Best Production Upgrades to Buy First

A factory full of corpses can still be a bad business. If bodies pile up beside a busy grinder or finished cans sit on the floor, your next Can 'Em All production upgrades purchase should fix that bottleneck instead of adding another weapon. The right order turns a small manual operation into a self-sustaining can factory; the wrong order leaves cash trapped in half-finished production. Use the guide below to plan Can 'Em All production upgrades around one question at the end of every shift: what stopped the next can from being sold?

Start With Can Value, Not Every Weapon

Your first factory earns very little because one creature produces only a few cans, each can sells for a low amount, and almost every step needs manual work. Early Can 'Em All production upgrades should increase the value of a completed delivery before you spend heavily on combat.

The Premium Cans upgrade costs $12 and moves the can-value bonus from 0% to +200%, which makes it a strong partner for extra cans per creature. Raising output from three cans to four adds another saleable item, and that extra can benefits from the higher price.

Do not assume the Baseball Bat deserves your first available cash. Early on, punching handles small groups of weak creatures well enough. The Bat becomes more useful when defeating creatures is taking too much time away from collecting and processing them. If your grinder is already full, stronger melee attacks simply create more bodies waiting in line. The Knife is another early combat option, but firearms later bring their own ammunition concerns, so buying every melee upgrade automatically is rarely the answer.

More arrivals are profitable only when you can turn them into completed deliveries. A factory that processes every creature and sells every can has room to grow. A factory that leaves bodies or cans unfinished needs to repair its current production chain first.

Fix the Bottleneck Before You Buy More Firepower

The most useful Can 'Em All production upgrades are reactive. At the end of a shift, walk through the factory and inspect three things: bodies near the grinders, cans along the conveyor route, and creatures still alive when the timer expires. That quick check tells you which part of the line is holding back the next sale.

A factory can become worse at completing deliveries even while its weapons become much stronger. That is why a new rifle or turret is not automatically a production upgrade. If bodies are already accumulating around a full grinder, extra firepower makes the backlog larger without increasing the number of cans sold.

Keep the question simple: what stopped the next can from being sold? If one grinder finishes early, you probably need more creatures or better can value. If one grinder runs continuously but bodies remain, improve processing speed or unlock another machine. If several grinders are busy and bodies still pile up, add processing capacity before another combat upgrade. If the grinders finish but cans remain unsold, your transport system is the next problem.

Move Bodies and Cans Faster With Better Handling

During the first few shifts, much of your workday disappears into carrying bodies to the grinder and moving finished cans to the seller. The best Can 'Em All production upgrades for handling reduce travel time without pretending to fix a machine that is already overloaded.

Use the Basket before you unlock the Vacuum. Consolidating finished cans saves trips while you are still carrying most of your output by hand. The Basket does not increase production, but it prevents completed cans from sitting on the floor until the shift ends.

Unlock the Industrial Vacuum when manual handling becomes the bottleneck. It lets you collect bodies and launch them toward the grinder instead of walking each one into position. Vacuum upgrades improve storage capacity, suction range, firing speed, and firing range. Do not buy every improvement at once. Check whether you are spending more time collecting, moving into range, or unloading, then improve the part that is actually slow.

The Corpse Roomba becomes attractive after arrivals and weapon damage increase enough that bodies scatter faster than you can collect them. It can reduce vacuum time, especially when several machines need a steady supply. It is not a substitute for processing capacity, though. Moving more corpses into a machine that is already full does not increase throughput.

Scale Processing With Grinders and Conveyors

A grinder processes creatures one at a time. As your kill rate improves, the number of bodies waiting for processing can grow much faster than one machine can handle. The early upgrade tree offers reduced machine processing time, which is the first option to consider when your grinder is consistently occupied.

