Factory handbook / Full release · PC
Which upgrade should you prioritize?
If you already clear the creatures but spend the day carrying bodies and cans, prioritize vacuum or cargo-handling capability before adding more creatures. Change that choice when the backlog is elsewhere: improve the part of the loop that is holding up the rest.
Updated 2026-10-31 · Full release · PC
Find the queue, then choose the direction
Watch one round before spending
Look for the largest unfinished queue: live creatures, bodies on the floor, input waiting in the crusher, or cans waiting to be sold. This table is an editorial diagnosis based on the production loop, not an official best-build order.
Match the visible backlog to the next capability to inspect What you see Check first Upgrade direction Many creatures still alive Killing is behind the rest of the line Weapons / combat capability Bodies on the floor; hopper short of input Collection and carrying Vacuum / cargo handling Input waiting in the hopper; cans emerge slowly Processing cannot clear the input queue Machine / processing capability Cans pile up at the output, not in the tube The sale route is behind production Can transport / conveyors The batch finishes; machines often wait for input Existing work can already be cleared Only then consider more creatures Clear the blocked stage by hand first
Use the production routine to clear the queue you found: kill the remaining creatures, send bodies into the hopper, or move finished cans into the blue tube. Watch what refills while you do this. If bodies remain on the floor while the hopper waits, focus on getting input to the machine before blaming processing speed.
Open full-size image ↗Compare the hopper’s input queue with what is still waiting outside. Official Steam store screenshot. Separate production from transport
If the machine has already made cans but they do not reach the selling tube, adding input will not clear that existing pile. Inspect your can-moving route and available conveyor or handling options. Conveyors belong to the transport stage; choose improvements that address the queue you can actually see.
Open full-size image ↗The cans are already produced here. Moving them onward is a separate part of the loop. Official Steam store screenshot. Match an available Skill Tree description to that need
In the Skill Tree, read the available node’s effect and match it to the stage you need to improve. For a carrying bottleneck, the current-release Industrial Vacuum guide gives a real $40 purchase route and its controls. Demo conveyor and weapon references have their own version labels. Follow connecting prerequisite lines; do not choose a node’s role from its color or price alone.
Open full-size image ↗Use the Skill Tree to inspect node descriptions. The colors alone do not establish a node’s effect. Official Steam store screenshot. Run another round and compare the same queue
Look at the same stage in the next round. If its backlog shrinks, the improvement is helping that problem. If the largest pile moves elsewhere, diagnose the new bottleneck before your next purchase. Consider increasing creature supply only once the existing batch can be cleared and machines are regularly waiting for input.
Did the upgrade solve the right problem?
You can name the stage holding up the factory, choose an available upgrade whose description addresses it, and check the next round for a smaller queue at that stage. The goal is a better-balanced loop, not a particular node count.
If the backlog does not shrink
Check whether you improved the stage that was actually blocked. More killing power does not move bodies already on the floor; more creatures add work to a line that may already be behind. Clear the visible queue, repeat the observation, and change direction if the bottleneck has moved.
Keep the next job moving
Sources & scope
The upgrade categories and machine images come from the official Steam store. The backlog table and default priority are this guide’s editorial recommendations; they are not an official optimal order. See the official game description ↗