Conveyor Belts: Factory Setup Guide

Plan Can 'Em All conveyor belts, connect every section, and fix bottlenecks before buying speed upgrades.

Can 'Em All conveyor belts are the point where your factory stops being a one-can-at-a-time chore and starts behaving like a production line. If you are still carrying every finished can to the seller, those manual trips eat the workday and hide the real bottleneck. Can 'Em All conveyor belts solve that problem only when you buy the right sections, connect them in the right order, and avoid spending on speed before your machines can feed the line.

Why Can 'Em All conveyor belts change your factory

Early production is deliberately clumsy. One creature yields little output, and every body and can may need to be moved by hand. A belt section improves that routine by moving finished cans closer to the seller, but a single section is not a complete automation system. You still need a connected route before you can stop making manual trips.

Setup state	What it changes	What you still do
Manual only	Nothing; cans stay where produced	Carry each can to the seller
Partial belt	Moves cans along purchased sections	Pick up at gaps or the line end
Connected line	Carries cans from machine toward seller	Maintain machines and handle exceptions

Treat every new conveyor purchase as a test. Watch the next batch of cans and see where they stop. If they gather at a gap or at the end of a section, the delivery route is not finished. The goal is not to own every belt upgrade immediately; it is to remove the manual step that is costing you the most time.

The right upgrade order before you automate

Your opening cash is better spent making each kill more valuable than turning the factory into a maze of half-finished belts. Start with more cans per creature, then raise can value with Premium Cans, whose first upgrade costs $12 and can push can value to +200%. Add creature arrivals only when you can process the current batch, and improve attacks only when surviving creatures are slowing production.

Priority	Upgrade	Why it comes first	Buy when
1	More cans per creature	Raises output without needing more arrivals	You can process each body
2	Premium Cans ($12)	Multiplies the value of every can sold	You have steady completed cans
3	More creature arrivals	Feeds a factory that finishes early	The existing batch is cleared
4	Attack upgrades	Prevents survivors from stalling the shift	Creatures outlast your damage
5	Conveyor sections	Cuts manual can delivery	Carrying cans is the bottleneck

That order is flexible, but the logic is not. A factory that clears every creature and sells every can has room to grow. A factory with bodies beside a busy Grinder or cans stranded away from the seller needs to fix that chain first. More arrivals are profitable only when you can turn them into completed sales.

Combat upgrades deserve the same test. The Baseball Bat, Knife, and later firearms are not automatic improvements to income. If creatures are already dying quickly and your Grinder is the limit, extra damage creates more waiting bodies. If creatures survive long enough to slow the shift, then damage or ammunition can be the correct purchase. Check the end of the workday instead of buying every weapon on sight.

How to connect Can 'Em All conveyor belts

Can 'Em All conveyor belts are purchased in sections, so the first purchase rarely creates a full route from processing machine to selling area. Work through the available sections as your budget allows, then follow a batch of cans with your eyes. A useful line should reduce the time you spend collecting finished products. If cans still stop at a gap or pile up at the end of a section, you have moved the manual step rather than removed it.

Use the basket before the vacuum

There is a Basket in the corner of the factory that can carry multiple cans at once. Use it to consolidate finished cans while you are still handling most deliveries by hand. The Basket does not increase can quantity or value, so it will not fix a processing bottleneck. It does reduce the number of trips you make with the production you already have.

Unlock the vacuum when carrying becomes the bottleneck

The Industrial Vacuum costs $40 and lets you suck up bodies, cans, and other objects before launching them toward the next part of the line. Its upgrades cover storage capacity, suction range, firing speed, and firing range. One capacity upgrade, Where Does It All Fit, raises storage from 150 to 250 for $20,000. Buy the vacuum when walking and throwing are eating your shift, not simply because it appears in the tree.

Checkpoint	Question to ask	Next move
Partial route	Do cans stop before the seller?	Buy the missing section or carry manually
Full route	Can cans travel without pickup?	Stop manual delivery on that line
After output rises	Are cans queuing on a connected belt?	Consider Conveyor Speed
Multiple machines	Is every machine linked independently?	Inspect each line separately

Check each production line on its own. One well-connected machine does not mean the rest of the factory has the same automation. If a second Grinder feeds a section with a gap, that line still needs attention even when the first line runs smoothly.

When conveyor speed is worth the money

A connected line is not automatically fast enough. Can 'Em All conveyor belts can be fully linked and still carry a backlog after you add more cans per creature, unlock another Grinder, or increase arrivals. Conveyor Speed matters when finished cans are waiting to move through an otherwise connected route. It provides little immediate value when your machines rarely produce enough cans to fill the belt.

Symptom	Likely bottleneck	Better next purchase
Cans queue on a complete belt	Belt throughput	Conveyor Speed
Cans stop at a gap	Incomplete route	Missing conveyor section
Grinders sit idle	Not enough bodies or value	More creatures or Premium Cans
Bodies pile beside busy Grinders	Processing capacity	Grinder speed or another machine

Speed upgrades become more attractive as output rises, but they should follow production, not lead it. If your Grinders are the limiting step, faster belts will simply move a smaller number of cans to the seller. Fix the machines first, then increase belt speed when the connected route is the thing holding up sales.

Where the Corpse Roomba fits

The Corpse Roomba is an automated helper that moves bodies around the factory. It becomes useful after arrivals and weapon damage increase enough that corpses scatter faster than you can collect them. A Roomba can reduce vacuum time when several machines need a steady supply. It does not solve a processing bottleneck, because feeding more bodies into an overloaded Grinder does not increase that machine's throughput.

Bottleneck table: choose the next factory upgrade

At the end of a shift, ask one question: what stopped the next can from being sold? Walk the factory and look for bodies beside machines, cans around the conveyor system, and creatures still alive when the timer ends. That quick inspection is more useful than buying the most expensive unlock on the list.

What is slowing you down?	Upgrade next
You finish processing everything with time left	More creatures or higher-value creature types
Bodies pile beside busy Grinders	Faster processing or another machine
Processed cans wait for delivery	Complete missing conveyor sections or improve manual delivery
Enemies survive because you run out of attacks	Weapon damage, ammunition, or automatic turrets
The shift ends while productive work remains	Longer workdays, once processing and transport keep up

Can 'Em All conveyor belts only help when they connect the step that is actually slow. If the Grinder cannot keep up, adding belt speed does not create more cans. If the belt is complete but cans still wait, check whether one machine is linked while another is not. Match the purchase to the visible bottleneck.

FAQ

What should I upgrade before Can 'Em All conveyor belts?

Start with more cans per creature and Premium Cans, which costs $12 for the first value upgrade. Add creature arrivals only when the current batch is processed and sold. The Industrial Vacuum, at $40, is the next handling upgrade when manual carrying becomes the main time sink.

Why do cans stop on a connected line?

A line can look connected while still having a gap or an unfinished section near the seller. Watch where the cans collect, then buy the missing section or improve the manual delivery step. If the route is complete and cans are queuing, Conveyor Speed becomes the relevant upgrade.

Is Conveyor Speed better than another Grinder?

It depends on where the backlog sits. Bodies waiting beside busy Grinders point to processing capacity, so Grinder speed or another machine matters more. Cans waiting on a complete belt point to transport, where Conveyor Speed is the better buy.

Do Corpse Roombas replace conveyor belts?

No. Corpse Roombas handle bodies, while Can 'Em All conveyor belts move finished cans toward the seller. Use a Roomba when corpses are scattered and vacuum time is high, but keep improving processing and can delivery separately.