Beginner Guide

"From humble beginnings sifting gold from sand, you will quickly build a growing factory." Here is everything the game expects you to figure out in your first session — currencies, logistics, production, and research. The planet awaits you, Prospector.

The Three Currencies

Everything you do funnels into three currencies, each with its own job:

Gold only counts toward your bank when stored in Collector blocks — 1 Gold pixel is worth 1 unit of currency, and Liquid Gold is worth twice as much.

Reading the Screen

The HUD gives you currency displays, tab shortcuts, objectives, a minimap, and a hotbar. Two things worth learning immediately: objectives show a yellow arrow on the Minimap pointing you toward the current goal, and there are ten hotbars of ten slots each — press Alt+Number to switch between them, or hold Alt and scroll.

Logistics: Moving Things Around

A key early realization: all logistics structures require no power and run continuously. Conveyor Belts move solids horizontally (direction follows your mouse drag). Launchers place vertically or diagonally and throw resources out at the highest point of the shaft. Mark 2 versions of both unlock later in the tech tree.

Filters sort solid resources with two settings: Allow lets exactly one chosen resource fall through; Block lets everything except the chosen resource through. Basic Filters handle one resource per filter — chain several to split a mixed pile. Advanced Filters (unlocked later) also handle liquids and gases.

Liquids move with a Pump (input), Pipes, and a Liquid Vent (output) — and you can move any fluid besides lava. One pipeline can carry several fluids, but the Vent always prioritizes whichever liquid is closest, so keeping separate lines per fluid is good practice.

Your First Gold Chain

The official guide is explicit: "Gold is essential for all Research, and three core structures refine resources into Gold: 1. The Shaker, 2. Kinetic Press, and 3. Planter Box. Each of these also produces a by-product that you will need for the next respective production method."

Start with the Shaker (Tier 1, 20 Gold): drop Wet Sand on it, collect the Gold that falls through, and keep the Residue — it feeds the next stage. The full loop is covered in the Gold Production guide.

Also useful early: the Material Scanner upgrade for your Grabber lets you hover over any resource to learn how it can be refined or used. Thermal structures refine by state: Heat turns solids to liquids and liquids to gases; Cold works in reverse.

Research & Factory Levels

Research is your progression: it is unlocked with Gold, and more advanced Research sits behind your Factory Level — tiered access granted "based on reaching performance milestones". Upgrades are separate: they cost Fluxite and improve Inventory items like the Grabber, Flamethrower, or Drones. Augments are found scattered in the world and upgrade your Utility items and movement.

Official Tips Worth Knowing

• Copy structures fast: press C to select, then CTRL+C / CTRL+V to copy and paste. The replace hotkey (default CTRL) swaps a structure without demolishing.
• Best early Fluxite investment: "increasing the capacity and capabilities of your Grabber".
• Capture creatures with the Corraller — "enough Lumlings in a location can create a small but constant supply of water."
• Match weapons to obstacles: a flamethrower beats a rocket launcher against solid ice; the laser tunnels through almost anything on the surface layers but is extremely power-hungry.
• Stuck inside a puzzle? Use the unstuck command in the pause menu.