Can 'Em All Factory Guide: Ultimate Automation & Upgrade Strategies

Master the Can 'Em All factory loop. Learn creature harvesting, conveyor layouts, weapon upgrades, and automation tips to maximize canning profits.

Stepping into the frantic, dark-humored world of industrial canning is no small task, but building a profitable Can 'Em All factory is as satisfying as it is chaotic. In this first-person incremental shooter from developer LuisDev, players face an absurd economic engine: delivery trucks drop off waves of cute critters, and your job is to dispatch them, process their remains, seal them into tin cans, and launch them into pneumatic sales tubes. Maximizing revenue in your Can 'Em All factory requires balancing manual combat mechanics with cold, calculated conveyor belt automation.

Whether you are just unboxing your first basic crusher or routing multi-tiered sorting lines to handle massive truck deliveries, understanding how each system connects is essential for scaling your production. This comprehensive guide breaks down the core processing pipeline, optimal upgrade trees, automated layout strategies, and endgame meta-progression systems.


The Core Processing Cycle: From Truck Delivery to Cold Hard Cash

Every credit earned in the game traces back to a five-stage industrial pipeline. When a delivery vehicle arrives outside your bay doors, the clock starts ticking. Leaving creatures alive clogs your intake dock, while unprocessed carcasses create massive physical bottlenecks on your production floor.

To run an efficient operation, you must treat your processing plant as an integrated balance sheet where manual labor is gradually replaced by automated machinery.

[Truck Delivery] ➔ [Elimination Zone] ➔ [Collection / Vacuum] ➔ [Industrial Crusher] ➔ [Sales Tube]
  1. Intake & Containment: The truck backs up and unloads living specimens directly into your processing pen. Early on, you must contain them manually; later, physical barriers and funnels keep them grouped.
  2. Culling: Using melee tools, firearms, or stationary defenses, you must eliminate the creatures quickly to turn them into processable raw materials.
  3. Collection: Loose bodies must be transferred to the processing line. While players initially pick up or vacuum remains by hand, physical conveyor belts and intake hoppers streamline this step later.
  4. Crushing & Canning: The raw materials enter an industrial crusher that renders them down and packages them into standard retail-ready cans.
  5. Distribution: Cans are ejected and routed directly into high-pressure transport tubes, instantly crediting your bank account.

Processing Pipeline Comparison

Production StageInitial Manual MethodMid-Game Mechanical UpgradeFully Automated Endgame SolutionPrimary Bottleneck Risk
Creature IntakeManual bay door openingTimed drop gatesContinuous truck turnstileSpawn overcrowding
Culling / EliminationStarter pistol & crowbarShotguns & rapid-fire riflesAutomated sentry turretsAmmo cost & reload downtime
Body CollectionManual pick-and-throwUpgraded industrial vacuumFloor sweepers & pit trapsRagdoll physics collision piles
Canning / CrushingSingle manual-feed crusherDual belt-fed crushersOverclocked multi-stage pressProcessing speed capacity
Can DistributionThrowing cans into tubesShort conveyor linkPneumatic suction gridCan jams at tube openings

Community reports highlight that ragdoll physics collisions are the most common source of early pipeline stalls. If twenty carcasses stack across an unpowered conveyor seam, the crusher starves despite an intake bay full of inventory.


Upgrades and Automation Priorities for Your Can 'Em All Factory

Reinvesting your initial profits smartly separates struggling operations from industrial powerhouses. The early game tempts players to sink thousands of credits into flashy high-tier weaponry. However, seasoned players know that expanding processing throughput delivers far better returns on investment (ROI) than overkill damage output.

When managing an efficient Can 'Em All factory, your upgrade paths fall into four distinct categories: Weapons, Vacuum Utilities, Industrial Machinery, and Permanent Facility Perks.

Priority Path: Vacuum Radius ➔ Crusher Capacity ➔ Conveyor Belts ➔ Automated Turrets

Upgrade Path Tier List

The following matrix details the impact, relative cost, and strategic value of essential factory investments:

Upgrade ItemCategoryBase Cost TierReturn on Investment (ROI)Strategic Function & Synergy
Vacuum Suction PowerUtilityLowS-Tier (Immediate)Pulls bodies from farther away, minimizing player traversal time.
Crusher Chamber WidthMachineryLow–MediumS-Tier (Immediate)Prevents physical blockages when dumping multiple carcasses simultaneously.
Basic Conveyor BeltsMachineryLowA-Tier (Early)Automates body transport from the killing pit directly into crushers.
Automated Sentry TurretDefenseMedium–HighA-Tier (Mid-Game)Passively eliminates creatures, freeing the player to organize factory routing.
Extended Tube VacuumLogisticsMediumB-Tier (Mid-Game)Automatically sucks finished cans off conveyors without precise alignment.
High-Caliber ShotgunWeaponMediumB-Tier (Situational)Excellent for burst-clearing large truck arrivals before sentries unlock.
Permanent Multiplier PerksFacilityHighS-Tier (Late-Game)Multiplies credit payout per can delivered across all future runs.

