Groundwork Simulator Beginner Guide — First Hours on the Site

Install Groundwork Simulator from Steam, AppID 5306540. It is not a Roblox experience, and this guide does not link a Roblox place. The official site is groundworksimulator.com.

The 22 October 2026 release is Early Access. Steam's own notice says Early Access games are not complete and may change. If you want a finished campaign, the store tells you to wait.

The developer answers on that store page say the gameplay foundation is in place, that Early Access is expected to last about 3–6 months (and that the window can move), and that the current build has one playable map, a range of vehicles, and a story mode that teaches the core mechanics. Treat those sentences as the store's description of the build, not as a patch log written here.

The same answers say there are no plans to change the base price when the game leaves Early Access. Any discount on the day you look is on the store page. This guide does not copy a price.

This guide does not publish a keyboard, mouse, or controller bind chart. Steam lists full controller support and does not print the button map in the store text used here. The camera and machine controls belong to the story-mode tutorial the Early Access description calls a guided introduction.

The first field job on the official site is to drill and test the ground, choose a promising spot, then dig. The Steam feature text describes adjusting bucket angle and working with the hydraulic power you have as the bucket meets the ground, fills, and lifts. That is the dig. It is not a separate damage upgrade.

Start that lesson in story mode so the camera and the first machine are shown in the game, then repeat the same actions on the open site: test, pick a face, and take a bucket.

Steam's short description names three machine types: excavators, wheel loaders, and bulldozers. It does not rank them, and this guide will not invent bucket sizes, prices, or a best-in-slot model.

The official site starts the operation by taking an excavator to untouched ground. Use that as the first digging machine. A friend can handle transport while you stay on the excavator, which is the split the store describes.

Wheel loaders are named by Steam and are not given a stat line here. Bulldozers are named in the same sentence as reshaping terrain, so treat them as the machine for changing the ground, not as a gold printer.

Trucks and trailers are separate from those three names. The official site describes loading heavy machinery onto a trailer and hauling it by truck to the next worksite. Use that when the machine is in the wrong place, not as a fourth ranked digger.

The starter route is the loop both the store and the official site describe. No step below has a gold yield, a timer, or a price.

Find a deposit by drilling and testing, then dig that ground and haul the material to your wash setup. Water does not appear by wishing: the feature text says you place pumps and hoses and route water to the plant. Wash material through the sluice boxes, then process the concentrate on the shaking table.

After the first recovery, the official site's last step is to expand the site and, if you want, share the work. Expanding is more ground and more plant, not a drop table.

The store's terrain copy is the whole tip sheet. Every scoop changes the ground: new routes, steeper slopes, and piles you then have to drive. The path that got you into the cut may not get a loaded truck out.

Mud, slopes, and rough ground are called out as route decisions. Watch traction with a heavy load. If the wheels cannot climb, the next job is the ground under them, not another bucket at the face.

Do not undercut your own haul road. Do not leave a lip the loader cannot climb. Do not treat a steep spoil pile as a permanent ramp unless you meant to build one. Those are the failure modes implied by 'the ground you leave behind becomes the foundation for your next job.' This page does not add slope-degree limits the store does not print.

Solo is a full way to play. Steam lists single-player, and the official site tells you the operation can be yours alone.

Invite people when two jobs need to happen together. The store's example is one player on the excavator while a friend handles transport, or both of you keeping material moving between the dig and the wash plant. A third task, once the plant is running, is water and the wash line so the digger is not also the plumber.

The official site caps that crew at you plus three friends. This guide does not claim a larger server, a role queue, or a party code.

There is no drop table, rarity ladder, or currency amount on this page. If a wiki elsewhere prints gold per hour or a machine shop price, it did not come from here.

What Steam's Early Access answers say is already in the build: most of the features planned for the full release, one playable map, a range of vehicles and heavy machinery, and the story-mode tutorial. That is a description of the current version, not a changelog this site wrote.

What those answers say is still planned: an additional map, more vehicles, weather, improvements to current systems, usability, mod support, and performance. The developer says the plan can change during Early Access.

The official site's roadmap repeats that these are plans and that dates are to be announced. Its headings include a new map, more story objectives, more vehicles, wash plants and equipment, feedback passes, modding support, a Map Studio, and the full release. Do not read a heading as a feature that is already live. Check Steam news before you go looking for it in the game.

Use the links below for the live store text, news posts, and the official roadmap. This guide does not host a codes list, a Roblox embed, or a patch-note archive.

Support contacts published on the Steam app record point at the official support page.