Sandustry Movement and Hover
The Early Access movement rewrite, hover, and the keys that stop you getting stuck in your own factory.
The most common demo complaint Lantto answered in public was movement. The Early Access build that shipped 2026-08-13 uses a rewritten controller: you move faster, you traverse pixels automatically, and the whole system is meant to feel less like climbing a gravel pile. On top of that, Fluxite (and gold) upgrades buy Hover, and a demo community vote (88% in Hotfix 7) added phasing through buildings while airborne. This page is the control-side companion to Keyboard Shortcuts and Build Modes. It is not a physics essay — it is how to stop dying inside your own box.
What changed from the demo
Lantto’s pre-EA Steam post said three things that still match launch-week play:
- The simulation was rewritten (comparison footage exists on the EA Roadmap page).
- Movement was remade: faster, automatic pixel traversal, more fluid.
- Backporting that controller to the old demo is not easy; an updated demo may come later.
Practical result: the paid EA character is not the sluggish demo miner. If you learned the game on app 3490390, give yourself a session to re-learn inertia before you blame a belt. Demo saves are not a promised import (Demo vs Early Access).
Keys that matter for moving
| Input | Job |
|---|---|
| S | Descend / move down the world toward Sandsoil and caves |
| WASD / arrows | Standard PC move (layout follows your keyboard; Hotfix 8 improved AZERTY hotbar mapping) |
| Hover upgrade | Fly; then phase through placed buildings while in the air |
| Grappling Hook (Tools 4) | Shafts and returns from depth |
| F (hold) | Picker — copy the building under the cursor |
| U | Fluxite / upgrade panel (scanner, capacity, hover, dig speed) |
| Shift | Faster move in some EA footage; also marquee and launcher-skip in build mode |
Full build bindings stay on Keyboard Shortcuts. If a key does nothing, you are in a menu or the hotbar ate the press — Hotfix 8 also reduced sticky buttons.
Hover: buy it before you hate your walls
Early Game Tips and Fluxite Upgrades both put Hover in the first three spends for a reason. A starter lake factory is a box. Without hover you climb belts like a rodent. With hover you leave, fix the outlet, and come back. Phase-through means you do not have to demolish a ceiling to escape a rectangle you just paved with R.
Hover is not a substitute for Lights. Flying into an unlit lava cave is still a bad idea (Collectors and Lights). Hover is not a substitute for the Grappling Hook on a 200-tile drop — the hook is the commute tool, hover is the factory-interior tool.
Getting stuck on leftover pixels
Launch-week reviews mention a real annoyance: tiny leftover rocks that match the background, especially when you navigate on the minimap. You are not crazy. The movement rewrite traverses pixels, but a one-pixel ledge still catches a body. Fix:
- Swap to shovel, Vacuum, or gun and delete the speck.
- Light the corridor so the speck has contrast.
- Do not plan long hover routes through un-cleaned demolish dust.
This is why “dig speed” and vacuum capacity are not vanity upgrades. They are how you keep the new movement from fighting last minute’s mining.
Picker, ruler, and rebuild speed
EA reveal footage shows F as a picker for whatever you already built, plus a ruler overlay that makes diagonal shaker decks less guessy. Combined with Ctrl replace (Hotfix 8) you can retrofit a Collector under a live shaker without deleting the diagonal. That is movement-adjacent: less time in menus is more time in the pit.
Map and camera
Playthroughs unlock a minimap that zooms far out. Creators describe the EA world as on the order of fifteen times the demo slice. Zoom and UI scale are the accessibility options Linux coverage called out. Use them. A factory game that you cannot read is a movement problem even if the WASD is fine.
S is still how you commit to depth. The new controller makes the trip nicer; it does not make the destination safe. Dig Deeper is the layout page for shafts that you can actually return from.
Tools that are really movement tools
- Grappling Hook — official Tools 4 text is “to move around.”
- Gun flares — visibility into a hole before you hover in.
- Cryoblaster / Flamethrower — ice floors and steam pockets change how you walk as much as how you process (Tools and Weapons).
If you buy drones to avoid learning hover, you will still get stuck placing the drone station. Learn the body first.
Demo players coming back
Expect to overshoot jumps you used to fail. Expect to phase through a wall you used to mine. Expect the first hour to feel easier to traverse and easier to make a mess in, because you can reach the next biome before the lake factory is stable. That is a control win and a design trap. Build the Starter Factory before you hover into Frostbed with a full snow load over the wetting pool (Snow, Firn, and Frostbed).
Related
- Controls Hub — Bindings index.
- How to Play — Loop that assumes you can move.
- Launch Week — Why this rewrite is an EA headline, not a rumor.
Movement is solved enough to enjoy the factory. It is not solved enough to ignore leftover pixels. Clean the floor, buy hover, then go down.
Frequently Asked Questions
Quick answers to the most common Sandustry questions.
Did Sandustry change movement in Early Access?
Yes. Lantto rewrote movement for EA: faster travel and automatic pixel traversal. The old demo controller was not fully backported. See Demo vs Early Access.
How do I unlock hover?
Buy it on the upgrade panel (**U**) with Fluxite (and the gold the node asks for). Priority notes are on Fluxite Upgrades.
Can I fly through my own buildings?
While hovering, yes — Demo Hotfix 7 added phase-through after an 88% community vote, and EA play uses that behavior. You still collide when not hovering.
What does the F key do?
Hold **F** to pick the building under the cursor so you can place more of the same without hunting the hotbar.
Why do I get stuck when the map looks clear?
Leftover one-pixel debris. Mine or vacuum it, add Lights, and do not trust the minimap alone. Launch-week reviews call this out often.