The counter makes your first credits; machines make the rest. Probably Stolen's demo already contains the bones of a production economy — printers, purifiers, robots, animal pens — and Update 049 reshaped it with new content, balance passes, and reworked upgrades. This guide ranks what to invest in first, using only what the demo confirms.
1. How production fits the shop
Machines take inputs — power, modules, raw stock — and return goods worth more than the sum. The loop the demo teaches first is water: collect it, test it, purify it, bottle it, sell it. Around that spine sit the other systems in this guide. Nothing here is automated in the factory-game sense; every machine is a workstation you stock and empty by hand, and floor space is a real constraint — a machine you cannot reach is a decoration.
2. Priority one: the water chain
However you start, water is the demo's steadiest economy — it is the one commodity with a dedicated scenario, a dedicated testing kit, and a liability system that rewards doing it properly. The moisture collectors and purifiers visible in the machine wall above are the backbone: they convert the station's ambient supply into a product whose tested, filtered state you can prove at the counter. If an upgrade decision is ever "water chain or anything else" in your first two weeks, take the water chain.
3. The Bottle Printer: your first multiplier
The Bottle Printer turns your processed water into a shelf product — and it is upgradeable with electronic parts, unlocking normal and then large Bottle Printer tiers. Bigger bottles mean fewer trips, denser storage, and better margins per unit of floor space. In the demo's economy this is the closest thing to a production multiplier you can buy early, and electronic parts are worth stockpiling for it even before the upgrade is affordable.
4. The Vacuum Robot and the Toolbox: time is a currency
Two upgrades buy you hours rather than goods. The Vacuum Robot can be upgraded with a Common Electronic to gain a built-in incinerator — it destroys the waste it collects, at double power draw while it runs. Waste handling sounds minor until your storage fills with by-products; the robot converts a recurring chore into a power bill.
The Toolbox is the other essential: it stores your tools — including the blue and red labelers — and binds them to the number keys 1–9. Dr. Jackson sells it after day
14. Every inspection and relabel in a long run passes through those keys; buy it the day it is offered.
5. Animals: rats now, fish tanks new
Animal husbandry is a production line that eats and breeds. Rat ranching was already a playtest staple — the pens below, named cage by cage by one player ("good rats," "unfed/dead," "luxury"), are what a mature operation looks like. The demo's October update added the Aquafarmer path through the Wild's Network: a retired aquafarmer sells fish-tank equipment, starting with a basic circulation system, tilapia stock, and fish food. Fish are slower and lower-maintenance than rats — the update post frames them as the beginner-friendlier line — and the tanks upgrade with materials like everything else. Manage water quality, filtration, and the energy cell; fish reproduce from roe to fry to adults, eels and sturgeons follow tilapia, and sturgeon caviar needs surgery tools.
6. The Wild's Network: where upgrades come from
Joe Wild's network is the demo's upgrade marketplace — machines, suppliers, and services, including fixers who clean up evidence. The Aquafarmer gear arrived through it, and the official screenshot below shows its storefront of fixers and services. When a system in this guide sounds like something you should own, the Network is usually where it is sold; check it before assuming a machine does not exist yet.
7. Buy order for a new run
1. Water chain pieces — collection, testing, purification.
2. Bottle Printer tiers — spend electronic parts here first.
3. Toolbox — the day Dr. Jackson offers it (after day 14).
4. Vacuum Robot + incinerator upgrade — one Common Electronic, once waste becomes a chore.
5. One animal line — rats for pace, fish for low maintenance — not both at once on a first run.
8. What 1.0 adds on October 28
The full release adds vending machines that keep selling after you close — the first truly passive income in the game — alongside the full scenario roster and Steam Workshop support. None of that is in the demo; the priorities above are deliberately demo-only, and this page will be re-ranked once the launch build is in hand.
FAQ
What should my first upgrade be?
Water infrastructure, then the Bottle Printer tiers. Water is the demo's most documented economy, and the printer multiplies the value of everything the water chain produces.
Is the Vacuum Robot worth it?
Once waste handling starts costing you counter time, yes — the incinerator upgrade (one Common Electronic) removes a recurring chore at the price of double power while it runs.
Rats or fish for a first animal line?
Fish, per the developers' own framing: slower, lower-maintenance, more beginner-friendly. Rats reward attention and scale faster for players who enjoy the management.
Are vending machines in the demo?
No. Vending machines are a 1.0 feature announced for the October 28 launch — they sell goods overnight after closing.