The shop is the shutter with the crate stencil, under the blue strip light. The sign above it reads ПУНКТ ВЫДАЧИ СНАРЯЖЕНИЯ — equipment issue point. It sells tools, not talents: each card changes a physical action in the yard.
The four tiers of the ladder
| Tier | What it contains | When to buy | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Hand tools | Knife tiers, hand shake comfort, first bucket | Immediately | Every potato passes through your hands |
| 2. Mobility | Bucket capacity, wheelbarrow, auto rotate helpers | When the board is empty but you are walking | Walking produces nothing |
| 3. Processing | Peeling machine, hopper loading, water channel speed levels | When peeled potatoes queue | Converts a queue into throughput |
| 4. Bulk handling | Crane, vacuum tank, autopilot, sacks and crates | When the pile itself is the constraint | Turns the pile into a material stream |
Tier names are ours. Item names come from official patch notes, the store description and the UI visible in store screenshots.
Upgrades the patch notes name
| Upgrade | What it does | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Muscle Memory | Automates part of the peel; its description now warns the last spots may still need hand work | Patch 1.0.2 |
| Wheelbarrow | Large carry capacity; description corrected in 1.0.1 to match how it actually works | Patch 1.0.1 |
| Auto Rotate | Rotates the potato for you; description corrected in 1.0.1 | Patch 1.0.1 |
| French T-34 bucket | A bucket variant with a rewritten description in 1.0.2 | Patch 1.0.2 |
| Water channel speed | Multiple levels; the last two were made slightly faster in 1.0.2 | Patch 1.0.2 |
| Crane | Bulk pile handling; unlocks the recount cycle | Patch 1.0.2 |
| Crane autopilot | Runs the crane; recounts every 2.5 minutes instead of 6 | Patch 1.0.2 |
| Peeling machine | Processes potatoes; has a hopper that can jam or return unpeeled potatoes | Patch 1.0.1 / 1.0.2 |
| Vacuum tank | Holds potatoes; now persists in saves | Patch 1.0.2 |
Effects are quoted from patch notes. Numeric values (speed, capacity, price) are not published.
Our recommended order for a fresh save
Knife until the cut is clean
One tier, maybe two. Stop when the potato comes out smooth without re-cutting. A higher tier does not fix a shaky cursor — use the hand shake setting first.
Carry capacity until the walk disappears
Bucket, then wheelbarrow when the bucket empties too fast. The goal is to stop making the same trip for every potato.
Channel speed when the inlet queues
Do not buy this early. Buy it the first time you see peeled potatoes waiting at the water. That is the signal, not a tier number.
The cheapest machine that removes a whole action
Not the most expensive one. Pick the machine that replaces something you do every thirty seconds. Feed it before you buy the next one.
Crane and autopilot when the pile is the problem
Once the pile is too big to feed by hand, the constraint is bulk handling. The crane also changes the recount rhythm, which is the game telling you the scale has changed.
Comfort and joke items last
The French T-34 bucket is a real item and a real description, and it is not a throughput upgrade. Buy it when the quota is already won.
Are any upgrades missable?
There is no documented missable upgrade. The shop is available throughout the run, and 1.0.2 fixed several save states that could hide progress. The only time-sensitive things are story events — the storm and the flamethrower — and those are given to you, not bought.
If the shop refuses to open or a card is blank, verify your game files. 1.0.1 added a warning for exactly that case: “If game data fails to load and menus or objectives appear blank, the game will now show a warning asking you to verify your game files through Steam.”