DrainSim Guide: Tools, First Level, 5-Star Routes, and Achievements

DrainSim is easiest when you stop treating every flood as one giant pool. Each level is a network: water enters through a source, crosses terrain, settles in low areas, and leaves through drains, culverts, canals, or pump hoses. The fastest route is usually to fix that network in the same order.

This guide explains that solve order, how to choose tools, how to clear Forest Road after the tutorial, practical routes for the original town missions, how to approach 5-star times, what the two Steam achievements require, and what to do when pumps sputter, drains refill, or performance gets in the way.

The short answer: solve floods in this order#

1. Read the mission board. Note the terrain, time of day, diggable ground, broken pipes, blocked drains, and separated zones before loading the truck.
2. Stop or redirect incoming water. Fix broken pipes, cut a safe trench, block a waterfall, or place a pump where it intercepts the inflow.
3. Open passive drainage. Rake drains and dig out culverts before asking pumps to move the entire map by force.
4. Create a downhill route. Water should move from high ground to a real outlet, not from one flooded basin into another.
5. Pump isolated pockets. Put generators on dry, raised ground and send every hose toward a drain, culvert, canal, or confirmed lower basin.
6. Recheck the system. Drains can collect debris again, a hose can create backsplash, and an area can refill from a source you missed.
7. Finish the thin layer. Once a pump begins sputtering, move it and use the Water Vacuum or Squeegee for shallow leftovers.

If a completion bar stops moving, do not simply add more pumps to the deepest-looking water. Walk the boundary of the uncleared area and look for a continuous inflow, a hidden drain under bubbles and debris, a culvert still buried in dirt, a broken pipe, or a hose that is throwing water back into the zone.

Plan the truck around jobs, not favorite tools#

The older community reference describes an initial truck limit of 180 weight and nine carried toolbar slots. Treat those exact limits as patch-sensitive, but keep the planning lesson: a tool that cannot solve a problem on the selected map is dead weight.

Tool	Bring it for	Best use	Common mistake
Pump	Deep pools, isolated basins, active inflows, and moving water between zones	Place the intake at the lowest useful point and route the hose to a real outlet	Leaving it sputtering in shallow water or spraying onto flat ground beside the intake
Generator	Any electric pump plan	Place it high and dry, then use its socket count to serve nearby pumps	Setting it where the rising water disables it or where its cables cannot reach
Power Cord	Every generator-and-pump setup	Connect the generator only after the machines are placed where they will stay	Loading pumps and generators but forgetting the one item that makes them operate
Rake	Drains covered by leaves or debris	Clear all drains early, then repeat a maintenance loop while pumps run	Assuming a drain stays at full flow for the rest of the mission
Shovel	Buried culverts, dirt dams, channels, and terrain diversion	Use the shovel view to cut a narrow downhill path instead of flattening a huge area	Trying to dig a submerged target before lowering the water enough to stand and work
Pipe Wrench	Broken pipes that continuously add water	Repair the source before spending time on downstream cleanup	Leaving it behind on a pipe level and trying to overpower the leak with pumps
Inflatable Barrier	Wide inflows, waterfalls, and temporary separation between zones	Angle the barrier so the water travels toward a drain or prepared trench	Deflating it carelessly and returning its stored water to an area already cleared
Water Vacuum	Shallow pockets too small for a stable pump intake	Finish interiors, corners, and separated puddles after the main flow is solved	Dumping the tank into another scored zone instead of a canal, drain, or safe outlet
Squeegee	Very shallow water on flat surfaces	Push the final film toward a working drain or pump intake	Using it against a large active flood that needs source control first
Floodlight	Night missions where visibility is the real bottleneck	Illuminate drains, cables, and terrain changes you need to revisit	Bringing several lights while lacking the pump capacity to clear the map

How many pumps and generators?

