A Comprehensive SteamWorld Build Guide: Optimize Your Town and Underground

1. Game Overview

SteamWorld Build is a charming hybrid of city-building and dungeon management set on a dying planet, where you grow a Steambot mining settlement while venturing underground to unearth ancient technology to escape, thus offering an accessible, visually appealing experience with intuitive surface gameplay and strategic underground exploration

• Developer: The Station (Thunderful Development studio)
• Publisher: Thunderful Publishing, Netflix (on mobile)
• Engine: Unity
• Release Dates: PC & Consoles: December 1, 2023; Mobile (Netflix): June 6, 2023
• Genre: City-building, simulation, strategy, dungeon-crawling/resource management
• Mode: Single-player
• Core Loop: Build surface settlement → unlock & expand mines → extract resources & defend underground → reinvest aboveground (repeat)

Note: A free demo covers the first three dungeons and carries your progress into the full game on PC and consoles.

2. Story & Setting

At length, the game runs parallel to SteamWorld Dig 2. Jack Clutchsprocket and his daughter Astrid lead a group of refugees to an abandoned mine on a dying planet, seeking parts to assemble a rocket and escape. Guided by the mysterious bot Core, who is eventually revealed as part of the Vectron Hivemind, you rebuild a surface settlement, restore the mine, and uncover Core’s betrayal. Along the way, the helpful Trader bot gives his life to allow you to flee.

Premise: Construct a thriving mining settlement, restore the mineshaft, and delve into dangerous depths for long lost rocket technology to escape the dying world.

Key Characters:

1. Jack Clutchsprocket – determined leader seeking salvation for his daughter and fellow refugees.
2. Astrid – Jack’s spunky daughter, essential in uncovering hidden technology and responding to mysterious signals.
3. Core – initially helpful guide, later revealed as an envoy of the Vectron Hivemind seeking escape.
4. Trader – a weary but wise mentor bot, who sacrifices himself to ensure Jack and Astrid’s escape.

Tone: A steampunk–western frontier infused with lighthearted humor, resource management challenges, and growing emergent threats lurking in the underground darkness.

3. Core City-Building Mechanics

Above ground, you design and manage a town using buildings and roads, all arranged along and connected to the central Train Station. Your population of steambots, i.e. Workers, Engineers, Aristobots, and Scientists perform tasks, generate resources, and keep your settlement growing while servicing ever‑increasing needs and challenges.

1. Roads & Train Station: All functional buildings must be connected by roads to the Train Station to operate properly (except for Landmarks, which are exempt)
2. Residential Buildings: You start with Worker residences. As their needs are met via service and resource buildings, you unlock the ability to upgrade residences to accommodate Engineers, then Aristobots, and finally Scientists. Each higher tier unlocks more advanced building options
3. Service Buildings: These fulfill resident needs, e.g. food, clothing, and entertainment. Thus, their reach depends on the type of road and connectivity. Happy steambots help upgrade residences when their satisfaction is high
4. Refineries: These include Foresters, Lumber Mills, Cactus Farms, and later more complex factories. Each refinery requires a specific steambot workforce and must be connected by road to warehouses via the Train Station network. Refineries have upkeep costs and demand a functioning delivery chain.
5. Happiness & Upkeep: Maintain resource flows and services to keep bots satisfied. If bots are idle or unhappy, productivity drops, harming milestone progress and town growth

Tip: Use the Move Tool to reorganize buildings, i.e. roads and service radii change town efficiency drastically when you unlock crowded expansions.

4. Dungeon Exploration Mechanics

Repairing the Abandoned Mineshaft unlocks access to underground exploration, enabling Engineers, Miners, Prospectors, Mechanics, and Guards to venture across procedurally structured mine floors to extract resources, fend off dangers, and retrieve items vital to your town’s growth and rocket building plans.