Focus your initial capital on your utility gear. Upgrading the vacuum hopper capacity lets you scoop an entire truck delivery in two sweeps rather than walking back and forth carrying single targets.


Floor Layout Engineering: Designing an Unstoppable Conveyor System

Once automated belts become available, the physical layout of your factory floor dictates your hourly earnings. Dumping raw carcasses onto a conveyor belt without considering momentum and drop angles leads to parts spilling onto the floor, requiring manual cleanup.

To learn more about the title's mechanics, system updates, and patch history, check out the official Can 'Em All on Steam store page.

The Gravity-Assisted Funnel Layout

Player experience shows that utilizing natural drop height yields the highest throughput. Position your creature elimination zone on an elevated grated platform directly above your primary intake conveyors. When targets are eliminated, gravity pulls their bodies down through the grating, keeping the combat platform clear for the next delivery wave.

       [Elevated Combat Arena]
                 │  (Gravity Fall)
                 ▼
     [Angled Funnel Deflector]
                 │
                 ▼
     ═════ [Conveyor Belt] ═════► [Industrial Crusher] ────► [Pneumatic Tube]

Conveyor and Processing Equipment Benchmarks

Machinery UnitIngestion Rate (Units/Min)Footprint SizePower / Space DrawIdeal Pairing
Standard Belt (T1)30 carcasses2x1 tilesLowFunnel exit routes
High-Speed Belt (T2)75 carcasses2x1 tilesMediumMain crusher intake
Angled ChuteInfinite (Gravity)1x1 tilesZeroElimination drop pits
Basic Crusher20 cans/min3x3 tilesBaselineEarly manual dumping
Hydraulic Press (T2)60 cans/min4x4 tilesHighHigh-speed conveyor feed
Pneumatic Exit Tube90 cans/min1x2 wall unitLowHigh-speed canning output

Key Layout Rules to Prevent Pipeline Jams

  • Never Build 90-Degree Flat Turns: Flat perpendicular belt turns cause ragdoll limbs to catch on corner guide rails. Use 45-degree angled transition belts or downward drops to redirect body flow.
  • Funnel Before the Crusher: Place stationary guide walls flanking the belt entrance leading into the crusher chamber. This forces bodies into a single-file line, preventing side-by-side wedging.
  • Separate Combat from Processing: Never fight directly adjacent to your finished can exit tubes. Errant gunfire, stray physics props, or rogue explosive barrels can deflect finished cans away from the collection tube, resulting in lost revenue.

Mid-Game Expansion: Turrets, Lore, and the Gambling Hall

After automating basic processing, the game opens up secondary loops designed to test your economic management. As truck shipments grow larger and creature variants gain higher health pools, managing your floor space inside your Can 'Em All factory requires balancing active defense with passive automation.

Integrating Turrets for Hands-Free Culling

Sentry turrets completely transform your workflow. By placing turrets along the perimeter of the unloading zone, you no longer need to spend precious ammunition or attention clearing waves.

         [Truck Dock]
      ┌────────────────┐
      │  Creature Pen  │ ◄── [Sentry Turret Alpha]
      │                │
      └───────┬────────┘
              │ (Funnel)
              ▼
   [Crushing & Canning Line]
  • Turret Placement: Mount sentries high on structural pillars. Ground-level turrets frequently get their line of sight obstructed by stacks of fallen creatures.
  • Crossfire Angles: Position two basic turrets facing each other at 45-degree opposing angles. This eliminates blind spots near the bay door threshold where fast-moving targets tend to scatter.

Meta-Progression vs. Active Play Investments

The full release includes lore discoveries, permanent facility upgrades, a high-stakes gambling minigame, and an ultimate narrative ending to unlock. Deciding where to allocate surplus funds determines how quickly you reach the endgame.

Facility FeatureUnlocks AtCapital RiskProduction BenefitBest Used When...
Gambling MachineMid-GameHigh (Random)Instant cash multipliers or rare weapon unlocksSurplus bankroll exceeds next factory upgrade tier.
Lore Terminal LogsEarly–MidLow (Fixed)Reveals world narrative and hidden achievement cluesYou want to complete the 12 Steam achievements.
Permanent MultipliersMid-GameHigh (Fixed)Static +5% to +50% payout per processed canProduction lines are stable and run without jamming.
Endgame Facility KeyLate-GameMaximumTriggers the narrative conclusion sequenceAll production belts and automated sentries are maxed out.

