Upgrades & Auto-Sifters

Backpack

How many finds you can carry before you have to go and sell. A full backpack stops you picking anything else up.

Running Boots

Faster walking and running, so trips to the Trading Post and around the stack take less time.

Magnet Gloves

Automatically pull uncovered metal into your hands when you walk near it, including the needle. They only grab things that are already exposed, so they help most while you are tunnelling with a big tool.

Auto-Sifters

Auto-Sifters are machines that park beside the stack and tunnel into it on their own. Everything valuable they sift out is sold automatically and the money is added to your total. If a machine finds the needle, it drops it in its tray and a beam of light appears above it so you can go and grab it.

You can run up to six at once. Each one costs more than the last:

Machines keep working while you dig somewhere else, and they stay with you when you move on to the next stack. Once a machine has finished all of its tunnels you'll see a message telling you so.

What to buy first

• Backpack level 2 ($200) early, it's cheap and cuts your trips in half.
• The first Auto-Sifter ($4,000) is the best value in the game. Buy it before anything else that costs more.
• Running Boots are nice, but Magnet Gloves matter more once you own the Leaf Blower or Vacuum.
• For detector levels, see the metal detector guide.