How to Play Sandustry

Sandustry combines falling-sand physics with factory automation. Your job is not to click gold directly — it is to move materials through a chain so physics does the separation. Lantto Games and Hooded Horse ship the game into Early Access on 2026-08-13 (Steam, GOG, Microsoft Store, PC Game Pass); a free Steam demo is available now to practice the same fundamentals described here. Single-player only; community mods load through Fluxloader.

The core loop

Every profitable run follows the same sequence:

1. Dig Sand from Sandsoil underground or at the surface.
2. Mix Sand with Water to create Wet Sand.
3. Drop Wet Sand on Shakers (built diagonally) so Gold falls through with a 20–25% proc chance while Slag slides off the line.
4. Burn Slag using a Flamethrower or Lava to get Burnt Slag.
5. Press Burnt Slag in a Kinetic Slag Press (Refining 2) for additional gold.
6. Spend gold on Research — Refining, Logistics, Filters, Pipes, Tools, Drones, and more.

Gold is both currency and progress gate. Until you understand the loop, avoid over-investing in cosmetic or secondary tech. See How to Get Gold for shaker math and Slag Processing for the second income stream.

Sandustry gameplay tutorial

Controls that matter immediately

Sandustry’s build tools feel like a sandbox editor glued to a survival economy. Memorize these before you lay your first diagonal shaker row — full reference on Keyboard Shortcuts:

Input	Action
S	Descend / move downward in the world
R	Toggle linear vs rectangular build mode
X	Remove buildings or blocks
Shift + drag	Marquee selection
Shift (launcher)	Skip launcher outlet when placing
Space / Escape	Open menus

Linear build helps run straight conveyor or pipe segments; rectangular build fills an area quickly for platforms or bulk placement. Use S often — ore and Sandsoil layers sit below your starting view, and much of the game pushes you downward (Dig Deeper).

First-hour goals

Treat the first hour as proof that your Wet Sand → Shaker line works without automation, then add logistics.

Goal 1 — Stable sand income. Mine Sandsoil until you have a buffer pile near a mixer. Manual digging is fine; learn material behavior on the Materials page.

Goal 2 — Wet Sand on demand. Route water to a mixer (buckets work early; pipes come with research). If water pools or runs away, read Water Management before rebuilding.

Goal 3 — Diagonal shakers. Place shakers on a diagonal so gold particles fall through the grate while slag continues sideways. Flat shaker spam is the most common beginner mistake.

Goal 4 — Pick up slag. Do not delete slag piles. Even before Refining 2, plan where burn lanes and a future press will go.

Goal 5 — First research. Refining 1 unlocks Shakers; Logistics 1 unlocks Conveyors and Launchers. The Research Priority Tier List explains typical order; most players want Refining 1 immediately, Logistics 1 once hauling hurts.

How research maps to gameplay

Research spends Gold and opens branches:

• Refining 1 — Shakers (core income).
• Logistics 1 — Conveyors, Launchers (scale).
• Filters — Sort mixed streams.
• Pipes / Pumps / Vents — Fluid control (Water Management).
• Refining 2 — Kinetic Slag Press.
• Guns — Combat and burn options.
• Tools — Flamethrower, Vacuum, Cryoblaster, Grappling Hook.
• Lights — Underground visibility.
• Drones — Digger, Hauler automation (Automation Basics).
• Planter Boxes — Farming side systems.

You do not need everything at once. Play the loop, identify your bottleneck (sand, water, shake rate, slag backlog), then buy the branch that fixes it.

Physics habits that save rebuilds

Wet Sand is heavier and clumps. Give it headroom when dropping onto shakers; clogged inputs stall gold output.

Gold falls; slag slides. Diagonal orientation uses gravity deliberately. Consult Buildings for shaker footprint before flooring a large platform.

Fire is a tool, not just danger. Lava and the Flamethrower convert Slag to Burnt Slag for the press line. Without burn step, you leave money on the ground.

Launchers need spacing. Shift-skip outlet helps chain launcher arrays without double-feeding one tile.

From manual play to automation

Once you can fill shakers by hand for several minutes straight, you are ready for Getting Started factory layouts and Automation Basics. Conveyors move sand and slag; launchers lift streams vertically; filters split wrong materials before they jam refineries.

Use the Production Ratio Helper when adding machines — doubling shakers without water or slag capacity creates idle gold sinks.

Artifacts and long-term play

Below the tutorial layers, artifacts and environmental puzzles gate rewards that change how you mine. They are optional for the first shaker line but central to mid-game power spikes. See Artifacts and Puzzles when your basic refinery runs itself.

Demo vs Early Access

The demo teaches digging, wetting, and shaking. Early Access adds depth, research breadth, and more underground biomes. Platform details and dates are on Release Date and Platforms. Mechanics in this guide apply to both unless patch notes say otherwise.

Common beginner mistakes

• Building shakers flat instead of diagonal.
• Ignoring slag because gold already dropped.
• Researching drones before conveyors feed shakers reliably.
• Flooding mixers by piping water without vents or overflow plans.
• Descending deep without a grapple or light plan (Dig Deeper).

Fix one bottleneck at a time. Sandustry rewards readable layouts over megastructures built before the loop works.