Quick Answer
Buy more cans per creature and Premium Cans first, then upgrade whatever prevents your next delivery. You open the Upgrade Tree by entering the elevator at the end of each day. Choose combat upgrades for surviving creatures, processing upgrades for piled bodies, and conveyors for cans awaiting delivery.
What should you buy first in the skill tree?
Start with two cans per creature, then buy Premium Cans to increase each can's selling value. These upgrades improve what you earn from creatures you already process. Premium Cans costs $12.
| Upgrade priority | When you should buy it |
|---|---|
| Two cans per creature | Early, to increase output from each kill. |
| Premium Cans | Early, to raise the value of that output. |
| Industrial Vacuum ($40) | When moving bodies into the Grinder takes too much time. |
| More creatures | When you finish killing and processing your existing arrivals. |
| Damage, faster attacks, or weapons | When surviving creatures delay production. |
| Conveyor sections | When carrying cans consumes too much of your shift. |
Treat this as a starting order, then follow what happened during your last workday. Extra arrivals only help when you can turn them into completed deliveries.
How do you open the Upgrade Tree, and what does it contain?
Enter the elevator after each day to open the Upgrade Tree and follow its connected branches.
You can unlock weapons, ammunition, processing machines, conveyor belts, turrets, and other factory improvements. Upgrade options also cover your vacuum, production output, and incoming creatures.
The tab in the game reads Skill Tree; players also call it the upgrade tree. The regular tree and permanent upgrades are separate systems. For the wider progression overview, see Can 'Em All upgrades.
The complete node list, prerequisite connections, and price table are still being expanded here.
Which upgrade should you choose when production slows down?
Upgrade the step that stopped your next can from being sold. Check living creatures, bodies beside machines, and cans awaiting delivery after your last delivery.
| What you see | What you should upgrade next |
|---|---|
| Everything processed with time remaining | More creatures or higher-value creature types. |
| Bodies beside busy Grinders | Faster processing or another machine. |
| Processed cans waiting for delivery | Missing conveyor sections or manual delivery. |
| Living creatures because you run out of attacks | Weapon damage, ammunition, or automatic turrets. |
| Productive work still underway when the shift ends | Longer workdays, once processing and transport can keep up. |
You do not need to buy something from every branch each day. Focus your spending on the obstruction you can actually see.
Complete each conveyor route to the selling tube. An unfinished conveyor will not automatically deliver your cans there. Stronger weapons also cannot clear bodies waiting beside an already busy Grinder.
Should you unlock the Baseball Bat immediately?
Buy the Baseball Bat when defeating creatures takes too much time away from processing them. Punching handles small groups of weak creatures during the opening workdays. Buying the Bat before a can-value upgrade can delay your next income increase.
The Knife offers another early combat improvement. You do not need to purchase every melee upgrade automatically. Once firearms become available, their damage and ammunition need investment too. If your Grinder is already the bottleneck, improve processing before creating more bodies with stronger attacks.
When the tree is done, compare it with the permanent upgrades and read the ending guide.
FAQ
Yes. The tab in the game reads Skill Tree, and you open it through the elevator after each day.
Yes, the opening upgrade tree includes an option that produces two cans per creature.
Only increase arrivals when you can kill and process your existing creatures during the workday. If bodies pile up beside busy Grinders, improve processing first.
The regular upgrade tree and permanent upgrades are separate systems.