Use Sandustry Tips when your first factory stops making Gold, a Shaker backs up, Water disappears, or the next research choice feels unclear. Run a symptom check, then follow the matching fix for the problem in front of you. Each check is written for a small factory you can still observe directly.
If Gold production stops, trace Sand, Water, Wet Sand, Shaker output, and Residue space in that order. If movement stalls, check conveyors, filters, pumps, and blocked drop space before rebuilding the whole layout.
Choose the symptom you can see in game and run the first checks before opening a longer guide.
Pick the job you are trying to finish right now.
Follow the opening production loop and progress from first Gold to a more stable factory.
Use source-based layout diagrams, then adapt them to your terrain and unlocked systems.
Match a visible symptom to the most likely mechanic before rebuilding the whole factory.
Understand Water, Wet Sand, Steam, Lava, energy and the physics that shape production.
Look up a material, then jump to the guide or factory step where that material matters.
Use lightweight browser tools only where the underlying ratios can be verified.
Each route starts from a visible symptom, so you can check the factory before changing the layout.
Check the Sand, Water, Wet Sand, Shaker and Residue chain that makes Gold production work.
Separate Wet Sand input, Gold drop space and Residue backup before rebuilding the line.
Look for flat wandering, diagonal leaks, missing basins and Steam conversion.
Learn when Fluxite is dug up, when the Flux Emanator matters, and why it gates upgrades.
Use the progression route when terrain or unlock gates block your next underground push.
Compare early unlocks by what they solve: light, movement, sorting, Water and production.
Understand allow/exclude behavior, drop space and common mixed-stream sorting mistakes.
Use Artifacts as an exploration checkpoint once the factory can support deeper digging.
Check whether Sand becomes Wet Sand before it reaches the Shaker.
The trailer shows the game in motion; start with the beginner guide if you want the build steps first.
Open on YouTubeA stable start is easier to read when each job has its own space. Keep Sand delivery, Water contact, Wet Sand movement, Shaker processing, Gold collection, and Residue output visually separate. When one of those jobs shares the same cramped pocket, the failure usually looks random even though one stage is simply blocked.
Most early Sandustry problems become simpler when you follow the material chain: input, conversion, machine, output, byproduct, transport. If Sand arrives but Wet Sand does not, the mixing point is the problem. If Wet Sand arrives but Gold does not fall, the Shaker or its drop space needs attention.
Keep one short test loop even after the main build grows. A tiny Sand and Water feed beside the working area makes it easier to compare normal Wet Sand behavior against a broken production line, especially after a new Filter, Pump or conveyor route changes where materials settle.
Expand only after the small loop proves which materials move cleanly and which stage still needs space.
A larger factory hides simple shortages. Before adding more machines, watch Sand enter the mixing area and confirm the Wet Sand path stays short enough to reach the Shaker reliably.
Gold needs somewhere to fall and settle. If the collection pocket fills with stray materials, the factory can look underpowered even when the input chain is working.
Residue is easier to handle before the build becomes dense. Give it a separate side path, then check that the path still works after every conveyor, Filter or basin change.
More Water does not fix a leaking layout. Seal corners, keep the route away from Fire, and make sure droplets collect where Sand can actually use them.
Open the page that matches the failure you can already see, then change only that stage of the factory.
Start here when the factory is still a small chain of Sand, Water, Wet Sand and Gold.
Compare against a starter layout when outputs cross each other or the Shaker line is hard to inspect.
Check Water behavior when droplets leak, evaporate, or become Steam near Fire.
Run a combined diagnosis when Gold, Water, transport and byproducts fail at the same time.
Sandustry is an Early Access factory automation game from Lantto Games, published by Hooded Horse. The game combines destructible terrain, material physics, exploration and increasingly complex production chains.
Official facts come from Steam, the developer or publisher, and the official wiki. Layout advice is marked as recommendation-level guidance unless it has been independently tested and documented.