The Research tab unlocks every building and tool in the game by spending Gold, Energy, or Auralite. The costs below come straight from the official research tree, so you can plan your spending instead of guessing what each node costs.
Before spending, know which currency you are looking at. They unlock different things and mix-ups waste both currencies.
The Research tab spends Gold, Energy, or Auralite to unlock each node. Every node here is a new building or tool entering your menu - Shaker, Launcher, Kinetic Press, and so on.
Upgrades are a different line, paid for with Fluxite, and they improve the tools, weapons, and drones you already own rather than adding new machines. Keep the two currencies apart. For the recommended spend order, see the Upgrade Priority guide.
The order below is this site's suggestion, built from the official costs and how each node feeds the next. It is a recommendation, not a game rule.
The Shaker splits Wet Sand into Gold and Residue, so it is the whole point of the opening hour. Nothing else matters until this 20-Gold node is bought.
Checkpoint: Gold drops out of the first Shaker once Wet Sand reaches it.
One cheap purchase grants both the Conveyor Belt and the Launcher, ending the hand-carrying phase. It is the most efficient 30 Gold in the tree.
Checkpoint: a Conveyor Belt carries material forward without your hand on it.
The Flamethrower burns Residue into Burnt Residue, and the Kinetic Press turns that into a second Gold payout plus Seeds. Together they roughly double what your Wet Sand is worth.
Checkpoint: Residue stops piling up and Gold comes out of the Press.
Wet Seeds planted on a Planter Box grow into Flowers that drop Gold and Amethelis, opening the renewable farming branch that digging alone cannot provide.
Checkpoint: a wet Seed planted on the Box grows into a Flower.
This Tier 4 node unlocks two machines: the Steam Dryer, which presses Amethelis into Dry Amethelis, and the Condenser, which condenses a gas like Florin into the liquid Florinol that feeds the Energy system.
Checkpoint: the Steam Dryer and the Condenser each turn their input into an output.
Every cost below is copied from the official research tree. Where a node has a listed prerequisite, it is noted on the same line.
Gold is scarce early, so route it through the chain that produces more of itself before splurging on quality-of-life nodes.
The Shaker and Logistics nodes pay for themselves, but later tiers assume a working line. A node bought before the income exists just sits there unused.
A stalled line wastes every Gold you spend on top of it. Make sure the current chain runs before you unlock the next stage of it.
Logistics is cheap and instantly removes the manual hauling bottleneck, which is worth more throughput than most expensive machines.
Four ways a spending plan can stall, each with the fix that uses what you have already unlocked.
A Shaker bought before Gold flows just waits for material that never arrives. Buy each node only when the one before it is producing, because an idle unlock does not pay for itself.
The tree spends Gold, Energy, or Auralite, while upgrades spend Fluxite. Placing a purchase in the wrong tab leaves one line strong and the other empty.
A stalled line wastes every Golden node built on top of it. Diagnose the current chain before unlocking the next stage, or the new machine just sits behind the blockage.
Logistics is the cheapest automation step and instantly ends the hand-carrying phase. Skipping it makes every later machine harder to feed, no matter how much it cost.
With a spending plan in place, these pages extend the same budget and build loop.
The upgrade line is the other half of your menu, paid in Fluxite, with a recommended first-three order.
Conveyor Belt, Launcher, and Filter - the three movers that carry material between your nodes.
Five verified reasons a Shaker stops producing Gold, each with the mechanic behind it and the fix.
The five-step path to your first Gold, built around the Shaker and Wet Sand.