Before buying another grinder, inspect your current machine. Spending heavily on extra processing while existing machines sit idle will not increase output. Increasing cans per creature is attractive because each processed body produces more saleable items, but it also increases the load on your transport system. When bodies already wait for processing, faster processing usually helps sooner. When machines have spare capacity, more cans per creature may provide the immediate gain.

Conveyor belts are purchased in sections. Unlocking the first section does not necessarily create a complete automated route from the grinder to the seller. A partial belt can move cans closer while still leaving a manual pickup or delivery step. The important milestone is connecting enough sections that processed cans travel without being carried one by one.

Upgrade conveyor speed after output is already waiting to move through a connected route. Buying more speed while machines rarely produce cans provides little value. For a factory with several processing lines, inspect each machine independently. One well-connected line does not mean the rest of the facility has the same level of automation.

Multiply Income, Then Add Weapons and Turrets

Once bodies move through the factory reliably, the next major gains come from making each creature and each finished can worth more. These value-focused Can 'Em All production upgrades work best together, not as isolated purchases.

Hole in One rewards direct shots into the seller, but a 10% chance does not guarantee extra money on every can. Each attempt also takes time away from collecting bodies and feeding grinders. Direct shots are manageable when only a few cans need delivery. Once several grinders produce continuously, connected conveyors let you spend more of the workday on creatures and machine supply.

Smoked Meat is a late-game value option. Smoked creatures produce Smoked Cans worth twice as much as normal cans, and the Flamethrower becomes especially relevant once fire-based production matters. Higher-priced cans still need a functioning production chain behind them. Bodies left unprocessed do not deliver that value.

A late-stage creature unlock priced at $50 million shows how far expansion costs can climb. Before committing that much, run a full shift with your current setup. Bodies waiting beside occupied grinders or cans stranded before the seller are reasons to improve the line before increasing arrivals.

Weapons, Turrets, Workdays, and Gambling

Combat upgrades matter, but they should answer a specific problem. Melee weapons help early because they do not depend on ammunition. The Pistol becomes practical when melee is too slow or creatures are hard to reach, though limited ammunition means damage and ammo upgrades often matter more than unlocking another gun. The Shotgun, RPG, and Chainsaw each solve different combat needs, but the Chainsaw has a fuel limitation.

Turrets reduce the amount of direct shooting required, especially when large groups arrive or you need time on the Vacuum and grinders. Later upgrades improve firepower, firing behavior, and ammunition capacity. Still, a turret cannot sell a can that is stuck behind a full grinder.

Longer workdays are useful when you regularly reach the timer with bodies waiting or cans about to be delivered. They are less urgent when the factory is already idle. If creatures are not arriving, check for survivors before assuming spawn upgrades have stopped working. Before buying the permanent Cold Storage upgrade, finish deliveries before the timer because creatures and cans are normally cleared overnight.

Treat the Slot Machine as optional. Secure your next important production purchase first, so a lost bet does not postpone the grinder, conveyor connection, or weapon upgrade your next shift needs.

FAQ

Which Can 'Em All production upgrades should I buy first?

Start with more cans per creature, then Premium Cans for higher can value. Once those improve each delivery, add the $40 Industrial Vacuum when manual body and can handling becomes the bottleneck. Add more creature arrivals only after your current batch can be killed and processed reliably.

Is the Baseball Bat worth buying immediately?

Not automatically. Early punching is enough for small groups of weak creatures. Buy the Bat when killing creatures is taking time away from collecting and processing, not simply because it is available. If your grinder is already full, extra melee damage can make the backlog worse.

Should I buy another grinder or more weapons?

Buy another grinder when the current one runs continuously and bodies still pile up. Buy weapons or turrets when creatures survive to the end of the shift and block production. If grinders finish but cans remain unsold, fix conveyors or manual delivery instead.

Is the Slot Machine worth using?

It is optional. A failed bet can remove money that would fund a guaranteed upgrade, and no betting pattern guarantees a positive return. Secure your next essential factory purchase before risking cash on the Slot Machine.