5x5 Challenge Rules

 Intermediate, Advanced  Square  25 foundations

Many of you have seen, read, or heard about the 5x5 Challenge. It is a special way of playing that focuses on squeezing your entire production into a factory building that has only a 5x5 foundation. It is not everyone’s cup of tea/coffee/[insert drink of choice]!

Respawn Repeat 24715 2022-08-03

The humble beginnings of this legendary challenge lie in mystery. There are myths of its creation, but no concrete evidence as to who or what started this madness. 

Before we get started on the rules, we have a major tip for anyone who wants to participate in this challenge:  Find a spot on the map that has easy access to most of the resources. You do not need to worry about Bauxite at this point, so trying to place your factory near a Bauxite node is unnecessary. If you want to plan ahead, you can place your factory really anywhere on the map and you can bring the resources in, but if you are a new player, we recommend placing it near one of the starting locations.  Since you will be spending so much time in this area, it is advisable that you plan to have your Tower of Power near this location as well.

As a disclaimer, we have written out the rules for this challenge below, but the biggest rule is that you should try to have fun. The rules should be used more as guidelines rather than restrictions to help you enjoy the challenge and give you a chance to exercise your creativity. Utilize these rules at your leisure (or at your peril) to enjoy the 5x5 Challenge, and see what amazing things you can come up with through creative problem-solving. We wish you the best of luck and that you have as much fun as we have had with the 5x5 Challenge. (These rules have now been updated for Update 6)

Core 5x5 Rules:

• All production, including fuel for power and uranium waste processing, should be produced WITHIN a 5x5 foundation grid including WALLS all the way around the foundation. Manual crafting is allowed outside the 5x5.
• Power generation and power storage buildings may exist either within the 5x5 or in a SEPARATE 6x6 foundation grid (including walls).
• Belts, pipes, hyper tubes, foundations, ladders, and walkways can be on the OUTSIDE of the 5x5 production tower or the 6x6 power plant tower and brought to any level. This includes trains and truck depots.
• Miners, water extractors, oil extractors, and all the special buildings (M.A.M, Space Elevator, etc.) CAN BE built outside of the 5x5 tower. The only exception is that the Awesome Sink MUST remain inside the 5x5.
• You can place geothermal generators outside of the towers, but if you do they can NOT be connected to any power grids inside of the 5x5 tower.
• Prior to unlocking the building milestone & building your 5x5 grid, you CAN build two smelters and three constructors anywhere and are not limited by the 5x5 tower.
• Soft clearance can be used as long there's no clipping with production buildings and logistics. Eg a belt can NOT clip through a wall or foundation. Clipping should only be decorative.
• All seasonal content is exempt of these rules.

Hardcore 5x5 Rules:

• ALL logistics, power, power storage and production must remain within the 5x5 tower. The only exception to this is when you build a nuclear power plant, as these need a 5x6 foundation. Any floors with nuclear power plants can be expanded for this purpose to 5x6.
• ALL raw resources should enter the 5x5 at a similar point near the bottom of the tower.
• ALL vertical scaling of the 5x5 must be done fully within.

Hardcore Variants:

• All manual handcrafting should be within the 5x5 once you have built your 5x5 grid. This would force you to live and breathe within the 5x5
• One train station and one freight or fluid platform, or one drone port can fit within the 5x5 grid, and so all unloading from trains, vehicles and drones must remain within the grid. This is to further integrate the philosophy of the 5x5 into your logistical chains.
• All seasonal content must adhere hardcore rules.

The Goal:

Some of you may be wondering what the point of this challenge is, or how you would determine whether or not you have defeated this challenge. Prior to update 4, most people opt to make the automation of at least one turbo motor their end goal. Since update 4, has added further content, you could also consider gettting the golden cup as a worthy goal. Considering the difficulty of this challenge, this is no small feat! We have listed below some suggested goals for your build:

• Rather than aiming to automate the production of one turbo motor, you can aim to have a certain production speed (x number of items produced per minute). Be careful of what rate you aim for, because you can unintentionally make the end goal significantly more difficult to achieve. 
• Some opt to unlock all tiers in the HUB, all MAM research, all items in AWESOME Shop, and all alternate recipes. Please note that unlocking is not the same as purchasing statues and parts.
• ALL non-fuel-related items are produced automatically.
• One or more fully-automated nuclear power plants. The toxic waste can be taken away from this area of the map, but the fuel production still needs to be produced within the 5x5 production tower.

These rules/guidelines were carefully discussed & agreed upon by RespawnRepeat, TotalXclipse, Runestone Gaming, Samueras & Blidis.

Examples of the 5x5

5x5 credit: Blidis
Version: Core (multiplayer)
Goal: Produce all products in the game
Youtube / Twitch

5x5 credit: Lolipopgi
Version: Core
Goal: Challenge myself and have fun, I want to just automate everything inside the 5x5
Twitch

5x5 credit: RespawnRepeat
Version: Hardcore with variant: all raw resources enter at the bottom of the tower
Goal: Automated production of all nonfuel items, unlock all tiers in HUB, everything in the MAM including alt recipes & all AWESOME Shop unlocks.
Youtube / Twitch

5x5 credit: RunestoneGaming
Version: Core (power in 10x10)
Goal: Fill all the floors from ground to ceiling with manufacturing
Youtube / Twitch
 

5x5 credit: Samueras
Version: Hardcore (once he moves to fuel Generators), only one mixed belt going up and one going down.
Goal: Automated production of 1 Turbomotor and 1 Supercomputer
Youtube / Twitch
 

5x5 credit: Snutt
Version: Core (power inside 5x5 also)
Goal: To get good
Twitch

5x5 credit: TotalXclipse
Version: Hardcore
Goal: The intention of making a beautiful build capable of producing every item in-game
Youtube / Twitch

We’re very proud to have launched this website and hope you have found the guide both helpful and enjoyable. We look forward to updating the site weekly with new guides and layouts.

If you have a particular layout or guide you’d be interested in sharing with the community, we’d gladly give you the chance to be an author on our site, get in touch with us.