Critters and the Corraller in Sandustry

Sandustry’s planet is not empty rock. Critters wander caves and surface biomes. Official beginner notes treat them as optional factory labor and resource taps, not combat pets. The building that makes that true is the Corraller — a research unlock that captures a creature so you can relocate it into a pen. This page is the wildlife loop: what to grab, how to contain it, and why a pile of Lumlings can replace a dying lake.

Why bother with animals

Gold still comes from Shakers. Fluxite still comes from the Flux Emanator. Critters sit beside those loops as slow, renewable side processes. Official text: enough Lumlings in one place create a small but constant Water supply. That matters after you have burned the easy Snow and your starter lake is a mud ring. A Lumling pen will not feed a twenty-shaker bank; it will keep a planter row or a condenser topped up while you dig for the next aquifer.

Other creatures (names shift between builds and community slang) can drop materials or trigger processes when contained and used properly. The official warning is the second half of that sentence: loose critters in a belt hall are a clog, a fire risk, or a pathing bug — not a feature.

Unlocking the Corraller

The Corraller is a Research node on the mid-tree (exact Gold cost moves; check Research Tree and the in-game tab). You need:

• Enough Gold and Factory Level to see the node. Hotfix 0.5.3 prints the missing objective if the tier is gated.
• A pen already sketched — do not capture into an open cave.
• Inventory space and a path home. Hover helps (Movement and Hover).

The Corraller is a tool / structure for capture, not a damage weapon. If a critter is hostile, kite it into a one-tile corridor, then capture. Do not Rocket Launcher the only Lumling on the map.

Building a pen that stays a pen

Physics still wins. Critters walk, fall, and drown.

1. Solid floor with no conveyor gaps. Belts will carry a Lumling into a Shaker and you will invent a new support ticket.
2. Walls taller than jump height. Use block foundations; Hotfix 8 taught the demo to seal bedrock gaps — the same habit helps here.
3. One airlock. A two-door corridor so you can enter with the Corraller without opening the whole ranch to the cave.
4. No lava, no slag burn, no Thermal Buffer on the shared wall. Heat and Flowers already fight; animals lose that fight faster.
5. A Collector or tank under the intended output (Water drip, dung, spores — whatever the species tooltip lists). If the tooltip is empty, watch one creature for five minutes before you scale to twenty.

Lights help you see whether the pen is actually closed (Collectors and Lights).

Lumlings as a water tap

Official example: enough Lumlings in a location → small constant Water. Practical rules that match that sentence:

• Start with a handful, not a zoo. Count drips into a known-volume tank.
• Place the pen above the tank or planter you want to feed so gravity does the haul. Pipes can move overflow; they should not be the only wall.
• Keep Lumling Water off the gold Wet Sand mixer until you have measured purity. Mystery liquids belong in a side cistern (Water, Ice, and Steam).
• If Water freezes, you built next to Snow or a Cryoblaster test. Move the pen or add a heat buffer outside the walls.

Lumlings do not replace Snow burn or steam rain. They are the idle source you leave running while you explore artifacts.

Capture fieldwork

Bring: Corraller, Hover, a block stack, and a Flamethrower you will not fire at the target. Scan the pixel with the Material Scanner upgrade so you know you are looking at a creature and not a decorative moss clump (Fluxite Upgrades).

Work from the surface inward. Deep caves hide better density of wildlife and also hide lava. If a species flees light, turn lamps off; if it flees dark, place a single Light and wait.

Relocate with the same care you use for Lava → Scoria → Cinder. A dropped critter in a silo is a lost capture.

Factory etiquette

• Filters reject critter pixels from gold and slag belts (Filters).
• Drones will haul a loose body if you mark it as debris. Clear the haul job before you wonder where the ranch went (Drones).
• Mods and custom maps may spawn extra fauna (Custom Maps). Read the map note; this page describes vanilla EA behavior.

When to skip wildlife

Skip the Corraller if you are still hand-feeding Wet Sand. Animals are a mid-game luxury. Unlock Logistics, slag press, and a Fluxite wing first. Come back when Water is the bottleneck and you have a spare plateau that is not your greenhouse.

Related

• How to Get Energy — The other mid-game unlock that eats Factory Level.
• Water Management — Where Lumling drips should arrive.
• Dig Deeper — Cave routes where critters actually spawn.

Capture one, watch it, then clone the pen. Wildlife is a factory module. Treat it like a leaky pipe with legs.