Moon Sweepers Zone Progression Order: What to Clear First
A six-stage expansion order built on purchase gates rather than map coordinates, with the gear each stage expects and the signals that say it is time to move.
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There is no official zone list, so this is an order of gates
Moon Sweepers divides the surface into hex sections that group into regions, and no publisher has named those regions or published a route. This page orders expansion by the gate that unlocks it — a purchase, a piece of gear, or a base capability. For structure read the zone guide; for site choice, the base score.
The Whole Order in One Table
| Stage | Ground you work | Gate to enter | Gear you should own |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | The hexes touching your landing pad | None | Toothbrush |
| 1 | Blue hexes next to clean ones | About $25 | Household Broom |
| 2 | One region, finished to the last section | $75–$150 | Wide or Extra Wide Broom |
| 3 | One or two regions out from the pad | About $500 | Garage plus Push Sweeper |
| 4 | Crater floors and rims | $1,000–$2,500 | Ride-on or Lunar Sweeper |
| 5 | Wherever your base can absorb the inflow | $2,500–$6,000 plus power | Heavy vehicle and a working belt |
The stages are cumulative: stage 1 ground does not stop being useful when stage 3 opens, it stops being your frontier. The gates are money-and-infrastructure gates, not distance gates.
Stage 0: The Hex You Landed On
The first hour is not exploration. It is the walk you can survive with a nearly empty container.
Work the ground touching your pad until it is clean. At toothbrush speed the container fills before a longer walk pays for itself.
The reported benchmark for leaving this stage is about $25, the price of the Household Broom. One guide suggests fifteen sections first; treat that as pacing, because the real gate is the $25.
Stage 1: The Blue Ring
The map's color code is the only guidance the game gives you, and blue is the part that pays.
Blue means partially cleaned. A blue hex beside a cluster of green is work you already half did, which makes it the cheapest ground per kilogram. Orange is untouched and looks like progress, but it costs full price in travel and passes. Finish blue because it completes regions; chase orange only when the frontier demands it.
This stage sets the habit that carries through everything: finish a hex once you start it.
The gear gate is the Household Broom at about $25, and the alternative is a container upgrade at about $30. Short walk, buy width; long walk, buy capacity. The capacity upgrade math runs that comparison.
Stage 2: One Region, Finished
Sections and regions are different counters, and the game rewards both. A region completes only when its last section does, and completion reportedly pays a bonus. The achievement list tracks ten regions against a hundred sections, so the region counter is deliberately slower.
So stage 2 is not "clean more ground." It is "close one region completely." Find the stragglers around your pad and finish them before opening a second front. The achievements guide covers how those counters interact.
| What you are doing | On the map | Why it is the wrong order |
|---|---|---|
| A third region while two are blue | Scattered blue islands | Travel grows, bonuses do not |
| One region finished to 100% | A solid green block | One bonus, one short walk |
| A distant orange patch | A lone orange hex | Full price for ground left half done |
The gear gate is the Wide Broom at about $75, or the Extra Wide at $150 for a long manual stretch. Skip intermediate steps when the next tier is close; the tool reference has the ladder.
Stage 3: The Garage Radius
Around $500 — the reported $200 garage plus the $300 Push Sweeper — the unit of work changes from a patch to a sector. That is the real gate, not the distance from your pad.
The rule that makes this stage work: do not cross a crater rim on foot. A rim is a climb, it is dark, and a full container turns into a slow walk. If the next region is over a rim, finish your side first or wait for the vehicle.
Two purchases compete: the vehicle and a forward depot. If your walk is over a minute, the depot is cheaper; the vehicle is faster. The depot placement score settles it.
Stage 4: Density
Crater floors reportedly hold thicker dust than plains, though the claim is secondhand. Test it: time a full container on flat ground, then on a crater floor.
What is safe to plan around is that density changes which machine is worth owning. A wider strip matters more where dust is thick and continuous, which is why the Lunar Sweeper's premium is easier to justify here. The vehicle cost breakdown splits each price into width versus hopper.
The gate is $1,000 to $2,500, and the stage ends when your frontier is limited by unloading rather than collecting. That is the signal to stop buying cleaners.
Stage 5: Feeding the Base
The last stage is where zones become places you supply rather than places you clean. A machine does not care how scenic the crater is — it cares whether the belt is full.
The gate is a heavy vehicle plus a working unload route plus power. A Pressure Chamber reportedly draws 10 kW and a Stone Press 18 kW, and both stop when stored charge runs out. Buying a $6,000 collector before that chain works moves the queue from crater to depot. Zone choice becomes logistics, not dust.
Gates Beat Geography
This order survives patches because it depends on capabilities, not place names. No official zone sequence exists, and the map does not appear to unlock in a fixed direction.
| Gate | What it unlocks | Do not start before |
|---|---|---|
| $25 broom | Wider passes, fewer strokes | You have cleared the pad |
| $75–$150 tool | A region finished in one sitting | You have closed one region |
| $500 garage plus vehicle | A frontier more than a rim away | The walk passes a minute |
| $1,000–$2,500 vehicle | Dense crater work | Your unload route works |
| $2,500–$6,000 plus power | Feeding a production line | The line runs without stalling |
In a 16-player lobby the gates apply but the cadence changes. Assign one region per squad, re-check the map every half hour, and do not open a new front while three regions are blue. The vehicle role plan covers who drives where, and the progression guide covers the purchase order that funds each gate.
Which zone should I clean first in Moon Sweepers?
The hexes touching your landing pad, then the blue hexes adjacent. Anywhere else means paying travel costs before you can afford them. There is no official first zone, because there is no official zone list.
Do I have to finish a region before moving to the next one?
No, but it is usually the better trade. Region completion reportedly pays a bonus, and a finished region stops generating return trips. Finishing blue before opening orange keeps a frontier cheap.
When should I leave the starting area?
When the walk from your frontier to a depot passes about a minute, or when you can afford the $500 garage-and-vehicle package. The two often arrive together, which is why stage 3 is the natural break point.
What gear do I need before working crater floors?
A vehicle, not a better broom. Crater floors combine a climb, low light, and dense dust, and the first two are travel problems. A Ride-on Sweeper at a reported $1,000 is the usual entry point; a Lunar Sweeper is easier where the walls are steep.
Related Guides
Best Base Location in Moon Sweepers: A Scoring Method
Score candidate base sites on slope, dust density, haul distance, and expansion room. Includes three site archetypes, foundation rules, and when to move.
Moon Sweepers Depot Placement: A Three-Factor Score
Score a Moon Sweepers depot site on distance, dust density, and the loaded return route, plus the real cost of moving one after it is built.
Moon Sweepers Zones and Map: Reading the Surface
How the Moon Sweepers map works: hex sectors, the orange-blue-green color code, craters versus plains, and how to pick a base site without guesswork.
Moon Sweepers: How to Move Buildings and Depots
There is no move tool in Moon Sweepers. Here is what demolishing and rebuilding actually costs, how garages behave now, and how to avoid paying twice.
Lunar Dust Farming: Moon Sweepers Money Loop
How to farm lunar dust efficiently in Moon Sweepers: capacity math, route planning, station placement, and the automation steps that scale your income.
Moon Sweepers Achievements Guide: All 33 and Fastest Order
All 33 Moon Sweepers achievements grouped by tracker, the hidden conveyor-loop unlock, and the order that clears easy ones before the long grind begins.