Count work fronts, not total water. A generator represents a location where electric equipment can operate. Two pumps beside one generator may clear one basin quickly, while two generators let you work two distant basins at the same time. A higher-capacity generator is not automatically better if all four sockets cannot reach useful intakes.

For a first clear, prioritize coverage: enough setups to work the largest separated zones without spending the whole mission carrying machinery across the map. For a 5-star attempt, stronger pumps and spare capacity matter more because you can pre-position parallel systems and move finished pumps to the next bottleneck.

Pump placement: where most lost time comes from#

A pump does not destroy water at its intake. It transfers water to the hose output. If that output is on flat ground, above the same basin, or aimed across a slope that returns to the intake, the setup can create an expensive loop.

Use this placement check before turning on a pump:

• The intake sits in a connected low point, not a tiny depression separated from the rest of the zone.
• The generator is above the expected waterline.
• The cable reaches without forcing either machine into a bad position.
• The hose ends inside a drain or culvert when the connection behaves reliably.
• If direct connection is awkward, the hose ends on a slope that carries all output away.
• The output is not inside another area that must also be marked clear.
• You know where the pump will move when the current pool becomes too shallow.

The long community guide reports that a hose can sometimes be placed directly into a drain. That prevents the circular splash pattern from sending water back across flat ground and can be much faster than dropping the hose nearby. It can be finicky, and Early Access patches may change individual collision points, so verify that the drain is actually accepting the flow rather than trusting the visual position alone.

What sputtering means

Sputtering usually means the intake no longer has enough depth for efficient pumping. More runtime will not solve a thin sheet of water. Turn the pump off, move it to a deeper connected pocket, or replace it with a Water Vacuum or Squeegee. A badly placed sputtering outlet can even slow cleanup by throwing small amounts of water back into the cleared zone.

Find hidden drains and diggable ground#

Press Tab to inspect the water view. With the Shovel equipped, the same key exposes the dirt view described by the community guide. Use these views to answer two different questions: where is water still counted, and where can terrain be changed?

When a drain is submerged, look for bubbles, a swirl of leaves, or a concentrated debris patch. Clear it with the Rake, then watch whether the local surface begins moving. If nothing changes, check whether the drain is above the deepest water, blocked again, or unable to keep up with an active inflow.

When digging a channel, depth and direction matter more than width. Start at the low outlet and work uphill so every new shovel cut has somewhere to drain. A broad shallow scrape may look dramatic but still leave a lip that traps the whole pool. A narrow, continuous groove is easier to test and repair.

Forest Road walkthrough: the first real difficulty spike#

The Reddit question calls Forest Road the first level after the tutorial and asks how to stop the waterfall. The useful answer is that you are solving two different roads and two different problems. One area only needs water moved out; the other combines an ongoing mountain inflow with a culvert that starts too deep to dig.

Recommended load

• Shovel
• Power Cord
• At least two useful pump-and-generator setups
• Inflatable Barrier if already unlocked and affordable
• Water Vacuum for the final shallow pockets

Street 2: create drainage before chasing the waterfall

1. Go to the northwest side of Street 2 and find the dirt that separates the road from lower ground.
2. Cut a path through that dirt immediately. The goal is to give the existing road water a lower destination.
3. Place a pump where it accelerates flow into that lower area. If you have spare capacity, use a second intake on the deepest connected part of the road.
4. Let the water fall far enough that you can stand over the submerged culvert near the path of the mountain water.
5. Dig the culvert open. This becomes the durable outlet for water that keeps arriving from above.
6. Cut a narrow, sufficiently deep trench down the mountain side so the incoming water prefers the culvert instead of spreading across the road.
7. If using a barrier, place it between the culvert area and the road so the redirected stream feeds the outlet rather than escaping sideways.
8. Reposition the pumps to collect whatever the trench and culvert do not catch. Keep the hose outputs aimed into the culvert or the lower safe area.

The important timing is step 4. You are not failing because the shovel is broken when the character alternates between swimming and striking the ground. The target is initially too deep. Drain first, then dig.

