Cuprea › Guide
How to play Cuprea
A beginner's guide to the free factory game: the first five minutes, the controls, and every level's goal, unlocks and tips.
Cuprea is a factory automation game. You place Extractors on deposits in the ground, lay belts that carry what they dig into the Hub, and build machines that turn raw materials into better ones. Each level asks the Hub for a set of items; meeting the goal unlocks new buildings. There are 11 levels, then freeplay with goals that keep growing. Nothing attacks you and the level goals have no time limit: the puzzle is laying out a factory that keeps up.
Your first five minutes
- Pick the Extractor 2 and place it on a wood deposit (green circles).
- Place another Extractor on a stone deposit (grey hexagons).
- Lay Belts 1 from each extractor into the Hub. Extractors push out of their coloured side; R rotates. Ctrl+drag lays a whole line.
- Items are arriving! Keep them flowing until the level goal is met.
That is level 1: deliver 20 Wood and 20 Stone. The deposits in the ground are Wood, Stone, Iron Ore, Copper Ore and Sand (sand only 48+ tiles from the Hub, so it comes later).
Controls
The same list is in the game: press ?, or open the menu on a phone.
On a computer
| Build | |
|---|---|
| Pick a tool | 1–= [ ] \ ; , or click the toolbar |
| Place | click · drag to paint |
| Straight line | Ctrl+drag |
| Rotate | R · Shift+R the other way |
| Recipe or filter item | T · or the bar above the toolbar |
| Remove | right-click · right-drag |
| Copy a building's tool | Q while hovering |
| Undo / redo | Ctrl+Z / Ctrl+Y |
| Cancel anything | Esc |
| Select and copy | |
| Select buildings | Ctrl+drag with no tool |
| Copy / cut | Ctrl+C / Ctrl+X |
| Paste (R rotates) | Ctrl+V |
| Delete the selection | Del |
| Keep the copy as a blueprint | L |
| Camera | |
| Pan | drag with no tool · WASD · middle-drag |
| Zoom | scroll wheel |
| Back to the Hub | H |
| Map and bookmarks | M |
| Flow view (belts by fullness, machines by how busy) | O |
| Panels | |
| Recipe book and planner | B |
| Pause / resume the factory | Space |
| Close any window | Esc or its own key again |
| Upgrades | U |
| Production stats | P |
| Blueprints | L |
| Contracts | C |
| Notes for this factory | N |
| This screen | ? |
On a phone or tablet
| Build | |
|---|---|
| Pick a tool | tap Build, then a building |
| Place | tap a tile to park the ghost · tap the ghost (or ＋ Place) to build it · drag the ghost to move it |
| Lay belts | park a belt ghost, then drag it: belts follow your finger and turn with it · or ＋ Place again and again · or hold any tile for a moment, then drag |
| Straight line | Line button, then drag |
| Rotate | ⟳ button |
| Recipe or filter item | tap the machine, then pick it in its panel · or the bar above the toolbar |
| Remove | ✕ button, then tap things · drag from a building to clear a whole stretch · ✓ Done when you're finished |
| Undo / redo | ↶ Undo button |
| Cancel anything | ✓ Done button |
| Select and copy | |
| Select buildings | ▭ button, then drag |
| Copy / cut | ⧉ Copy / ✂ Cut buttons, once something is selected |
| Paste (⟳ rotates) | 📋 Paste button, then tap where it goes |
| Delete the selection | 🗑 Delete button |
| Keep the copy as a blueprint | ☰ menu → Blueprints |
| Camera | |
| Pan | drag with one finger, any time |
| Zoom | pinch |
| Back to the Hub | ☰ menu → Hub |
| Map and bookmarks | ☰ menu → Map |
| Flow view (belts by fullness, machines by how busy) | ☰ menu → Flow |
How things work
- Machines: click one to see its recipe, what it holds, and why it's stuck
- Badges: amber dots = waiting for input · red bar = output blocked · a crossed-out item = wrong item: the machine can't use what's on its belt, and the belt behind it waits
- Belts: one belt carries 240 items/min · a belt takes one input: from behind, or from one side when nothing feeds it from behind · to join two lines use a Merger
- Hub: keeps up to 100 of each item · the rest sells for coins · Hub Extensions (level 5) make it bigger: place them touching the Hub, in any shape
- Costs: buildings cost items from the Hub · upgrades cost coins
- Tunnels: place the entrance, then the exit up to 4 tiles ahead, facing the same way
- Far deposits: richer the further from the Hub, up to ×3
All 11 levels
- Level 1: Foundations
- Level 2: Smelting
- Level 3: Machining
- Level 4: Masonry
- Level 5: Electronics
- Level 6: Motors
- Level 7: Processors
- Level 8: Robotics
- Level 9: Glassworks
- Level 10: Sensors
- Level 11: Drones
Level 1: Foundations
Goal: deliver 20 Wood and 20 Stone to the Hub.
Finishing it unlocks Furnace and Sawmill.
Tips for this level are at the top of the page.
Dispatch: “You're the first crew on Cuprea. Wood and stone first; everything else stands on them.”
Level 2: Smelting
Goal: deliver 30 Iron Plates and 30 Copper Plates to the Hub.
Finishing it unlocks Assembler and Trash.
Tips
- Put an Extractor on iron ore and belt the ore into a Furnace 4.
- Belt the Furnace's output (its coloured side) into the Hub.
- Do the same with copper ore to make copper plates.
- Finish the goal to unlock the Assembler. From here the Recipe book B helps you plan.
Dispatch: “The ore here runs rich, and the ground is the colour of copper for a reason. Smelt it. The Hub pays for anything past its shelves.”
