Wanderburg Unlockables
What the shop sells and what the demo lets you keep.
The between-run shop is where Wanderburg stops being a toy and starts being a game. Gold buys captains, modules, crew, and artifacts that persist across runs. This page lists what the public demo and interviews actually name as unlockable, without inventing a shop row that does not exist.
Stack with captains, modules, crew and artifacts, and the loadout checklist. If you want the route through the demo, use the demo walkthrough.
What the demo shop contains
Public demo footage and playtest reports describe a shop with four unlock rows:
Captains: Norbert the Normal, Dieter the Drunk, vampire sustain captains, The Count, Racer Ruth, gold printers, and cannon-bonus variants. The captains page has the full list with sourcing notes.
Modules: archers, side cannons, mortar, mines, ram, dash, teleporter, boost, fire mage, barracks, stun hammer, shield-stomp. The modules page has descriptions.
Crew: repair teams, carpenters, gold-over-time crews, health crews, and specialty crews that modify repair rates or health gains. The crew and artifacts page has the full list.
Artifacts: second-chance relics, burn-spread, melee-from-speed, next-artifact-double, fuel-max cooldown reset, tree-to-nitro consume, sheep gold multipliers, magnet pickups. The crew and artifacts page describes each.
The unlock hierarchy
Not all rows cost the same. Early demo runs prioritise:
First unlock: a captain you understand. Norbert for steering practice. A gimmick captain only after you know why you died.
Second unlock: a module that fills a hole. Fire mage if you lack area. Ram if you lack melee. Repair crew if you lack survival.
Third unlock: a crew or artifact that matches the sentence. Gold-over-time for coward runs. Burn-spread for fire builds. Second-chance while learning.
The loadout checklist is the paper version of this hierarchy.
Vehicles and frames
The demo is predominantly one starting wheeled keep. Vehicles and frames are the chassis your modules bolt onto. The vehicles page covers the difference.
Early Access on 8 September 2026 is supposed to add more player frames. A Gamescom-era interview said the team wanted three vehicles for the Early Access cut. Treat that as an intention from an interview, not a confirmed ship list.
Spider legs and walking locomotion appear in trailers. Until the shop sells them, they are not in the demo. See vehicles and biomes.
Captain progression
Norbert the Normal is the starting captain. He teaches steering without a handling penalty.
Dieter the Drunk was added in a post-Next Fest demo update. He has a damage bonus and a steering penalty. Only pick him after you can drive straight.
Vampire sustain and The Count offer consume-heal mechanics. They are strong in long loops where you can eat safely. Weak if you are the smallest thing in every exchange.
Gold printers are meta for unlocking the rest of the shop. They do not win highlight reels. They win shopping trips.
Module progression
Start with archers or side cannons. Auto-fire is the comfort layer. You still have to point the mouth.
Ram is the identity module. It demands a second movement tool: boost, dash, or teleporter. Ram without movement is a one-hit tool.
Fire mage is the area denial module. Stand near clumps. Let the circle work. Do not ram targets out of your own burn.
Mortar and mines are kite tools. They work when something is chasing you. They are invisible when nothing is.
Crew and artifact progression
Repair crew is the default safety pick. It keeps you alive longer, which means more gold time.
Gold-over-time crew is the coward run pick. It prints while you move. Combined with sheep gold artifacts, it is the demo’s gold engine.
Second-chance relics are learning picks. Replace them with damage or sustain when you stop bouncing off steamrollers.
Burn-spread and melee-from-speed are build amplifiers. They do not create an identity; they make an existing sentence louder.
What does not persist
Module choices within a run do not persist. The draft screen is a per-run decision.
XP and level-ups do not persist. Your keep’s size within a run is per-run.
Map state does not persist. Each run generates a new procedural map.
Early Access and the larger shop
Early Access will widen every row. More captains, more modules, more crew, more artifacts, more vehicles. The hierarchy here will not change. The unlock priority will remain: captain you understand, module that fills a hole, crew that matches the sentence.
When the full build lands on 8 September 2026, recheck this page. We will name what shipped without inventing a fourth vehicle.
The video in the middle of this page is a module-unlock run that pauses on the shop. That pause is this entire article.
Frequently Asked Questions
Quick answers to the most common Wanderburg questions.
What should I unlock first in the Wanderburg demo?
A captain you understand, then a module that fills a hole. See the unlock hierarchy above.
Do demo unlocks carry into Early Access?
Randwerk has not published a hard guarantee. Keep the knowledge; treat the save as mortal.
How many captains are in the demo?
Public footage names at least seven. See the captains page for the full sourced list.
Are spider legs in the demo shop?
No. They appear in trailers. The demo shop has one player vehicle. See vehicles.