu-flags; for NVIDIA low FPS or broken Steam performance overlays, try --in-process-gpu; for severe fullscreen slowdown, turn Fullscreen off. These are developer-labeled potential workarounds, not guaranteed fixes, and some disable overlay behavior.
Press C for select mode, mark the structure, and press Ctrl+C; Ctrl+V pastes the current selection. To save it, open Building → Blueprint and use the save icon beside a recent Clipboard History item. Blueprint Import and Export use a shareable blueprint string. Ctrl+H flips a copied or selected structure. These are default bindings and may differ after rebinding.
The developer FAQ supports this direction: unlock Thermal Buffer and Pyro Dispenser, provide heat, and automate flower burning. A Thermal Buffer can be heated with the Flamethrower; a Pyro Dispenser costs 2,000 Gold and fires every three seconds when an adjacent Thermal Buffer supplies heat. The sources do not publish a complete loop, exact placement, heat range, or runaway-flower cleanup method.
Complete both the Florninol condensed goal and the Find the Anomaly goal to unlock Tier 5. The Aug 12 developer FAQ also records a known softlock when the Anomaly is found before Zoe tells the player to look for it. v0.5.3 now explains why an objective blocks a factory tier, but it does not say this softlock is fixed or publish a recovery method.
Foundations can be placed on the yellow blocks in puzzle rooms. That is the only general puzzle-room interaction confirmed by the current developer FAQ. Each room has a unique solution, and some ancient puzzles may require tools or resources you have not unlocked yet, so this is not a full walkthrough.