1. Mineshaft Repair: Unlock the mine once you’ve met requirements, i.e. typically 8 boards, 1,200 money, 18 Engineers, and a road to the Train Station to access the first level, known as the Dusty Caverns
2. Procedural Floors: The mine contains three distinct underground layers, i.e. Dusty Caverns, Marshy Ruins, and Crackling Depths, each increasingly dangerous and resource-rich. Doors between floors often require activating levers or repairing additional shafts
3. Resource & Combat Roles:
   • Miners clear terrain and debris and expand the mine using Miner Quarters
   • Prospectors harvest resources from veins, farms, or extractors and carry them back to the surface via the mineshaft
   • Mechanics build and repair machinery like Extractors and can heal bots affected by collapses or enemy encounters
   • Guards defend against subterranean threats, often swarms from enemy nests, especially on deeper floors, and can be equipped with weapons or supported by turrets
4. Risk vs. Reward: Deeper levels yield rarer resources (e.g. Ironium, Oil, Plastishrooms, Vectron Scrap) but come with greater dangers like collapses and creep attacks. Structural hazards are mitigated through Pillars, Bridges, Conveyor Belts, Teleporters, and Speed Vents

5. Steambot Tiers & Milestones

Your town’s growth is tracked through 19 official Milestones tied to steambot population and progression. Thus, each milestone unlocks new building types, residences, and gameplay/story elements, culminating in building the Rocket Fuel Processing Plant and launching the rocket as the final escape goal

Tier	Milestone & Population Required	Unlocks
Workers	Milestone 1 – 24 WorkersMilestone 2 – 70 WorkersMilestone 3 – 120 WorkersMilestone 4 – 200 Workers	Warehouse, Forester, Lumbermill, Service Shop (Milestone 1)Cactus Farm (Milestone 2)Charcoal Kiln, Train Station (Milestone 3)Unlock Engineer residencies (Milestone 4)
Engineers	Milestone 5 – 1 EngineerMilestone 6 – 70 EngineersMilestone 7 – 120 EngineersMilestone 8 – 200 EngineersMilestone 9 – 240 Engineers	Mineshaft access, Sand Sifting Factory, Glassblower, Moonshiner, Saloon (Milestone 5)Prospector recruitment, Toolmaker, Surveyor’s Office, Paved Roads (Milestone 6)Mechanic recruitment, Mechanic Quarters, Scrap Extractor, Pickaxe Maker, Sheet Metal Factory (Milestone 7)Surveillance Facility, Radar, Bridges, Water Purifier, Wash Service, Burger Meister, Cattle Farm (Milestone 8)Aristobot residencies, Ironium Extractor (Milestone 9)
Aristobots	Milestone 10 – 1 AristobotMilestone 11 – 80 AristobotsMilestone 12 – 120 AristobotsMilestone 13 – 180 AristobotsMilestone 14 – 240 Aristobots	Polymerisation Plant, Waxing Shop (Milestone 10)Armory, Guard Quarters, Oil Extractor, Oil Refinery, Diesel Plant, Hatmaker, Glass Wool Spinner, Thumper, Sheriff’s Office (Milestone 11)Fine Dining, Steam Furnace, Carburizing Plant (Milestone 12)Casino, Gunsmith, Black Powder Maker, Sulfur Distillery, Flame Turret, Gas Extractor (Milestone 13)Unlock Scientist residencies (Milestone 14)
Scientists	Milestone 15 – 1 ScientistMilestone 16 – 50 ScientistsMilestone 17 – 100 ScientistsMilestone 18 – 150 ScientistsMilestone 19 – 240 Scientists	University, Retrofit Shop, Maglev Road (Milestone 15)Lab Equipment Manufacturer, Sparkling Diesel Manufacturer, Lightning Turret (Milestone 16)Art Studio, Oil Paint Factory, Large Stuff Collider, Vectron Scrap Extractor (Milestone 17)Observatory (Milestone 18)Jetshroom Farm, Rocket Fuel Processing Plant (Milestone 19)

Tip: Final Escape (Post‑Milestone finale): After Milestone 19, you must produce 100 units of rocket fuel at the Rocket Fuel Processing Plant to launch the rocket and complete the game, this completion step isn’t numbered as a milestone but is the final objective

6. Items

Boost your town’s productivity and dungeon success with Items (temporary consumables) obtained via the Train Station or treasure chests and equip them to buildings or Steambots for targeted enhancements.