Street 1: use a simple outlet

Street 1 does not need the elaborate waterfall solution. Pump the road north toward the low ground or south into the pond, depending on which route is clearly lower in your current build. Once most of the volume is gone, collect the equipment and send it to Street 2. Keeping a full setup on an almost-clear street wastes the most valuable minutes of the mission.

If Street 2 keeps refilling

• Check whether the mountain trench reaches the opened culvert without a dirt lip.
• Check both ends of the barrier; water can go around a short wall.
• Make sure the barrier is not sending the stream toward the road.
• Verify that the culvert is fully cleared, not merely exposed.
• Move hose outputs away from the road edge so their splash cannot cross back.
• Do not wait for the waterfall itself to stop. The goal is to route its continuous flow into permanent drainage.

Mission route notes#

The following values come from a detailed Steam Community guide updated in April 2026. That page is readable but now carries Steam’s removed/incompatible warning, and DrainSim has received later Early Access updates. Use the routes as system maps, and verify the displayed par time and reward in your current mission screen.

Mission	Reference par	Reference reward	Critical tools	First priority
Tutorial	8:00	$1,300	Provided by tutorial	Follow prompts; keep basement output from refilling the backyard hole
Midtown Market	15:00	$1,100	Rake, pumps, Water Vacuum	Clear the central drains before splitting pumps across the alley, seating areas, and Cafe
Forest Road	15:00	$900	Shovel, optional barrier	Lower Street 2, expose its culvert, and route the mountain inflow into it
Convenience Store	25:00	$1,200	Rake, Shovel, Wrench	Fix the Supply Room pipe and keep a pump intercepting the persistent north inflow
Farm	20:00	$1,000	Rake, Shovel	Open the mountain diversion and use the trench behind the barn as the main outlet
Parking Garage	20:00	$1,500	Rake, Shovel, Wrench	Make one full drain-and-pipe loop, then lower the courtyard enough to open its culvert
Church Canal Breach	20:00	$1,700	Rake, Shovel, optional barrier	Use the preparation timer to stage church pumps and dig a receiving pit by the canal
Industrial District	20:00	$1,200	Rake, Wrench, pumps	Fix all three separated pipe sources and exploit the West Junction’s strong drainage

Midtown Market

Start with a drain loop through the broad central area. The older route counts twelve drains there, so walking a deliberate clockwise or counterclockwise circuit is safer than raking only the visible clusters. The Back Alley can discharge into the canal. The two seating areas are isolated and need pumps. Inside the Cafe, pump the main floor while using the Water Vacuum behind the counter.

Do not leave all pumps in their opening positions. When the alley or Cafe intake sputters, move that unit to a seating area or the slow side of the central zone. Continue the rake loop while the machines work.

Convenience Store

This is a source-control test. Clear the road drains and the Roadside Lot 2 drain/culvert, then place a pump where it catches the persistent inflow along the north edge. Leave that setup running until the zone is genuinely stable. Inside the store, repair the broken pipe in the Supply Room. Fallen shelving separates the Service Corridor and Supply Room from easier drainage, so give that interior its own pump until the water connects to a usable outlet.

Office Parking is a separate pocket and usually needs one pump. The Front Lot and Back Lot each have drains; route store pumps into those drains or into the road drainage rather than across the shop floor. When Office Parking finishes, move its machine indoors instead of letting it idle.

Farm

Stage early pumps behind the Barn and send their hoses into the trench that reaches the stream. Clear the Barn drain and the Garden drain. Then climb toward the mountain inflow and dig the dirt diversion until water no longer spills toward the farm.

The early flood connects areas that later become separate shallow basins. That means the best opening pump position may become useless halfway through the mission. As the water drops, move one setup into the Barn, one around the Garden/Backyard, and another to the north or Frontyard pocket. Dump Water Vacuum loads into the stream, not onto the other side of the farmhouse.

