Sandustry Research

Sandustry research tree: gold costs and a safe unlock order from Shaker and belts through filters, pipes, press, and Flux Emanator. Verified August 2026.

First gold into Logistics 1, then a real factory. Hover is Fluxite.

~7 min read

Gold guide Buildings

At A Glance

This Sandustry research page separates the confirmed Early Access factory loop from Demo-era numbers that may be stale after the 2026 simulation rewrite. Sandustry is a 2D falling-sand factory game from Lantto Games, published by Hooded Horse. Dig a destructible world, wet sand, shake gold, burn slag, pipe water, and unlock research while exploring ancient vaults. Use it beside the factory, not as a promise that every ratio still matches a 2025 wiki printout.

Gold buys research. Purple Fluxite buys tool, weapon, and drone upgrades. Energy exists as a later resource. When a ratio is uncertain, bank what you have and re-check the live panel.

Fact	Detail
Platform	Steam PC · GOG · Game Pass
Mode	Single-player
Status	Early Access · Aug 13, 2026
Topic	Research
Currency	Gold in the Collector — not Fluxite
First gold door	Logistics 1 — official wiki 50 gold (verify panel)
Later cluster	Pipes · Press · Drones · Emanator — some nodes also need Factory Level
Source boundary	Steam listing, official site, and current EA player footage; Demo ratios stay TBA until re-checked

After Logistics unlocks

Matched by build plan, shared topics, and guide progression — not random related links.

Gold

Shaker · collectors

Buildings

Shaker · belts · pumps

Fluxite

Emanator upgrades

What should I research first in Sandustry?

Whatever puts belts and launchers in your hand. Official tree: Logistics 1 unlocks Conveyor Belts and Launchers. Filters 1 sort one solid at a time — gold from slag, not water from Wet Sand. Tools 1 (Flamethrower) and the Press come when slag exists. Guns 2 (Rocket Launcher) waits for Crackstone. Hover is a Fluxite / movement upgrade. Do not open with a vanity weapon.

The reliable foundation is the same on every seed: sand plus water becomes Wet Sand, a Shaker drops gold and slag, gold only counts in a Collector, and leftover water will flood a solids line unless you wall it with Blocks or belts. A basic Filter sorts one solid — it does not dam a lake. That is why research advice should start with banking and containment, not with a supposed infinite trick.

Sandustry research panel unlocking factory tiers with gold

Do01Bank gold — research does not read floor piles
Do02Buy Logistics 1 when the stub Shaker can afford it
Do03Wall a leaking washer; buy Filters 1 when gold and slag share a belt
Do04Buy Flamethrower and the Press when slag is a pile, not a pixel
Do05Re-read every gold number on the live panel; later nodes may also need Factory Level

Treat the first factory as disposable

Early Access footage shows players throwing down a tiny Shaker just to bank the first research unlocks — Logistics 1 for belts and launchers — then deleting that stub once the washer can run. Hover is a Fluxite / movement upgrade, not a gold research node. A pretty first box is optional. A Collector that actually receives gold is not.

Copy (Shift-select, C) and delete (X-drag) are the hotkeys that keep this rebuild cheap. Press V while placing to read tile counts. Ctrl-place overwrites old pieces instead of stacking collisions.

Spend gold; do not hoard it

Holding thousands of gold in the first hour slows the factory more than it protects you. Unlock the next belt, Filter, or Flamethrower so the line can run while you scout. The Kinetic Slag Press is repeatedly called out in current EA clips as the early gold spike once slag can be burned.

With that baseline in place, the next question is not “can I scale?” but “what fails if water, slag, or Crackstone shows up on this line?”

What should I decide while working on Research?

If you cannot afford the next node, the answer is more Collector throughput, not a different wiki order.

Use the table as a decision aid, not a hidden-stat calculator. Sandustry worlds are procedural and Early Access numbers move. A conservative threshold — bank gold, contain water, burn slag before pressing — beats a copied Demo ratio that no longer matches the live panel.

Sandustry gold and purple Fluxite counters next to Fluxite veins

Situation	Action	Why it is safer
No belts yet	Logistics 1	The stub Shaker has a ceiling
Washer floods	Blocks and belts first	Filters 1 do not stop water
Slag mountain	Tools 1 + Press	Second gold recipe
Crackstone gate	Guns 2	Shovel will not win

Make the irreversible choice last

Deleting a running washer, dumping lava into a gold pit, or researching a vanity gun before Filters can remove options. Before doing any of those, confirm what the factory keeps if the attempt fails. If the answer is “the line floods,” choose the reversible option first: add a Filter, raise a wall, or pause the launchers.

That same habit makes progress steadier. One secure Collector cycle funds Logistics; a flooded pit repeats the first twenty minutes with no new research.

What do the community gold costs look like?

Official contributor-wiki rows currently list Refining 1 at 20, Logistics 1 at 50, Filters 1 at 100, Tools 1 at 250, and Guns 2 at 3000. Pipe and drone nodes vary by table — read the live panel. There is no official “80-gold Logistics + hover” bundle; hover is not a gold research node.

Avoid turning one creator’s layout into a universal rule. A 44×28 washer works in that cave. Your sand pit may be shallower. Record the context: water on which side, how high the launchers sat, and whether leftover water reached the Shakers.

Trust the panel

If the live node disagrees with a blog, the panel wins. Factory Level can hide later nodes until a milestone.

The useful follow-up is to connect this observation to the wider factory: does it bank more gold, stop a flood, unlock a research door, or only look neat? If it does not answer one of those questions, do not let it pull you off the Collector.

Fluxite is the other tree

Hover, scanner, and weapon stacks sit on the purple bar. Buying them does not unlock buildings.

When should I research drones, pipes, and the Emanator?

After the Collector is fed by a washer you can leave. Pipes move distant water. Drones extend dig and haul. The Emanator is a late Fluxite farm (community: one per factory). Each is a throughput multiplier, not a rescue for a flooded stub.

A conservative guide matters while EA and Demo wikis sit side by side. Steam confirms the pixel-physics factory, artifacts, and mod tools. It does not publish a complete density table. This site therefore marks unverified costs and chances as TBA instead of inventing a databook.

Drones are not a first-hour buy

A Hauler on a broken Filter line just moves the flood faster.

If the observed result matters to your next unlock, verify it on the live research panel or compare a short clip in the official Discord. Keep the claim narrow: “this happened in this EA seed” lasts longer than “always 20 percent.”

Energy is later

Official notes list Energy as a third resource for late machines. Do not plan the first factory around it.

What should I verify before trusting Research advice?

Check the current Early Access build before treating a gold chance, research cost, channel name, or “unlimited water” clip as settled. The official Steam page is the source for the game’s premise; sandustry.com is the source for the Discord invite. Demo tutorials can still teach hotkeys and washer shape — they cannot guarantee today’s numbers.

Do01Confirm the claim is about Sandustry, not Mindustry or a sandwich guide
Do02Check whether the clip is Early Access (August 2026+) or a 2025 Demo rewrite leftover
Do03Separate a confirmed system (Shaker, Collector, Fluxite upgrades) from a personal layout
Do04Keep a Collector and a water wall before testing a risky burn or rocket shot
Do05Use gold guide when the next decision leaves this page
Do06Use the verified Steam listing or the official Discord for details marked TBA