Player experience suggests avoiding the gambling machine until your automated belts generate passive cash flow. Sinking early operational capital into games of chance can halt your infrastructure growth if you hit an unlucky streak.


Performance Optimization and System Requirements

Because Can 'Em All relies heavily on 3D physics, real-time ragdoll calculations, and fluid processing animations, managing hardware load is vital as your factory grows. When hundreds of creature bodies and metal cans bounce across moving belts simultaneously, system performance can degrade on budget hardware.

Hardware Specifications

ComponentMinimum SpecificationRecommended ProfileOptimal Settings Strategy
Operating SystemWindows 10 (64-bit)Windows 10/11 (64-bit)Run in full screen borderless
Processor (CPU)AMD Ryzen 3 1200 / Intel Core i3-7100AMD Ryzen 5 3600 / Intel Core i5-10400Set physics thread priority to High
Memory (RAM)8 GB RAM16 GB RAMCloses background browser processes
Graphics (GPU)AMD Radeon RX 460 / NVIDIA GTX 950NVIDIA GTX 1660 / AMD RX 5600 XTCap framerate at 60 FPS in dense rooms
DirectXVersion 11Version 11Keep drivers current
Storage1 GB available space1 GB SSD spaceInstall on fast solid-state media

To maintain smooth performance in a crowded Can 'Em All factory, periodically verify that bodies are not accumulating in out-of-bounds corners. If an intake funnel drops parts behind a storage crate, the game engine will continue calculating physics collisions for dozens of hidden entities, unnecessarily taxing your CPU.


Step-by-Step Blueprint: Building Your First Fully Autonomous Line

Follow this structured phase breakdown to scale your production floor from zero to a self-sufficient revenue engine.

Phase 1: Manual Grinding ➔ Phase 2: Belt Assisted ➔ Phase 3: Turret Defense ➔ Phase 4: Full Hands-Free

Phase 1: The Bootstrapping Stage

  • Clear the first three truck loads manually using your starter weapon.
  • Do not purchase primary weapon upgrades immediately; hoard credits until you can purchase the first Vacuum Suction Radius upgrade.
  • Dump bodies directly into the starter crusher by standing within range and releasing the vacuum buffer.

Phase 2: Semi-Automation

  • Install a direct two-tile conveyor segment running from the pen threshold into the crusher intake.
  • Buy the Crusher Ingestion Speed tier-one perk to process carcasses as fast as the belt carries them.
  • Place a secondary belt connecting the crusher exhaust port directly into the wall-mounted sales tube.

Phase 3: Defensive Scaling

  • Buy your first automated sentry turret and mount it on the wall opposite the truck delivery shutter.
  • Position angled deflector barricades around the perimeter so knocked-down creatures slide inward toward the central vacuum floor vent.
  • Upgrade your carrying capacity so you only need to interact when clear-cutting large delivery surges.

Phase 4: Hands-Free Mastery

  • Deploy twin crossfire turrets to eliminate arrivals the instant the truck gates open.
  • Install continuous high-speed conveyor belts and angled drop chutes across the entire holding zone.
  • Step back and monitor the cash register as every delivery is processed, canned, and sold without firing a single manual round.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

How do I prevent conveyor belt jams in my Can 'Em All factory?

Conveyor jams occur when multiple ragdoll models hit a narrow intake mouth simultaneously. To prevent this, never route two conveyor belts directly into a single crusher portal at 90-degree angles. Instead, merge two feeding lines into a single central conveyor at least three tiles before the crusher entrance, using angled guide rails to arrange incoming bodies into a continuous single file.

What is the most cost-effective weapon upgrade early on?

While automatic rifles look appealing, community consensus points to the pump shotgun as the best early investment. Its wide spread pattern can clear an entire cluster of delivered creatures in one or two shots at point-blank range, drastically cutting down on ammunition costs compared to rapid-fire automatic weapons.

How does the gambling machine factor into factory progression?

The gambling machine acts as a high-risk cash sink. While it has a chance to award massive currency jackpots or unique cosmetic and utility perks, it should only be utilized after your primary conveyor and crusher lines are fully operational. Treating it as a primary revenue generator will almost certainly derail your factory expansion.

Can you automate creature collection completely inside the Can 'Em All factory?

Yes. By pairing elevated drop grating, angled gravity chutes, and automated floor intake sweepers, dead creatures fall directly onto primary feeder belts without requiring any manual vacuuming. Once sentry turrets are placed at the delivery bay, the entire cycle—from truck arrival to finished can distribution—operates 100% hands-free.