Crusher cash is the digging currency. Pick up rubble from broken cubes and sell it at the crusher. The experience text spends that cash on harder punches, bigger holes, a bigger backpack, and helpers. Gems do not buy those rows.
Buy the bottleneck, not a fixed shopping list
Prices are not published and can change on the board. Use this check before each purchase:
| What is slow | Buy next | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Cubes take too many hits | Harder punches | The listing names punch strength as the way to break walls faster. |
| The hole is open but people cannot pass | Bigger holes | Passage size is a separate upgrade from punch strength. The game has 13 hole shapes, and it does not publish their names. |
| You walk back to the crusher with a full bag too often | Bigger backpack | More rubble per trip. It does not break cubes faster. |
| The core three feel comfortable | A helper | Helpers share the same cash. Their effects are not published, so test one purchase against the next punch rank. |
An earlier experience line mentioned drills with helpers. The Chapter 2 wording replaced that line with the named yard crew. Do not hunt a drill row unless the live board still shows one.
Three lanes that are easy to mix up
| Lane | Pays for | Resets? |
|---|---|---|
| Crusher cash | Punches, holes, backpack, helpers | Not described as a per-run reset. |
| Gems | Gloves, hit effects, classes, emotes, plus crates for skins and limited gloves | Earned per escape. |
| THE GYM | Permanent upgrades | The listing says permanent. It does not name the currency, the stat list, or the door. |
Fight Gear in The Sewers is another shop: Gloves, Health, and Armor for the Rat Lair. Those Gloves are combat prep. Gem gloves are the unlock track. Read the label on the board you are standing at.
Water Cannon and Bubble Blaster are Chapter 3 tools, not starter crusher rows. Water Cannon is the F key and removes a large wall chunk. Bubble Blaster powers the team, with no published multiplier.
A first-session order
- Sell one backpack of rubble so you can see real prices.
- If the first wall is the delay, buy the next punch rank.
- If you are already punching through and the bag is the delay, buy backpack space.
- Buy hole size when a punched opening is still too small to use.
- Leave helpers, gem cosmetics, and Gym training until one Chapter 1 escape is repeatable.
Use the crusher payback calculator only after you type the price and the extra cash from your own board. Its sample numbers are not shop data.
Gym timing
Train at THE GYM when you know which stat the prompt sells. There is no published price, cap, or map pin. Do not spend gems on the Gym just because gems and training are both long-term. The listing never ties them together.