Stepping into Tovarishch Games’ post-apocalyptic shelter can immediately overwhelm anyone staring down a mountain of over seventeen thousand scattered items. Relying on an organized Bunker Tidy Up walkthrough prevents you from wandering aimlessly between storage racks and cluttered corridors. This detailed Bunker Tidy Up walkthrough breaks down the exact shelf mechanics, skill priority paths, and cleaning routes needed to clear the facility efficiently.
Every single piece of equipment, food tin, and guidebook has a predetermined spot waiting across two expansive floors. By mastering keybinds, targeting high-yield starter supplies, and upgrading active abilities, you can transform chaotic piles into a pristine sanctuary.
Core Mechanics and HUD Tracking Systems
Before moving random crates, understanding the interface is essential to measuring your cleanup progress. The upper-left corner of the screen displays three primary tracking counters that govern your run:
- The Supply Counter (Box Icon): Tracks individual supplies placed onto correct racks, culminating at 17,437 items.
- The Shelf Counter (Shelf Icon): Records completely filled shelf rows, requiring a total of 136 completed shelves.
- The Upgrade Star: Displays available skill points earned from fully completed shelf rows to spend in the upgrade tree.
Carried supplies appear on the right side of the screen with an indicator arrow showing your active selection. Starting out, inventory space is capped at five items. If your hands become clogged with mismatched items, pressing G drops the selected item onto the floor.
Shelves communicate compatibility through intuitive colored outlines and dynamic text labels. As players quickly discover, reading the fractional labels (such as 0/5 or 12/180) prevents unnecessary running back and forth.
| Shelf Visual State | Meaning | Player Action |
|---|---|---|
| White Label | Shelf is completely filled | Move on to the next unfinished rack |
| Yellow Label / Green Outline | Started shelf / Held item is compatible | Place the item using your interact key |
| Red Striped / Red Outline | Incompatible shelf | Check held item; place elsewhere without penalty |
Placing an item on an incorrect rack triggers an error indicator and audio cue, but the game imposes no point deductions or penalties for mistakes.
Essential Skills and Upgrade Priority Order
Every completely organized shelf awards upgrade points, with early milestones like water barrels yielding ten points immediately. Allocating points into the right abilities transforms the game from a tedious manual clicker into a swift, satisfying cleanup operation.
| Ability Name | Keybind | In-Game Effect | Upgrade Tier Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Grabby Hands | Passive | Increases maximum carrying capacity | Expands inventory from 5 to 10, 20, 30, and 50+ slots |
| Magnet | V | Pulls nearby matching items directly into hands | Starts at 5 items; cooldown reduces from 60s down to 30s |
| Everything Away | X | Automatically sends held items to started shelves | Requires at least one matching item already on the rack |
| Match Finder | R | Outlines matching floor items of the held type | Reveals items for 5 to 8 seconds with a cooldown |
| Right Shelf | C | Highlights compatible shelves for the held item | Excellent for identifying unknown specialized gear |
| Autoloader | Passive | Feeds items onto racks continuously while holding interact | Transfers up to 5 items per second at tier 1 |
| Compaction | Passive | Stacks identical carried items into unified inventory slots | Cleans up the right-hand carried items list |
| Quick Step | Passive | Increases player movement speed | Tier 1 grants a 20% flat walking speed boost |
| Springiness | Passive | Increases vertical jump height | Unlocks higher jumping over obstacles (+50% to +670%) |
According to player experience shared on Steam community boards, the most effective upgrade path begins with Grabby Hands. Expanding capacity to at least twenty items before unlocking Everything Away ensures you get massive value from every activation.
Follow this by investing heavily into the Magnet ability. Upgrading Magnet lowers its cooldown from 60 seconds to 30 seconds while doubling the items pulled per cast. Reserve mobility upgrades like Quick Step and Springiness for the mid-game, where leaping across mezzanine railings saves substantial travel time.
Bunker Layout and Storage Category Breakdown
The shelter is divided between a massive ground-floor sorting bay and a raised walkway connected by industrial staircases. Storing items near their designated zones prevents unnecessary trips across levels.
Survival Equipment and Armory
Located primarily along the raised walkway and dedicated ground utility bays, survival equipment represents some of the fastest early completions. This section houses water barrels, propane fuel canisters, gasoline cans, generators, backpacks (city and military), bulletproof vests, helmets, gas masks, compasses, radios, walkie-talkies, flashlights, and lanterns. The armory shelves require defensive gear including live fragmentation grenades (50 total), smoke grenades, baseball bats, machetes, axes, and 312 loose shotgun shells.
Preserved Foods, Pantry, and Groceries
Occupying the lower ground racks, the food stockpiles are vast. Preserved goods include pickled jars of cucumbers, tomatoes, peppers, beans, olives, crayfish, corn, and mushrooms, with several shelves demanding 180 to 200 jars each. Canned provisions feature tuna, sardines, chicken, beef, pork, sausages, ravioli, peaches, carrots, and soup. General groceries hold dry staples such as flour, croissants, bread mix, powdered cocoa, coffee, and sugar.
