Sandustry Critters Guide: the Four Living "Inhabitants"
Sandustry isn't a pure physics sandbox — beneath the sand and water there are things that move on their own. They're a real part of the exploration loop: capturing and collecting every species is the goal of the "Conservatory Curator" achievement, and certain critters also tie into deep mechanics like the "Aura Extractor / Swarm Console". Four species are publicly confirmed so far, and their habitats differ sharply.
Lumlings — the Glowing Folk
Lumlings are the most common critters near the surface and in shallow caves, faintly luminous and often drifting around already-lit areas. Community logs show they're light-sensitive — they gather more readily near Light (lamps) 🔶 COMMUNITY. As the entry-level capture target, they're usually the first piece of the "collect them all" puzzle.
Redweavers — the Red Weavers
Redweavers get their name from their red look and weaving-like movement trails; they turn up at the boundary between rich ore and heat zones 🔶 COMMUNITY. The community suspects a symbiosis with ore veins or thermal environments, and some footage shows them clustering near heat sources. The exact mechanic is still waiting on an official bestiary, but as one of the four, catching one is a required collectible for "Conservatory Curator".
Voltblubs — the Electric Blobs
Voltblubs relate to energy / electricity, and tend to appear around power infrastructure after the First Spark achievement unlocks 🔶 COMMUNITY. The community links them to "energy overflow" — they seem drawn to active circuits and storage structures. Players pushing the power line while also chasing the species list can stake out substations and batteries.
Voidgrazers — the Void Grazers
Voidgrazers are the rarest and most mysterious branch, haunting anomaly zones, especially the Tier-4 "Void Touched" anomaly ✅ VERIFIED. They appear in deep, anomaly-eroded areas and are the hardest of the four to complete — usually you only meet them after pushing into late-game exploration and the anomaly mechanic.
How to Capture: the Corraller & Achievement Chain
Capturing critters relies on the Corraller — its operation unlocks the "Critter Catcher" achievement ✅ VERIFIED (compiled by fan wikis, cross-checked against the official achievement list). Collecting all four species corresponds to the "Conservatory Curator" achievement ✅ VERIFIED.
- Critter Catcher: capture any critter with the Corraller for the first time.
- Conservatory Curator: collect Lumlings / Redweavers / Voltblubs / Voidgrazers.
- Deep tip: Voidgrazers require touching the anomaly mechanic first — pair this with Ancient Relics & Civilizations as you progress.
Side-quest advice: the four species are spread across four environments — light / heat / electricity / anomaly — which map neatly onto the four stages of the tech tree. No need to grind them: just push the Beginner Guide main line into mid-to-late game, and fill them in one environment at a time after the Corraller unlocks. Full achievement route in the 16-Achievement Roadmap.
Potential Tie-in with the Aura Extractor
The community has also observed that the Aura Extractor (Swarm Console) sits behind a 1,000 Auralite threshold 🔶 COMMUNITY; its name and the "swarm" theme suggest a deeper binding to some critter cluster (possibly the species above). This is late-game content — this page only flags the clue; detail waits for later builds and official data.
Baseline 2026-08-20 · critter data shifts with EA builds; defer to the official bestiary when it lands
Species behavior and capture mechanics are documented on the official Sandustry wiki; conservation achievements are surfaced on the Steam Community hub.