Overview
Gadgets and tools in Solarpunk are the items players use to interact with the world. From basic hand tools for gathering resources to specialized gadgets for building and recycling, these items form the backbone of daily gameplay.
Basic Hand Tools
Tool | Crafted from | Function |
|---|---|---|
Pickaxe | Sticks + Stones | Mining rocks for sand, stone, and iron |
Axe | Sticks + Stones | Chopping wood; also used for demolishing building pieces (right-click) |
Hoe | Sticks + Stones | Tilling soil to create plantable patches for farming |
Watering Can | Crafted at workstation | Manually watering crops |
Basic tools are made through quick craft (press "F" in inventory). They use only Sticks and Stones, which are found everywhere on the floating islands.
Tool Durability
All tools have limited durability and break after repeated use:
Wooden tools: Cheapest to make but break quickly. Players will re-craft these often in the early game.
Iron tools: Available in the full game (not in the demo). Require iron from scattered outcrops. Last considerably longer than wooden versions.
Magnet Fishing Rod
The magnet fishing rod is the hand-held counterpart to the automated Magnet Fisher covered under automation. Rather than catching fish, it pulls useful items out of the lakes and water on the floating islands, which makes it a way of recovering materials from water that mining and chopping cannot reach. Version 1.3.0 adds new fishing loot across different locations and increases the chance of fishing up cotton on the Starter Island. The August preview also showed decorative plants caught with the rod.
Build-Hammer
The Build-Hammer is a specialized tool crafted from Stone and Stick. Equipping it opens the building interface where players can place foundations, walls, roofs, stairs, and other structural components. The placement indicator turns blue for valid positions and orange for invalid ones.
The Recycler
The Recycler is a gadget that was unlocked as a Kickstarter stretch goal. It accepts almost any item or material and converts it into Recycling Points. These points serve as a cosmetic currency.
The Recycler gives every surplus item in the player's inventory a use. Rather than discarding unwanted materials, players can feed them into the Recycler and accumulate points over time. This ties into the game's solarpunk theme of sustainability and waste reduction.
The Uncrafter
The Uncrafter is a machine named in post-launch patch notes, which confirms it as part of the retail build. As its name suggests, it reverses crafting, breaking items back down so players can recover the materials used to make them, such as sticks and cables. That would make it a counterpart to the Recycler, though the developers have not described the mechanic directly. A post-launch update corrected a duplication glitch that could occur when cables and sticks were processed through it.
Vending Machine
The Vending Machine is found on islands and must be repaired before use. Once operational, it offers character skins and other cosmetic extras. These cosmetics are purchased using Recycling Points earned from the Recycler, creating a gameplay loop: gather surplus items, recycle them, and spend the points on appearance customization.
The Survival Guide
The Survival Guide is a craftable in-game manual and the closest thing Solarpunk has to a tutorial. It explains the game's systems and is the reference the developers point players to when they are unsure what to do next, covering topics such as how animal breeding works. Crafting and reading it is the single most commonly unlocked achievement in the game, so it is intended to be picked up in the opening minutes.
Water Containers and the Carafe
Two pieces of equipment cover the thirst meter. A rain catcher collects rainwater that is drinkable as it is, and building one early is the standard opening recommendation. A carafe is researched later and is filled from a lake, after which the water has to be boiled in the oven before it can be drunk.
The carafe is the travel option: a rain catcher only helps at the base it is built on, while a carafe can be carried. Water containers in general are worth building before you need them, because they cover the dry stretches when rain is scarce.
Other Notable Gadgets
Gadget | Description |
|---|---|
Fabricator | Located near the Merchant Platform; handles airship upgrades after being repaired. |
Farming drones | Automated watering devices that connect to the Energy System. See Farming and Plants. |
Automatic Drill | Extracts resources from ground deposits. See Automation. |
Automatic Magnet Fisher | Collects algae from below islands. See Automation. |
Switches | Inline devices on energy cables that toggle parts of a power network on and off. |
September Additions
Version 1.3.0 adds an In Game Radio that plays the main menu soundtrack and a Postcard Pinboard for collectible postcards. A larger chest provides more storage, while nightstands, commodes and crates can also hold items. The Algae Drone is now named Fishing Drone.
Lost Cargo can contain the Big Chest, Roof Solar Panel, Wall Foliage, In Game Radio and Snap Connector. These are possible contents, rather than a guaranteed bundle in every drop.
Version 1.3.0-304818 reached Steam on September 30, 2026. The announcement placed the console rollout after platform approval; a matching live version has not been confirmed for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S or Nintendo Switch 2 as of October 8. Check the installed version before relying on these changes on another platform.