Steamworld Build: Complete Guide To Worker Buildings

Quick Links

• General Notes

• Dirt Road

• Warehouse

• Worker Residential

• General Store

• Forester

• Lumbermill

• Service Shop

• Cactus Farm

• Charcoal Kiln

While Steamworld Build may be a combination city builder and mining logistics game, it doesn't take either aspect lightly. Above ground, you have an ever-growing number of buildings to manage, from steambot houses to production facilities.

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This here guide has things y'all won't find in the operations manual.

Their purposes are pretty straightforward, but even the earliest buildings in the game have some hidden complexity to them. We've organized every building under the Worker tab into a clean, complete, and easy-to-follow guide so that you can make the most efficient robot-town ever built.

General Notes

Before we get into the details, some general information can apply to multiple buildings in this guide. If a detail was left out of their respective entries, it's because that fact can be found here.

• Items are one of the best ways to reduce cost or increase productivity of a building beyond its usual limit.
• Service buildings like the General Store and Service Shop have a range limit determined by the road they touch.
  • For Dirt Roads, this range is 24 tiles; for Paved Roads, it's 38; for Maglev Roads, it's 42.
• The Steam Furnace can provide a productivity boost to any nearby Production Buildings.
• Residential buildings do not require every aspect of Satisfaction. Missing something like a resource or service building will result in a minor reduction in taxes and Worker population.

Dirt Road

Build Cost

1 dollar per tile

Upkeep Cost

nothing

What It Does

Connects buildings within 24 road tiles of each other

The most basic 'building,' dirt roads connect buildings together. They also allow delivery bots to make deliveries between Warehouses and Production buildings at a slow pace.

Remember that all buildings need to connect to the train station by road, regardless of type or distance.

Warehouse

Build Cost

500 dollars, 4 boards

Upkeep Cost

15 dollars

What It Does

Provides deliveries to nearby Production buildings

Technically not a Worker building, since it's not found in the worker tab, it is the only building that doesn't fall under any Steambot type, so we put it here.

It also has its own category of 'warehouse,' which means it also has its own category of items to equip. These items can increase your global storage limit or increase how many delivery bots operate out of that warehouse.

Warehouses are important for getting deliveries done quickly. When too many production buildings are "Waiting For Delivery," or the warehouse has "Slow Delivery Times," either equip a warehouse with an item or build another one nearby.

The delivery bots are faster on higher-quality roads.

Worker Residential

Build Cost

2 boards

Upkeep Cost

See below

What It Does

Provides up to 25 dollars, 10 Worker bots

The only Residential building in this category, this one provides money and workers instead of costing them. Since you need money and Workers to progress, you'll be building plenty of these.

Being a Residential, this building has three major differences from other constructions:

1. They provide money and workers instead of requiring them.
2. They get more complicated as you progress, starting with minimal requirements and output and eventually becoming more complicated and profitable.
3. They can be upgraded into an Engineer building with 100 percent Satisfaction.

Upkeep Requirements

They have minimal satisfaction requirements initially, but that increases as you progress through the milestones.

Milestone

Upkeep

Output

Starting Milestone

Train Station, General Store

5 Dollars, 4 Workers

Milestone 1

Train Station, General Store, Service Shop

11 Dollars, 6 Workers

Milestone 2

Train Station, General Store, Service Shop, Cactus Water*

18 Dollars, 8 Workers

Milestone 3

Train Station, General Store, Service Shop, Cactus Water*, Charcoal*

25 Dollars, 10 Workers

• Cactus Water is consumed at a rate of 0.1 per cycle per building — one Cactus Water for every ten Worker Residentials.
• Charcoal is consumed at a rate of 0.08 per cycle per building — one Charcoal for every 12 Worker Residentials

General Store

Build Cost

200 Dollars

Upkeep Cost

9 Dollars

What It Does

Service to Worker Residentials

Despite the name, you don't do any shopping here. This Service building just provides Satisfaction to Worker Residentials. Be sure to build one near your Worker neighborhood.

The General Store is also part of the Engineer Residential satisfaction.

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Forester

Build Cost

125 Dollars

Upkeep Cost

3 Dollars, 15 Workers

What It Does

Harvests 1 Log every 15 seconds

The Forester Production building generates logs. With both boards and charcoal being a constantly in-demand item, this is a valuable building.

It also has an uncommon requirement: Fertility. The building needs to be placed near a grove of trees for maximum efficiency.

Lumbermill

Build Cost

300 Dollars

Upkeep Cost

4 Dollars, 10 Workers

What It Does

Converts 1 Log into 1 Board every 15 seconds

The Lumbermill cuts logs into boards. Most buildings require logs as part of the build cost, so you'll need plenty of them for a long time.

Charcoal, another popular material, is also made from logs. If you never seem to have enough boards, keep an eye on how big your log demand is and build more Foresters.

Service Shop

Build Cost

400 Dollars, 3 Boards

Upkeep Cost

11 Dollars

What It Does

Provides Worker Satisfaction

Like the General Store, the Service Shop exists solely to provide Worker Residential Satisfaction.

Cactus Farm

Build Cost

600 Dollars, 5 Boards

Upkeep Cost

5 Dollars, 15 Workers

What It Does

Generates 1 Cactus Water every 15 seconds

This Production building will generate Cactus Water. Workers require Cactus Water to stay happy, and it can be distilled into Moonshine for Engineer Satisfaction.

For the Cactus Farm to have full efficiency, you need to place down three farm plots. This can be done by selecting the building and the Place Fields button on its info card. At least one field must be touching the building, and all three fields must be connected.

How Many Farms For How Many Workers?

One building will produce four Cactus Water a Cycle. Based on the Residential consumption rate of 0.1, one Cactus Farm will support up to 40 Worker Residential buildings. This assumes none of it is used for Moonshine, that is.

Charcoal Kiln

Build Cost

1,000 Dollars, 4 Boards

Upkeep Cost

7 Dollars, 20 Workers

What It Does

Converts 1 Log into 1 Charcoal every 30 seconds

The Charcoal Kiln is another Production building that simply converts one resource into another. Charcoal, however, is a pretty popular resource. Workers and Engineers need it to be happy, and it's used in the production of Blackpowder and Robot Steak.

Based on the consumption rate of 0.08 a cycle, one Charcoal Kiln can support up to 25 Worker Residential buildings. Again, this assumes you aren't using them for other purposes.

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