getting started
Sandustry Research Priorities for a Recoverable Factory
A fixed research order is attractive because it promises certainty, but Sandustry worlds and factories create different constraints. This guide gives you a repeatable decision process: identify what stops progress, choose the smallest reversible unlock that addresses it, commission that change, and only then commit to the next branch.
Early Access · decision framework · Checked 2026-08-22
Define the next playable outcome
Write one outcome that should become possible after the purchase: move material without carrying it, keep two outputs separate, reach a blocked resource, or observe a process safely. Avoid goals such as ‘unlock everything in logistics.’ A narrow outcome makes it possible to judge whether the research solved the problem. It also prevents an exciting late branch from consuming the resources needed to stabilize the first factory.
Audit the current constraint
Walk the line before opening the research screen. Check input supply, processing, downstream capacity, player access, and recovery controls. If the output collector is full, faster processing will not help. If you spend most of the session carrying one material, transport may have more value than another conversion. Record the observed constraint in the blueprint notebook so the decision is tied to evidence rather than memory.
Prefer unlocks with several uses
Early flexibility is valuable. A transport or separation tool that improves the gold line, a material test bay, and later processing can be safer than a specialized machine with one uncertain destination. This is not a claim that one named technology is always best; unlock names and costs can change. Compare how many current problems an option addresses and whether it remains useful when the layout is rebuilt.
Protect a correction reserve
Do not spend the last available research value on an untested branch if doing so prevents walls, storage, or a safer route. Keep enough reserve to correct the commissioning failures you can already imagine. A new machine may require another collector, a wider chamber, an isolation point, and space for byproduct. The cost of the unlock is therefore smaller than the cost of making it usable.
Commission one unlock at a time
Place the new building or tool in a small test module before integrating it into the main factory. Verify accepted material, output direction, full-output behavior, loss of supply, and restart. The official Wiki can establish current names and documented behavior, but your geometry still affects the result. If the test fails, you know which new element caused the change because the rest of the chain stayed stable.
Separate progression from optimization
An unlock can be good enough to progress without being the final efficient layout. Use temporary buffers and generous spacing while learning its interfaces. Premature optimization hides the basic question of whether the stage receives the right input and clears every output. Once the production goal is repeatable, measure the module and decide whether capacity, routing, or access deserves the next research investment.
Re-evaluate after the bottleneck moves
Every useful unlock changes the factory's limiting stage. A new transport route can expose slow processing; faster processing can expose collection; new materials can expose separation. Repeat the same audit instead of continuing down a memorized tree. If two options appear equal, choose the more reversible one or delay the decision while collecting a longer observation window.
Version your research notes
Date the chosen order and state what it was meant to solve. After an Early Access update, compare costs, prerequisites, and machine behavior before recommending the same sequence to another save. Keep old notes labeled rather than silently rewriting them. This creates an honest history of what worked under which build and prevents demo-era advice from being mistaken for current progression.
Sources and evidence notes
- Sandustry on Steam ↗
Tier 1 · Early Access retail store listing. Official identity, release state, features, platforms, and requirements
- Official Sandustry Wiki ↗
Tier 1 · Current official community wiki. Named materials, buildings, and documented game systems
- Sandustry Official FAQ ↗
Tier 1 · Pinned Early Access FAQ and support discussion. Current support topics, features, and reporting guidance