Crusher Guide: Turn Bodies Into Cans

The truck just arrived, and your factory is already filling up with adorable raw material. The Can 'Em All crusher is the machine that turns that chaotic delivery into income: clear the creatures, move the bodies, crush them into cans, and push those cans into the tube before they back up. If you treat the Can 'Em All crusher as an afterthought, you will spend more time cleaning up corpses than scaling production.

What the Can 'Em All Crusher Actually Does

The crusher is the middle of a three-part loop: kill, process, sell. A truck brings a fresh batch of creatures straight to your factory. Those creatures are your main source of income, but only after they have been killed and converted. Grab the bodies and throw them into the crusher; the resulting cans still need to travel through the tube to be sold. The money then goes back into stronger weapons, a better vacuum, new machines, conveyors, and more production.

The Can 'Em All crusher is not a decorative prop or a one-time story beat. It is the handoff between combat and production. If you clear creatures quickly but leave bodies on the floor, the crusher starves. If you crush efficiently but ignore the tube, cans pool up and revenue stalls. The machine only looks useful when the stages on both sides of it are moving.

The loop is easy to learn, but the factory scales around it. At the time of writing, the game sits at Overwhelmingly Positive with 838 positive reviews out of 863 listed, a sign that the basic creature-to-can flow is connecting with players. The full release also adds new weapons, turrets, permanent upgrades, lore, gambling, and an ending to discover, so the crusher remains central even as new tools arrive.

A Repeatable Crusher Workflow for Every Run

Treat every delivery as a small production cycle instead of a frantic scramble. Clear with a purpose, collect while the area is safe, and feed the crusher before you wander off to buy something. A reliable Can 'Em All crusher routine is less about speed and more about never leaving a stage empty.

The order matters. If you clear the whole factory before collecting, you may create a long cleanup phase while the crusher sits idle. If you collect bodies but never check the tube, you can end up with a full output side and an empty input side. Work in short loops: clear, collect, crush, sell, then spend.

Three habits make the workflow smoother:

• Clear toward the crusher, not away from it, so bodies do not have to travel as far.
• Check the output every time you feed the machine; cans are only money after they enter the tube.
• Buy one fix at a time and watch whether the pile moves. If it does not, you chose the wrong bottleneck.

Upgrade Priorities That Keep the Crusher Fed

Every Can 'Em All crusher setup depends on support systems. The crusher is only as fast as the bodies you deliver and the cans you clear. That is why a balanced reinvestment plan beats dumping every dollar into one flashy upgrade.

A good rule is to upgrade the stage that is visibly failing. If bodies are stacked at the kill zone, weapons and collection come first. If the crusher is idle, do not buy more production; improve the path from kill zone to crusher. If cans are stacked before the tube, fix the selling side before you bring in another truckload.

The full release adds turrets and permanent upgrades, but they do not replace the core loop. Treat them as tools for specific problems, not as permission to skip body collection or can movement. The factory only automates when every stage has a way to hand off to the next.

How to Spot and Fix Crusher Line Bottlenecks

Most factory problems show up as a pile. Find the pile, identify which stage stopped moving, and fix that stage first. Your Can 'Em All crusher line is a chain, so the weakest handoff controls the pace.

The fastest way to diagnose a slowdown is to stand at the crusher and look both ways. If the input side is empty, the problem is upstream: clearing, collecting, or delivery. If the output side is full, the problem is downstream: can movement, the tube, or sales. Fix the side that is starving or flooding the machine.

Resist the urge to buy a general "more production" upgrade when the line is already backed up. More creatures only help if the crusher and tube can handle them. In the same way, a conveyor is not a magic fix if the machine it feeds is already idle.

Early, Mid, and Late Factory Priorities

Rather than chase a fixed level number, judge your progress by what the factory can already do. Early runs are about proving the loop. Mid runs are about smoothing the handoffs. Late runs are about automation and scale.

Across every phase, the Can 'Em All crusher should be your reference point. If the machine is fed, the output is clear, and the tube is moving, you can afford to experiment with new weapons or side systems. If any of those three are failing, go back to the basics before you spend.

The full game's extra systems, including lore, gambling, and an ending, are reasons to keep playing, not reasons to neglect production. A strong factory gives you the freedom to chase those goals without constantly rebuilding from a stalled line.

Common Can 'Em All Crusher Mistakes to Avoid

Most crusher problems are self-inflicted, and they are easy to correct once you know what to look for.

• Killing without collecting. The crusher cannot convert bodies that are still on the floor.
• Feeding the crusher but ignoring the tube. Cans are not income until they are sold.
• Buying only weapons. Combat speed does not fix a clogged output side.
• Skipping vacuum support. Manual collection becomes a hard cap on throughput.
• Automating before stabilizing. Conveyors and machines work best when the manual loop already flows.
• Forgetting permanent upgrades. Long-term progress matters once the basic factory is running.
• Treating turrets as a replacement for a plan. They are part of the toolkit, not a shortcut around the loop.

FAQ

What is the Can 'Em All crusher used for?

The Can 'Em All crusher converts creature bodies into cans. Those cans must then be moved into the tube and sold, so the crusher is the middle step between combat and revenue.

Should I upgrade the crusher before weapons?

Fix the visible bottleneck first. If bodies pile up before they reach the machine, weapons and collection are the better early spend. The main upgrade paths focus on weapons, vacuum, machines, conveyors, and production; a dedicated crusher upgrade is not specified, so avoid assuming one exists.

How do I stop the crusher from sitting idle?

Keep body collection close to the kill zone, use vacuum support to reduce manual pickup, and avoid overbuilding production before the line can process it. If the input side is empty, fix clearing and collection before buying more creatures.

Is the crusher enough to automate the factory?

No. The crusher is one stage. Automation also needs machines, conveyors, and enough production to keep the line supplied. Build the manual loop first, then automate one handoff at a time.