Beverages, Drinks, and Refreshments
The beverage aisles contain multi-packs of bottled water, soda cans, cola, lemonade, beer cases, individual beer bottles, wine, and cartons of milk and orange juice. The most challenging single shelf in this wing demands over 500 individual cans of energy drinks, requiring repeated magnet sweeps.
Books and Archival Knowledge
Situated upstairs on wooden library bookcases, the archive is split into specialized survival disciplines. Sorting all reading materials unlocks the dedicated Archivist achievement. Key book categories include:
- Medicine and Quarantine: Infection control, field surgery, and wilderness first aid.
- Shelter Living and Psychology: Underground gardening, isolation psychology, and small community organization.
- Technical Repair: Power station maintenance, vehicle upkeep, and generator repair.
- Hunting and Foraging: Trapping mechanics, algae harvesting, and game dressing.
Household Supplies, Hygiene, and Pet Care
Hygiene racks require bars of soap, shampoo, shower gel, deodorant, toothbrushes, toothpaste, and medical supplies like iodine and bandages. Cleaning shelves hold bleach, dishwashing liquid, paper towels (12 packs), and rolls of toilet paper. Pet lovers will find dedicated food bays requiring massive hauls: 500 cans of dog food and 576 cans of cat food, along with large dry kibble sacks.
Step-by-Step Cleanup Progression Route
Following a disciplined sequence prevents you from getting lost under mountains of clutter. This step-by-step Bunker Tidy Up walkthrough outlines the fastest route to 136 completed shelves.
Phase 1: Heavy Starter Items and Quick Skill Points
Begin directly in the central hall. Focus on bulky, low-quantity supplies that immediately free up walking space and award early upgrade stars:
- Locate the large black water barrels on the ground floor. Carry five to the labeled water shelf to claim your first +10 upgrade point reward.
- Gather the four industrial generators and deliver them to the survival equipment rack for another 10 points.
- Spend your initial 20 points in the Upgrades menu on Grabby Hands to raise your capacity to ten items.
- Collect propane bottles, paper towel packs, and toilet paper rolls, placing them on their nearby racks to complete shelves requiring twelve items or fewer.
- Clear loose weapons (machetes, baseball bats, and axes) along with vests and gas masks.
Phase 2: Seeding Racks and Upper Walkway Books
Once basic carrying capacity reaches twenty to thirty slots, transition to seeding shelves. Community players recommend placing at least one item on every shelf you discover. This unlocks the full power of Everything Away (X key) and Magnet (V key).
Head to the upper walkway library. Books are visually distinct, easy to stack, and reward rapid shelf completions. Grab matching reference manuals, use Match Finder (R) to spot remaining volumes across the floor, and use Magnet to suck them into your hands. Clearing the entire book section provides dozens of upgrade stars, allowing you to max out Magnet cooldowns and movement speed.
Phase 3: Processing Jars, Tins, and Massive Stockpiles
With upgraded speed, jump height, and inventory capacity, tackle the dense ground-floor piles:
- Take a sample jar (such as pickled cucumbers or olives) from the shelf.
- Press V to trigger Magnet in the central pile, scooping up all nearby matching jars.
- Return to the rack and hold your placement key to let Autoloader rapidly seat the items.
- Clear canned meats, pet food cans, and drink cartons in unified batches rather than mixing grocery types.
- Use X (Everything Away) whenever your hands are filled with miscellaneous supplies after digging through deep mounds.
Finding Missing Items and Reaching the Exit
As the bunker floor clears, progress slows down when searching for the final dozen supplies. Tiny items like loose batteries, matches, bandages, shotgun shells, and small tins frequently hide underneath empty cardboard boxes or behind shelf supports.
If a shelf reads a fraction like 63/64 or 311/312, take one sample item off the shelf, hold it in your hand, and activate Match Finder (R). Look for yellow outlines glowing through terrain, corners, and stairwells. Be sure to check display nooks as well to find collectible rubber ducks scattered throughout the shelter.
After the top-left HUD counters officially read 17,437/17,437 supplies and 136/136 shelves, head up the stairs to the raised walkway. Beside the organized bookcases, you will find an exit door glowing under a bright green light. Interacting with this door completes the game and unlocks the completion summary screen.
For official updates, version patches, and developer community notices, visit the official Bunker Tidy Up Steam page.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many total items and shelves are in Bunker Tidy Up?
The game features exactly 17,437 supplies that must be arranged across 136 labeled shelf rows distributed between the ground floor and the mezzanine walkway.
What is the most efficient skill to unlock first in a Bunker Tidy Up walkthrough?
The most critical early skill is Grabby Hands, which increases carrying capacity from five items to ten, twenty, and beyond. Expanding capacity cuts down travel time significantly and prepares you for batch sorting abilities like Magnet and Everything Away.
Why is the upper walkway exit door locked?
The green-lit exit door on the upper walkway only unlocks once both completion counters are entirely full: 17,437/17,437 supplies placed and 136/136 shelves completed. If it remains locked, check partly filled shelves and use Match Finder to locate overlooked floor items.
What do the different shelf label colors mean?
A white label indicates the shelf is 100% full and completed. A yellow label means items have been started on that shelf and compatible items will show a green outline. A red striped label indicates that the currently held item does not belong on that rack.
