Of the three main currencies in Steamworld Build, rubies are the hardest to come by. They’re also one of the most useful, being essential to trading for items coming in by train. Also, unlike gold nuggets and cash, they can’t be traded for. So how do you get rubies?
By my count, there are three ways to get rubies, so let’s go over them.
Mine for rubies
The most obvious way of getting more rubies is to mine for them. They can be found in blocks with huge red ore chunks in them. Each node that your miners dig up will result in a single ruby. While that’s not a lot, it’s still the fastest and most reliable way to build up your ruby collection.
Trade with the train
Every so often, the train will arrive with one of its items being a stack of rubies. Here, you can exchange cash for a certain number of them. I suggest taking this deal whenever you see it. You can replenish cash easily by building more houses and getting more citizens. Rubies aren’t quite so easy to get.
Crack open tumbleweeds
One the town map, you’ll find tumbleweeds rolling across the landscape and getting stuck against your buildings and cliffs. If you click on these, they’ll pop open. Every so often, one of these will contain rubies. While this is mostly down to luck, it’s worth watching for these when you’re building your city or just when you have time to spare. You’ll sometimes find places where these frequently get stuck, and can keep checking those spots for more.
You’ll want to try and get rubies whenever you can. The best upgrades that can be bought at the train station require them, including the storage upgrades that extend your global storage. It always sucks when something you want pulls into the station, but you can’t afford it, nor can you readily gain more before the train pulls in again. So, make sure you have enough red gems in your pocket.