Parking Garage

The underground ring contains many drains and two broken pipes. Do one complete circuit with the Rake and Wrench before placing the final pump network. The Courtyard culvert begins under enough water that digging immediately is unreliable; lower the Courtyard first, then clear the culvert and use it as the main outlet.

The two driveways are isolated pockets. Pump Driveway 1 toward the entrance drains and Driveway 2 toward the opened Courtyard culvert. As each driveway clears, move its pump to the slowest garage lot. A generator on the central Courtyard bench can cover more than one nearby intake if the cables reach safely.

Church Canal Breach

Use the preparation timer instead of waiting for the flood. Clear the most important south-side church drains and the Lawn drain, then place pumps in the Nave and southwest side with outputs in working drains. At the marked dig area by the canal, cut a receiving pit and stage a pump that returns water to the canal.

After triggering the breach, extend the pit into a trench that catches the incoming flow. Finish clearing the remaining church drains while the water travels. Once the breach area is low enough, move its pump directly to the lowest remaining water and keep the output farther down the canal so it cannot roll back toward the church.

Industrial District

Treat the district as three source-and-basin pairs. Fix the broken pipe in the Service Alley, the one in the North Loading Yard, and the one in the Industrial Storage Area. Each isolated yard benefits from its own pump aimed at nearby junction drains.

The West Junction has the strongest passive drainage in the older route and is a good destination for the Water Vacuum. The East Junction, South Industrial Street, and South Loading Yard tend to finish later. Move pumps there as the northern areas clear. Do not keep digging the North Loading Yard merely because dirt is present; if its bottom remains below the exit, a pump is still required.

How to approach 5-star times#

Do not make the first clear and the speed clear the same project. A first run teaches the map, unlocks equipment, and reveals which areas become isolated as the level falls. A later 5-star run can use that knowledge and stronger machinery.

1. Complete the mission without chasing par. Record the inflows, passive outlets, isolated pockets, and last area to finish.
2. Buy capacity that shortens the bottleneck. A faster pump helps only if hose placement and drainage are already correct.
3. Build a loadout by opening tasks. Know which tool you carry first, which machines stay near the truck, and which route avoids repeat trips.
4. Start all passive systems early. Clear drains, fix pipes, dig the main diversion, and activate long-running pumps before vacuuming small rooms.
5. Rotate equipment. The instant a zone is safe or an intake sputters, move that setup to the next known bottleneck.
6. Maintain drains on a loop. Rake while waiting; do not stand beside a pump watching the water fall.
7. Use a cleanup save. Steam lists Save Anytime and Steam Cloud support. Save before a long star attempt and verify the current mission state before exiting.

The detailed community author’s 5-star examples used three generators and four Mk IV pumps. That is evidence of a late-game speed setup, not a requirement for an ordinary clear. If your current shop or patch shows different weights or performance, trust the in-game values.

Cash without turning the campaign into a grind

The community guide identifies Market Magnet Fishing as a repeatable cash activity and reports roughly $300 per clear, with variable results. Because economy values can change, check the current reward before repeating it. Use the activity to buy a specific missing pump, generator, or upgrade; grinding money without a loadout plan does not fix a bad route.

Achievements and 100% completion#

Steam currently lists exactly two achievements. There are no collectible, ending, or challenge achievements in the verified list.

Achievement	Official description	Reported trigger	Missable?
Ready to Plunge	The city won’t drain itself.	Launch the full game	No
I Hate My Neighbour	Local infrastructure survives. Neighbour remains suspicious.	Complete the tutorial in the full game	No

The exact triggers come from the readable Steam Community achievement guide and are consistent with player reports; Steam itself confirms the names, descriptions, and total count. The broader GamerBlurb explanation is less precise and was not used for the trigger details.

If you completed the tutorial in the demo and the second achievement does not appear in the paid game, replay the tutorial in the full build. A comment on the Steam achievement guide describes that exact situation. You do not need 5 stars on every mission for the current 100% achievement list.

