Sandustry Artifacts: Find & Solve Ancient Puzzle Rooms
Sandustry artifacts are hidden inside ancient structures scattered across the world. They are not ordinary resources — each artifact unlocks unique mechanics, augment sockets, and progression benefits. The Ancient Technology achievement requires recovering your first alien artifact from the Dunes, and Tier 5 Research unlocks the Locator tool for systematic artifact hunting. This guide covers every documented puzzle type, how to find artifacts, and common mistakes to avoid.
What Are Artifacts in Sandustry?
Artifacts are Sandustry's main exploration and progression system beyond factory building. While mining, processing, and researching occupy most of gameplay, artifacts take you into ancient structures hidden around the world.
Artifacts are usually found inside ancient rooms or puzzle areas rather than lying openly in terrain. These rooms can have special environmental rules: circuits, coloured tiles, Water-routing challenges, restricted building zones, or obstacles that require specific tools. The developer has confirmed that building can be disabled in artifact rooms to prevent players from bypassing puzzles, while other rooms allow building only on designated tiles.
Each artifact gives 1/5th of an augment socket and a skill. If you only build factories and ignore ancient structures, you leave a significant part of Sandustry's progression untouched.
How to Find Artifacts
Artifact discovery happens in two phases:
Early Game: Manual Exploration
Early artifacts are found by exploring ancient structures and the Dunes. The Ancient Technology Steam achievement specifically requires recovering an alien artifact from the Dunes. Look for unusual structures, cave entrances, and areas that seem different from the surrounding terrain.
Some artifact routes are blocked by harder terrain. Older Demo players searching for the "second relic" got stuck behind a Crackstone barrier and had to research the Rocket Launcher to destroy it. The principle remains useful: if a route looks physically inaccessible, inspect your Research tree before assuming you missed a hidden entrance.
Mid Game: The Locator Tool
The Locator becomes available in Tier 5 Research for 3,000 Gold. Its description reads: "Unlocks the Locator. Fill it with Voidjuice to scan for hidden alien artifacts."
This tells us three things:
- Hidden artifacts exist beyond the obvious ancient rooms you encounter during normal exploration.
- The Locator requires Voidjuice — connecting artifact hunting to the Void production branch (Void Rift → Void Seeds → Planter Box → Void Soil → Void Petals + Moonhops → Void Liquid).
- It belongs to later progression — if you are still in early factory tiers, do not stall your run waiting to find every artifact.
The recommended progression for artifact hunting:
- Build early Gold production and complete the first factory tiers.
- Unlock better excavation and exploration tools.
- Reach Tier 5 and research the Locator for 3,000 Gold.
- Produce or obtain Voidjuice, then fill the Locator.
- Use the Locator while exploring, then prepare to solve the puzzle protecting the result.
The Locator does not make puzzle-solving obsolete — finding a room and opening it are separate problems. You may still need specific Research, tools, resources, or circuit knowledge after the Locator points you in the right direction.
Documented Artifact Puzzle Types
Sandustry entered Early Access on August 13, 2026. The official wiki does not yet provide a complete named list of every artifact. The following puzzle types are documented by the community:
Water Circuit Artifact
Found in ancient puzzle rooms with yellow building squares, green targets, and Water. Build Foundations or allowed blocks on yellow squares to redirect falling Water. Route it into the required green collectors and avoid reset areas. Once the required collectors and signals are active, the artifact door opens.
Three-Collector Water Puzzle
A puzzle room with three green boxes connected to cables. Press the Water button, then rearrange Foundations on yellow squares so falling Water reaches all three green boxes. Community reports indicate the boxes do not need to activate simultaneously. When all three cable signals are active, the gate opens. You can reposition Foundations between attempts.
Logic / AND-Gate Water Puzzle
A circuit-based room with green and blue targets. Route Water to the correct green collectors so both electrical signals feeding the AND gate become positive. Avoid incorrect blue or reset paths. The gate opens when both required inputs are active. A common mistake is assuming every coloured square must be touched — the actual objective is to satisfy the circuit logic.
Fire / Rocket Puzzle
An artifact room with a Rocket Launcher clue and orange combustible material. Use heat from a Rocket Launcher explosion to ignite the relevant material. A normal rocket can create enough fire, while an incendiary Rocket Launcher upgrade makes the intended interaction clearer. Players have also reported completing this puzzle without the upgrade.
Tips and Common Mistakes
Do Not Assume Every Puzzle Can Be Solved Immediately
Sandustry deliberately gates some ancient puzzles behind later tools and resources. If nothing reacts to your Gun, Shovel, Foundations, fire, Water, or other equipment, inspect your Research tree before spending an hour on experiments. Returning later can be the intended solution. The official guide explicitly advises players to leave an ancient puzzle and return later if it seems to require a tool or resource they do not currently possess.
Pay Attention to Coloured Building Tiles
A common Water-puzzle mistake is assuming the entire room is non-buildable. In several documented rooms, yellow squares specifically mark where you are allowed to build. Use Foundations or permitted structures on those tiles to shape the path of falling materials.
Understand the Circuit Before Chasing Coloured Squares
Green and blue tiles are not simply a checklist of places Water must touch. Green collectors can change connected electrical signals from red to green, while the actual objective is to satisfy the circuit logic and open the door. In one room that means activating every receiver; in another it means feeding the correct inputs into an AND gate. Watch the wires, not just the Water.
Do Not Contaminate Artifact Rooms with Random Materials
Sandustry encourages experimentation, but puzzle rooms may restrict your ability to clean up mistakes. One player accidentally introduced Snow and later Lava while experimenting with the Fire / Rocket Puzzle. The materials combined into Scoria in an area where normal mining was disabled, effectively creating a softlock. Before adding Snow, Lava, Thermal Buffers, or other materials, make sure they are genuinely part of the intended puzzle.
A Puzzle That Will Not Reset May Be Bugged
Early Access artifact puzzles have generated reports of Water remaining suspended over collectors, new Water failing to spawn, and circuit components refusing to trigger after the apparent condition is met. Try the puzzle button again, remove and replace permitted Foundations where possible, and reload the game. If you become physically trapped, use the Unstuck command from the pause menu.
Do Not Rely on Old Demo Artifact Locations
Older Steam threads refer to a first and second Relic, including a Crackstone route. They remain useful design history, but the released Early Access version has a larger map, expanded Research tree, and more content than the Demo. Use old Relic guides as historical clues, not as exact maps.
What Do Artifacts Reward?
Artifacts are part of Sandustry's ancient-technology progression rather than ordinary factory materials. They are earned through exploration and puzzle-solving and contribute to special benefits and upgrades. The official Beginner's Guide describes artifact hunting as a way to spend resources for their benefits.
Each artifact gives 1/5th of an augment socket and a skill. Augment sockets let you enhance your tools and equipment. The developer has confirmed that artifacts unlock unique mechanics, and players have reported milestone upgrade choices, though the full current reward list is still being documented.
Artifacts connect exploration, puzzle-solving, recovery, upgrades, and further progression into a cohesive system that rewards curiosity and careful planning.