1. Items: Production boosters like Gold, Rubies, Production Speed, Service Income, Guard Equipment, etc. Assign via the Items Tool or building’s Edit menu
2. Retention: Items remain equipped until manually removed or replaced. Gems and milestone progress persist across runs, but Items do not carry over into new sessions.

7. Mine Workers & Underground Systems

Below ground, four specialized steambot classes expand your operational capabilities in the deeper shafts, with a fifth introduced in the Mechanized DLC:

1. Miners: Excavate tunnels and rubble, uncover higher grade ores, rocket parts, and create space for mine expansion.
2. Prospectors: Carry resources, i.e. from veins, extractors, or farms to the surface via the mineshaft, sustaining your supply chain.
3. Mechanics: Build and repair machinery like extractors and defensive turrets; they can also revive and repair bots damaged by enemy attacks.
4. Guards: Defend against subterranean threats, i.e. enemies emerging from the environment or hives, protecting your bots and infrastructure.
5. Mechs (Mechanized DLC): A controllable automaton that excels at both clearing obstacles and engaging in combat. Unlocked via the DLC, Mechs bring brute strength and precision to solve puzzles and suppress threats in the mines

8. Difficulty Levels & Game Modes

Customize your experience with four difficulty settings and useful game toggles:

1. Sandbox: Relaxed, infinite access to all buildings and resources from the start. No achievements or milestones, and story elements are disabled.
2. Casual: Beginner-friendly mode with abundant resources, low construction costs, and minimal enemy threat.
3. Balanced: The standard experience, offering moderate resource management and combat challenge. Designed for first time playthroughs.
4. Difficult (Hard): A more punishing mode with scarce resources, aggressive enemies, and no refunds for building destruction.

Optional Toggles (available alongside difficulty choices):

1. Disable or enable tutorials and story scenes to streamline or enrich your experience.
2. Enable or disable mine randomization to control replay consistency or variation.

9. Advanced Strategies & Pro Tips

1. Pillar First (Mine Stability): When exploring underground, immediately place Pillars to prevent collapse in unstable zones. Space them every 4–6 tiles depending on floor layout, and use Guards with Flamethrowers to clear hazardous Creep before construction.
2. Use Conveyor Belts & Multiple Warehouses: Automate resource movement by linking extractors to mining shafts with conveyor belts, this reduces prospector inefficiency. Build multiple warehouses near production zones to speed up resource distribution.
3. Upgrade Road Types: Transition to Paved Roads and eventually Maglev Roads to significantly extend service coverage and boost hauler movement speed, ensuring efficient delivery and satisfied residents.
4. Cluster Production Zones: Group production buildings (e.g., Charcoal Kiln, Sand Sifting Factory) together to benefit from Steam Furnaces, which increase nearby output while minimizing service spread requirements.
5. Optimize Bot Distribution Underground: Keep a balanced mix of Miners, Prospectors, Mechanics, and Guards by expanding and reassigning quarters as needed. Avoid over-delegation, once a mine floor is cleared, reduce extraction operations to cut upkeep costs.
6. Use Mine Speed Controls Strategically: Pause the game when exploring the deeper mine levels to carefully assess terrain, impending threats, or mine collapses. Use Fast speed during safe periods to advance resource accumulation

Pro Tip: Fast-track early milestones by focusing on Worker housing and Foresters, so unlock your first Mine repair quickly to gain gem income from below.

10. Conclusion & Next Steps

At length, SteamWorld Build innovates the SteamWorld formula by blending intuitive city building with deep dungeon crawling roguelite loops. So, by mastering town layouts, worker progression, milestone milestones, and item relic systems, you’ll build an escape rocket and outsmart the Vectron Hivemind. This guide’s verified insights ensure you build smarter, dig deeper, and climb every leaderboard.

Complete Adventure Mode on Balanced to unlock full DLC, then tackle Endless Mode for meta-currency farming. Refine item builds in the Daily Challenge and challenge friends in Versus. Your steambots are counting on you, happy building!