Performance and save advice#

The official minimum specification calls for Windows 10, 8 GB RAM, a GTX 1060 6 GB or RX 590, DirectX 12, and 10 GB storage. Water simulation can become demanding in large scenes, so reduce expensive graphics settings before assuming a mission route is broken.

A readable community performance guide recommends testing the built-in DirectX 11 launch choice and reports a large improvement on the author’s system. That is anecdotal, not a universal fix. The option itself warns about older-GPU behavior, bugs, and visual differences. Compare the same flooded scene in both modes, keep the one that is stable on your system, and return to the default if water, terrain, or distant objects render incorrectly.

DrainSim supports Steam Cloud and is categorized by Steam as Save Anytime. During Early Access, save before a long mission, before changing launch mode, and before installing a major update. After saving, return to the menu and confirm that the mission or profile timestamp changed. Do not rely only on seeing a Steam Cloud icon.

Common problems#

The area bar is stuck at the final sliver

• Walk interior corners, the far side of counters, raised walkways, and small driveways with the water view active.
• Check that a hose is not spraying into the scored boundary.
• Move a sputtering pump and use the Water Vacuum on the remaining film.
• Rake every drain again; visible water can be downstream from a drain that clogged a second time.
• Look behind shelves, walls, sandbags, or terrain lips for a pocket not connected to the main pool.

A cleared area refills

You have not solved the source. Trace the arriving water uphill. Fix a pipe, redirect the waterfall, extend the barrier, deepen the trench, or leave an intercepting pump running until the rest of the map is stable. Do not use the cleared area as a dump site just because it has drains.

The generator will not power the pump

• Move the generator out of water.
• Confirm that the cord is connected to an available socket, not only lying near the machine.
• Check cable reach after moving either unit.
• Turn the generator on, then verify the pump itself is on.
• If a barrier was filled with the pump, reconnect the hose to the intended drainage output.

The shovel will not clear an underwater drain

Lower the water first. Forest Road teaches this explicitly: the buried culvert is a second-stage solution, not the first move. Use a temporary cut and pumps until you can stand over the target, then finish the permanent outlet.

Should I use the rapid-digging trick?

One supplied Steam guide describes holding the primary dig action while repeatedly pressing the secondary action to reset the animation. Its own comments disagree about whether this is faster, and the author calls it likely a bug. Do not build a route around it. Use the normal current controls and a well-directed trench; any animation cancel may disappear in an update.

What is and is not missable#

The verified references do not show permanent collectibles, branching endings, puzzle codes, or missable story choices. Mission stars and faster times can be attempted again. The two achievements come from launching the game and completing the tutorial.

The real temporary loss is time inside a mission: bringing the wrong tool, placing a generator in a future flood path, moving water into another required zone, or discovering a broken pipe after twenty minutes of pumping. The mission board and an early source-control lap prevent most of those mistakes.

Construction Site and later Early Access content#

The current Steam Community hub shows a June 6 Construction Site balancing update with changes to inflow, drainage layout, terrain shaping, water behavior, progress visibility, bucket capacity, climbing, and save fixes. That means an April guide describing nine playable levels is no longer a reliable current level-count source.

The provided route references do not support a fully verified Construction Site walkthrough, so this article does not invent one. Use the durable method: intercept exterior inflow, open every available drain, shape narrow downhill channels, create deliberate barrier funnels, keep generators above the future waterline, and move pumps as basins separate. Confirm any exact star time or recommended machine count in the current build.

Sources and credits#

Game metadata, Early Access status, system requirements, achievement total, and article images were checked against the official DrainSim Steam page and Steam app data. Developer information was cross-checked with the official DrainSim website. Route details were cautiously synthesized from readable community guides and player discussions; five Steam guide pages currently carry removed/incompatible warnings, so patch-sensitive values are labeled rather than presented as permanent rules.