Level 3: Machining
Goal: deliver 30 Gears and 30 Planks to the Hub.
Finishing it unlocks Splitter, Merger and Tunnel.
Tips
- A Sawmill 5 turns 2 wood into 1 plank. It eats 60 wood a minute, so feed it two extractors.
- An Assembler 6 set to Gear eats 60 iron plates a minute: two furnaces' worth. A belt takes one input: from behind, or from one side when nothing feeds it from behind. To join two lines, use a Merger (level 4).
- Press B for the Recipe book (B or Esc closes it). Its planner tells you how many machines any rate needs.
Dispatch: “Gears and planks. Two furnaces feed one assembler: the first real ratio. Get it right once, then copy it.”
Level 4: Masonry
Goal: deliver 40 Bricks and 20 Steel to the Hub.
Finishing it unlocks Filter, Depot and Hub Extension.
Tips
- Steel comes from a Furnace fed with iron plates: furnace → furnace.
- New: a Merger joins up to three belts into one, a Splitter shares one belt three ways, a Tunnel crosses under other belts.
- Copy a line that works: Ctrl+drag to select it, Ctrl+C, then Ctrl+V to paste a second one and double your output.
When you finish it: Contracts are open: optional timed orders for bonus coins. Look for the Contracts button.
Dispatch: “Brick and steel: the Hub wants to grow. The survey says the deposits get richer the further out you go. Belts are free; use them.”
Level 5: Electronics
Goal: deliver 80 Wire and 25 Circuits to the Hub.
Finishing it unlocks Fabricator and Bot Bay.
Tips
- Circuits need iron plates and wire in the same Assembler: bring one in from the back and the other from a side.
- Deposits far from the Hub are richer, up to ×3. Belts are free, so run a long line out there; a Depot = holds 200 items at the far end: build an outpost.
Dispatch: “Wire and circuits. From here on, machines want more than one thing at a time. The bots can keep them fed, if you teach them.”
Level 6: Motors
Goal: deliver 10 Motors and 10 Frames to the Hub.
Finishing it unlocks Priority Splitter.
Tips
- The Fabricator [ builds Motors from gears, steel and wire. Press B and plan 12 Motors a minute to see what that takes.
- Place a Bot Bay ], click it and press Run: it opens with the "Stock a machine" example (more under Commands). Bots fly over everything.
Dispatch: “Motors and frames. Overflow is a design decision now, not an accident.”
Level 7: Processors
Goal: deliver 10 Processors and 40 Steel to the Hub.
Finishing it unlocks Trading Post.
Tips
- New: the Priority Splitter \ sends items forward while it can and only overflows to the sides. Put one before a machine and send the overflow to a Depot or the Hub.
- Processors take three inputs: circuits, copper plates and steel. Merge belts into the machine, or let a bot keep it stocked.
Dispatch: “Processors. Someone out past the horizon is buying; the further from the Hub you trade, the better they pay.”
Level 8: Robotics
Goal: deliver 5 Robots to the Hub.
Finishing it unlocks the Glass recipe and the Lens recipe.
Tips
- New: the Trading Post ; sells whatever you feed it, paying up to ×2 far from the Hub. Sales there don't count toward goals, but coins buy upgrades.
- A Robot is a motor, a processor and a frame. Plan it with B. After this, the world gets bigger.
When you finish it, the world gets bigger. Sand deposits lie 48+ tiles from the Hub. Furnaces turn it into Glass.
Dispatch: “Robots. The long-range survey came back: the sand fields are real. Glass, then lenses, then eyes.”
Level 9: Glassworks
Goal: deliver 40 Glass and 20 Lenses to the Hub.
Finishing it unlocks the Sensor recipe.
Tips
- Glass is smelted from Sand in a Furnace. Sand deposits lie 48+ tiles out (yellow on the map): a long belt, or Depots and Bots, bring it home.
- A Lens is glass plus a copper plate in an Assembler.
Dispatch: “Glass and lenses. Next come sensors: the first parts of this factory that can look back at you.”
Level 10: Sensors
Goal: deliver 15 Sensors and 20 Processors to the Hub.
Finishing it unlocks the Drone recipe.
Tips
- A Sensor is a lens, a circuit and two wire in a Fabricator. Three inputs again: bots are good at this.
Dispatch: “Sensors. Give them wings: a drone is a robot that gets to leave.”
Level 11: Drones
Goal: deliver 3 Drones to the Hub.
Finishing it opens freeplay.
Tips
- A Drone is a robot, a sensor and a motor: the whole factory in one item. After this comes Freeplay: endless goals, and a title every 5 levels.
Dispatch: “Three drones, airborne, and the first pictures of what lies beyond Cuprea's horizon. Whatever is out there, you'll be the one who builds the way to it. Keep going.”
After level 11: freeplay
Freeplay alternates two kinds of goal: deliver a pile of advanced items (drones, sensors, robots and more), or hold a throughput, like a number of gears a minute for 60 seconds. The second is an optimisation puzzle rather than a build-more one. Every recipe, with how much one machine makes per minute, is in the reference.
General tips
- Work out ratios with the Recipe book's planner (B): it says how many machines a rate needs.
- A machine with a crossed-out item on it received something its recipe can't use, and everything behind it on the belt waits. Click it: it says what it needs and how to make it.
- Deposits far from the Hub are richer, up to ×3. A Depot (holds 200 items) at the end of a long belt makes an outpost.
- Optional Contracts (from level 5) are timed orders that pay bonus coins; coins buy upgrades.
- Your factory saves in your browser. Settings → Export makes a backup file, and Profiles can sync a world to another device with a code.