Snow quick facts
- Made infinitely by the Cryoblaster, or dug from Frostbed
- Freezes Lava into Scoria and deep Water into Ice
- Burns to create Steam, which helps a water loop
- One pixel of Snow can freeze several pixels
Cold mechanic
Sandustry Snow: Make It, Freeze with It, and Burn It
Snow looks like a niche material, but it does three useful jobs at once: it freezes Lava into Scoria, freezes deep Water into Ice, and burns into Steam for a renewable water loop.
Cryoblaster
Frostbed digging
Freeze and solidify
Renewable water
Verified against v0.5.5 on 2026-08-20
Official source
Where Snow Comes From
You never have to hunt for Snow. The two ways to get it both cost research, and once you have either, Snow is effectively a renewable material.
The Cryoblaster
This tool shoots a stream of Snow and can generate it indefinitely. It unlocks through Research in Tier 2 for 1,000 Gold, which makes Snow a practical, on-demand resource rather than a found one.
Dig up Frostbed
Frostbed is frozen ground that is too hard to melt; you have to break it with digging tools. When destroyed, it yields Snow that can then be transported and used.
What Snow Freezes
Snow's special value is that it changes hot and liquid trouble into solid, safe materials. This is the mechanic you rely on most in a Lava-heavy or flooding area.
Turn Lava into Scoria
When Snow touches Lava, the Lava changes into Scoria and the Snow is consumed. A single pixel of Snow freezes multiple pixels, so a little goes a long way.
Turn deep Water into Ice
Snow on deep Water replaces it with Ice and is consumed. This is a raw control tool when a body of water is spreading where you do not want it.
Shallow contact upgrades nothing
If the Water or Lava is only one pixel deep, or if it has been dropped onto the Snow, the Snow is consumed with no Ice or Scoria produced. Depth matters.
Snow for a Renewable Water Loop
The reason Snow is more than a niche material: it feeds the Water and Steam loop that the whole factory leans on.
Snow burns into Steam
Snow is burnable, and burning it creates Steam. That connects Snow directly to the steam system and, through condensation, back into Water.
An infinite supply with the Cryoblaster
Because Snow can ultimately be transformed into Water, the Cryoblaster unlocks an essentially infinite supply of water, even if that supply is slow.
Late-Game Snow: The Snowmaker
In the late game, a dedicated building replaces the manual tool and ties Snow to the Energy system.
Snowmaker
Unlocks in Tier 5 for 2,500 Gold. It is a powered structure that converts Water into Snow using Energy, turning your snow supply into an automated part of the factory.
Energy and the cold chain
The Snowmaker runs on Energy, the same system that powers your Florinol Battery and Steam Turbine. See the Energy page for that side of the chain.