Captain of Industry drops you on an unmapped island with a damaged ship, a handful of settlers and a pile of scrap. MaFi Games put it into Early Access on 31 May 2022 and it pairs terrain deforming open pit mining with factory chains, a settlement that eats food and produces Unity, and a world map you sail yourself. Every machine and vehicle also burns maintenance, so a factory that cannot feed its own upkeep will tear itself apart.
This guide covers everything you need: core mechanics, the best builds, equipment worth investing in, location progression, and the tips that actually make a difference.
Core Mechanics
Terrain mining and dumping
The island is deformable terrain, so digging an ore vein leaves a real pit and the waste rock has to be trucked somewhere. Mining and dumping designations are painted at a Mine Control Tower, which then assigns Excavators and Haul Trucks to the job.
Maintenance upkeep
Nearly every machine and vehicle consumes Maintenance produced at a Maintenance Depot from mechanical parts and electronics. Below 75 percent things start breaking down, and the failure chance climbs toward 50 percent as the level approaches zero.
Unity and edicts
Unity comes mainly from meeting settlement service demands, and it pays for claiming world map nodes, enacting edicts, speeding construction and repairing a broken machine on the spot. It is the only currency that buys time instead of materials.
Settlement needs and health
Food supply and waste collection are the two services whose absence kills population outright. Electricity, water, household goods, medical supplies and computing raise morale on top, and food variety adds four health for every food category past the first.
World map exploration
Your ship burns diesel to reach a node map of villages, mines, quarries, Oil Rigs, a Groundwater Well, Sawmills, loot sites and sunken cargo ships. Seven of those wrecks can be repaired into working trade ships.
For a deeper dive into how these systems interact, see our Captain of Industry combat guide.
Builds Overview
| Build | Tier | Playstyle | Key Stats |
|---|---|---|---|
| Iron and steel line | A | Versatile approach | Balanced stats |
| Copper and electronics line | A | Versatile approach | Balanced stats |
| Crude oil refining | A | Versatile approach | Balanced stats |
| Farming and food processing | A | Versatile approach | Balanced stats |
| Steam power and cooling | A | Versatile approach | Balanced stats |
For full build breakdowns with gear and stat priorities, see our Captain of Industry builds guide. For rankings, check the tier list.
Equipment Guide
| Equipment | Why It Matters | Best For |
|---|---|---|
| Mine Control Tower | Produces nothing itself. | Every ore expansion, and the first thing to place when you open a new pit. |
| Blast Furnace | Melts iron ore and shredded scrap into molten iron for Metal Casters. | The entire early and mid game iron supply, long before Arc Furnace tiers are affordable. |
| Maintenance Depot | Consumes mechanical parts and electronics to produce Maintenance I, which every vehicle and most machines draw from. | Keeping the base alive. This is the building to overbuild first rather than last. |
| Crusher | Breaks ore and rock into crushed form, which is what the higher tier smelting and separation chains expect as their input. | Any furnace row you intend to upgrade later, since retrofitting a crusher means tearing up finished belt routing. |
| Distillation (Stage I) | The first stage of crude oil processing, splitting crude into fractions that later stages and the Cracking Unit turn into diesel and petrochemicals. | Diesel independence, which ends the ongoing import cost of fuel for your vehicle fleet and your ship. |
Mine Control Tower: Produces nothing itself. It is the building that lets you paint mining and dumping designations and assign Excavators and Haul Trucks to a pit, and no vehicle will touch a deposit without one covering it.
Blast Furnace: Melts iron ore and shredded scrap into molten iron for Metal Casters. It vents exhaust that has to reach a Smoke Stack, and one stack can serve several machines.
Maintenance Depot: Consumes mechanical parts and electronics to produce Maintenance I, which every vehicle and most machines draw from. The standard depot needs 100 kW of power to run.
Crusher: Breaks ore and rock into crushed form, which is what the higher tier smelting and separation chains expect as their input.
Distillation (Stage I): The first stage of crude oil processing, splitting crude into fractions that later stages and the Cracking Unit turn into diesel and petrochemicals.
Full breakdowns in our Captain of Industry weapons guide.
Location Progression
| Location | Level Range | Key Rewards |
|---|---|---|
| Home Island | Whole game | Coal, iron ore, copper ore, limestone, later quartz and uranium ore |
| Oil Rig | Mid game | Crude oil supply, the route to diesel self sufficiency |
| Groundwater Well | Mid game | Fresh water without the power cost of a Thermal Desalinator |
| Sawmill | Early to mid game | Steady wood income, charcoal without coal mining |
| Damaged Cargo Ship | Mid to late game | Additional trade ships, salvaged materials |
Home Island: Where all mining, farming and manufacturing happens. The terrain is fully deformable, so the pits you dig and the overburden you dump reshape your own buildable space permanently.
