SteamWorld Build: How to Find Resources and Structures in the Mines

Ever wonder if you’ve missed resources while exploring? How about new locations that you’ve yet to discover, hidden away on secret paths? You don’t have to worry about that when building here. Our guide tells you how to find resources and structures in the mines in SteamWorld Build.

How to Find Resources and Structures in the Mines in SteamWorld Build

You can find more resources and structures in SteamWorld Build by constructing the Surveillance Facility and Radar Machine in the mines. The concept is quite different from what you’ve experienced when managing the town. I was caught off-guard, as well, since I expected something akin to residential housing. Instead, I had to use multiple tiles when constructing functional facilities in the mines.

How to Build Surveillance Facilities

The Surveillance Facilities in SteamWorld Build are somewhat akin to Quarters and Workshops. Basically, you need to plop down multiple tiles on the ground. Each Surveillance Facility tile costs 300x Money, 1x Tools, and 1x Boards. The upkeep is 2 Money.

In short, the Surveillance Facility will help you find things like resource veins, blueprints, and mineshafts. However, you need at least nine interconnected tiles just to have one Radar Machine slot. As such, you’re going to need to amass more materials. I suggest taking a look at the guides I wrote on how to earn more Money and how to get more Tools if you need help with these resources.

How to Build Radar Machines

Once a single Radar slot is available, you can build a Radar Machine for 1,500x Money, 6x Tools, and 4x Boards. It costs 5 Money to keep up.

Each Radar Machine has a wide area of effect that increases the radius of the Surveillance Facility, though I advise you to place it on locations where you feel that certain resources might be nearby. You’ll then be notified in case there are interesting things to discover.

That’s how to detect resources in the mines in SteamWorld Build. Now that you’re spelunking to find more goodies, you might want to learn about how to create bridges and how to prevent mine collapses. For more tips and strategies, you can check out our SWBuild guides hub.