Sandustry Research

Research is Sandustry’s tech tree. Every unlock is bought with Gold, and many tiers also require you to reach the next Factory Level before the new nodes become available. Spending wisely matters: it is easy to blow your savings on side branches and then lack the Gold for the objective that actually opens the next tier.

Below is the full list of research nodes across all six tiers available in Early Access.

Tier 1

Shaker Shaker — Sifts Wet Sand into Gold and Residue. (20 Gold)

Conveyor Belt — Unlocks Conveyor Belts and Launchers for moving solid materials. (30 Gold)

Hover Hover — Unlocks hover mode. Press Space to float in place and pass through your own structures. (50 Gold)

Map Map — Unlocks the full-screen Map and the Minimap. (100 Gold)

Flare Gun — Unlocks the Flare Gun to light up dark areas. (150 Gold)

Filter Filter — Unlocks the Filter, which works like a Conveyor Belt but can allow one chosen element to pass through. (250 Gold)

Sprint Boost — Unlocks Sprint Boost. Hold Shift for a temporary speed boost. (200 Gold)

Wall Light — Unlocks the wall-mounted Wall Light. (Cost not listed in source)

Tier 2

Kinetic Press — Processes Burnt Residue into additional Gold and Seeds. (500 Gold)

Flamethrower — Unlocks the Flamethrower: burns residue, melts ice, and vaporizes Water into Steam. (400 Gold)

Burner Belt — Unlocks the Burner Belt, which ignites flammable materials when fed heat from a Thermal Buffer. (500 Gold)

Thermal Buffer — Unlocks the Thermal Buffer, a heat storage block that distributes warmth to nearby machines. (1000 Gold)

Sweeper Drones — Unlocks Sweeper Drones that collect loose materials from the ground automatically. (800 Gold)

Flashlight — Unlocks the Flashlight, which shines a light where you aim. (600 Gold)

Conveyor Portal — Unlocks Conveyor Portals, letting materials cross production lines without mixing streams. (750 Gold)

CryoBlaster — Unlocks the CryoBlaster, which produces infinite Snow to freeze water, solidify lava, or be steamed into rain. (1000 Gold)

Tier 3

Pipe Pipe — Unlocks Pipes, Pumps, and Liquid Vents for moving fluids. (1250 Gold)

Planterbox — Unlocks the Planter Box for growing crops. Wet Seeds grow into flowers that yield Gold and Amethelis. (2000 Gold)

Gun Gun — Unlocks the Gun, allowing you to dig at a distance. (1500 Gold)

Pyro Dispenser — Unlocks the Pyro Dispenser, which fires flame bursts every few seconds when fueled by an adjacent Thermal Buffer. (2000 Gold)

Clearing Frame — A slow belt-like frame that moves objects inside it. Useful for clearing surfaces or pushing floating items such as Wet Seeds in water. (1000 Gold)

Vacuum Vacuum — Unlocks the Vacuum, which collects materials into an internal tank. (2000 Gold)

Activity Heatmap — Adds an Activity Heatmap overlay to the map. (700 Gold)

Aerokinetic Fan — Unlocks the Aerokinetic Fan, which blows petals and powders through the air. Good for moving large piles of Amethelis. (1500 Gold)

Digger Drone — Unlocks the Digger Drone, which digs autonomously. (2500 Gold)

Tier 4

Advanced Filter — Unlocks the Advanced Filter, which can filter several element types at once, including liquids and gases. (1500 Gold)

Steam Dryer — Unlocks the Steam Dryer for drying materials with steam, plus a condenser that turns gases into liquids using snow. (2500 Gold)

Rocket Launcher — Unlocks the Rocket Launcher for demolition and mining. (2000 Gold)

Conveyor Belt Mk.2 — Unlocks faster Conveyor Belt Mk.2 and Launcher Mk.2. (2500 Gold)

Corraller — Unlocks the Corraller for capturing creatures. (1250 Gold)

Hauler Drone — Unlocks the Hauler Drone for automated material transport. (3000 Gold)

Recon Drone — Unlocks the Recon Drone for scouting unexplored areas. (2500 Gold)

Tier 5

Snowmaker — Unlocks the Snowmaker, a powered structure that converts Water into Snow using Energy. (2500 Gold)

Florinol Battery — Unlocks the Florinol Battery, which stores Florinol as energy to power machinery or tools. (1500 Gold)

Drill Drill — Unlocks the Drill for breaking hard materials; requires Energy. Also requires the Rocket Launcher and Florinol Battery. (2500 Gold)

Smelter — Unlocks the Smelter, which smelts elements placed on top using heat from a Thermal Buffer or Lava. (3000 Gold)

Energy Siphon — Unlocks the Energy Siphon tool for transferring energy between power stores. (1000 Gold)

Flux Emanator — Unlocks the Flux Emanator, which converts Voidbloom into Fluxite. (2000 Gold)

Copper Mold — Unlocks the Copper Mold for casting Power Bricks from liquid copper. Power Bricks store large amounts of Energy and can be recharged from a generator. Requires the Smelter and Florinol Battery. (2000 Gold)

Void Rift — Unlocks the Void Rift, which produces Void Seeds that can be planted and refined into void elements. (3000 Gold)

Energy Connector — Unlocks the Energy Connector for passing Energy between power structures. (1000 Gold)

Steam Turbine — Unlocks the Steam Turbine for automated power generation. (3000 Gold)

Laser Laser — Unlocks the Laser for sustained excavation through hard materials. (5000 Gold)

Recall Shard — Unlocks the Recall Shard, letting you teleport back to a recall portal powered by Voidbloom. (4000 Gold)

Locator — Unlocks the Locator. Fill it with Voidjuice to scan for hidden alien artifacts. (3000 Gold)

Tier 6

Synthesizer — Unlocks the Synthesizer, which uses Energy to convert one material into another. (7500 Gold)

Tips for Spending Gold

Save for the node that gates the next tier before buying convenience upgrades.
Kinetic Press and Pipe are common bottlenecks in the early-to-mid game.
Late-game power requires several Tier 5 nodes: Florinol Battery, Copper Mold, and Steam Turbine work together.
A few nodes, such as the Drill and Copper Mold, have explicit prerequisites. Check the tooltip before saving up.

Sources

This page is a rewritten reference based on:

Hooded Horse Official Wiki — Research
In-game research tree as of Early Access launch (August 2026)