Oil Rig: A world map node claimed with Unity and serviced by your ship. Crude from here feeds the Distillation stages that produce diesel and everything downstream of it.
Groundwater Well: A world map source of fresh water, worth claiming once farms and steam demand outrun what rainwater harvesting and desalination can supply.
Sawmill: A world map node supplying wood, which feeds the Coal Maker charcoal route and the construction parts chain without clearing your own island forests.
Damaged Cargo Ship: One of seven wrecks scattered across the world map. Each can be repaired into a working trade ship, which multiplies how much cargo you move per trip rather than how fast you move it.
See our maps & locations guide for detailed area breakdowns and our walkthrough for the optimal progression path.
Tips That Actually Matter
- Maintenance is the real difficulty curve. Below 75 percent a machine or vehicle can break down, and the chance rises toward 50 percent at zero, so one depot starved of electronics can cascade into a base wide stall.
- Mining is two jobs, not one. The overburden of dirt and hard rock has to come off and go somewhere before the vein underneath is workable, so decide on the dump site before you place the Mine Control Tower.
- A functioning mine needs at least one Excavator and one Haul Truck, and output scales with the vehicles assigned rather than with any tower upgrade. Read the tower's demand indicator before opening a second pit.
- Food variety pays a measurable dividend. Health rises by four for every food category past the first, so potatoes, meat, vegetables and a treat beat four times as many potatoes by a wide margin.
- Furnaces vent exhaust that must reach a Smoke Stack, and a single stack can serve several machines. Laying furnace rows around one shared stack saves both footprint and construction parts.
- Diesel throttles early expansion because vehicles and the ship both drink it. Getting a Basic Distiller and then the Distillation stages running converts a permanent import bill into a domestic line.
- Unity is better spent on emergencies and world map claims than on construction speed. Repairing a broken machine with Unity costs seconds, while rebuilding a stalled production chain costs a full in game month.
- Research Lab tiers gate everything downstream and labs want continuous input rather than bursts. Feed one Research Lab I steadily from the start instead of building three you cannot keep supplied.
- Waste collection sits alongside food as one of only two services whose absence kills population outright. Plan a Waste Sorting Plant and Incineration Plant before the settlement outgrows its first housing tier.
- Electricity in Captain of Industry runs through mechanical power: turbines produce shaft power and a Power Generator converts it. Sizing the generator to the turbine row, and cooling to both, avoids the mystery brownouts new players report.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
- Building one Maintenance Depot and never revisiting it, then losing half the vehicle fleet to breakdowns in the same week.
- Digging a pit with no dump site planned, so Haul Trucks queue while overburden has nowhere to go.
- Feeding the settlement a single crop and wondering why health stays low despite food demand being met.
- Spending Unity on construction speed early, leaving nothing for emergency repairs when a furnace row fails.
- Growing the settlement before waste handling exists, then losing population to a service that was never built.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Captain of Industry finished?
No. It has been in Early Access since 31 May 2022 and MaFi Games still estimate roughly two to four more years, with feature complete progression, better graphics and UX work outstanding. The build is stable and content rich in the meantime.
What research order should I use at the start?
A widely used opening runs Basic Construction, Vehicles and Mining, Power and Maintenance, Beacon, Basic Farming, Trading Dock, Concrete Production, Ship Dock Repair and Basic Diesel. That gets a mine, a power source and a maintenance loop running before the settlement can strain them.
How does maintenance actually work?
A Maintenance Depot turns mechanical parts and electronics into Maintenance I and draws 100 kW while doing it. Machines and vehicles pull from that pool, and Unity can repair one item in an emergency, but there is no way to refill the pool except producing more.
What is Unity for?
Claiming world map nodes, enacting edicts, speeding construction and repairing broken buildings or vehicles instantly. It comes mostly from satisfying settlement service demands, which makes a well supplied settlement your main Unity source.
How many trade ships can I get?
Seven sunken cargo ships on the world map can be repaired into working trade ships, and one more can be bought at the fourth settlement for 600 Construction Parts III. Extra ships give you parallel trade routes rather than faster ones.
More Captain of Industry Guides
- Captain of Industry Best Builds
- Captain of Industry Tier List
- Captain of Industry Walkthrough
- Captain of Industry Beginner's Guide
- Captain of Industry Tips & Tricks
- Captain of Industry Weapons Guide
- Captain of Industry Combat Guide
- Captain of Industry Boss Guide
- Captain of Industry Maps & Locations
- Captain of Industry Crafting Guide
- Captain of Industry Classes & Characters
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