Light sources at a glance
- Flashlight shines a cone of light where you aim
- Flare Gun lit up dark areas you need to see
- Wall Light is a fixed wall-mounted fixture
- Map unlocks help you read the world, not just see it
Tools and fixtures
Sandustry Lights: Flashlight, Flare Gun, and Wall Lights
Darkness hides the details you plan around. A few research unlocks give you light where you aim, light you can throw, and fixed light on the walls of your base.
Flashlight
Flare Gun
Wall Light
Map and Minimap
Light You Carry
The portable sources solve the immediate problem: you cannot see where you are heading in dark caves or enclosed rooms.
Flashlight
Hold to shine a light where you aim. Your cursor sets the direction of the cone that reveals darkened areas. It can shine through walls, but it does not reveal undiscovered areas.
Flare Gun
The Flare Gun lights up dark areas, giving you a portable way to brighten a spot in front of you without holding a beam steady.
Fixed Light for Your Base
Once a room or corridor matters enough to revisit, a fixed fixture beats carrying a tool every time.
Wall Light
The Wall Light is a wall-mounted light you unlock through research. It gives a stable pool of light where you place it, so heavily used corridors stay readable.
Map and Minimap
Unlocking the Map and Minimap (100 Gold) is not strictly light, but it reveals the world on your HUD, which is how most players navigate before buildings light it up.
Choosing the Right Light
Each light solves a different visibility problem, so the right pick depends on where you keep working.
Take the Flashlight underground
For scouting and artifact hunting, the Flashlight's aimable beam is what reveals cave geometry ahead of a risky dig.
Set Wall Lights where you build
For a base you return to, fixed Wall Lights make the layout readable at a glance so routing and upkeep are easier to judge.
Check the base controls
Light and map tools sit in the same control scheme, so pairing them with the base control reference keeps your keys straight.
Core lighting rule
Sandustry uses a small set of light tools for different jobs: aimed light while moving, temporary light in front of you, and fixed light where the base stays active.
What still depends on your run
Best unlock timing, cave-lighting patterns, and how many fixtures you need still depend on your route through research and where darkness is slowing you down.
Featured Questions
How do you light dark areas in Sandustry?
Use the Flashlight for aimed visibility, the Flare Gun for temporary bright spots, and Wall Lights for places you revisit often.
What is the difference between the Flashlight and Flare Gun?
The Flashlight gives a directional beam while you aim it. The Flare Gun gives portable area lighting without needing a held beam.
Are Map and Minimap the same as lighting?
No. They help navigation and world reading, but they do not replace actual illumination when you need to inspect a dark space.