Probably Stolen Economy Mods: Routes, Luck and Loadouts

"Economy mod" is a loose label. Some mods add products, some change prices, some remove a daily task, and some are cheats. This page separates them, because installing all of them at once makes it impossible to tell what changed your margin.

The best mods guide is the overall ranking. This page is the profit lens.

Mods that add new profit routes

Brewing Expansion (3829730904)

27,411 subscriptions.

The largest content mod in the current Workshop. It adds:

• 180 new items.
• 16 seeds.
• 18 fruits and special ingredients.
• 67 wine recipes.
• Growing, mixing, automation and aging.

The profit case is vertical integration: you grow the input, brew the product, age it and sell it at the counter. The mod's own description frames it as "from a single seed to a cabinet of aged wine." The Brewing Expansion guide covers the loop and the compatibility notes.

Does it change margin? Yes, but only if you use the new chain. Installing it and ignoring the seeds adds items to the world, not money to your account.

CorpPresence (3828913695)

27,640 subscriptions.

Brings the vanilla corporations onto the station and lets you tune the strength in the settings. Corporate customers and corporate pressure change the customer mix and the risk profile.

Does it change margin? Indirectly. More corporate customers can mean higher-ticket sales; more corporate presence can also mean more scrutiny. Tune it low for a first run.

WaterTower (3829418556)

17,694 subscriptions.

A buyable machine with:

• A 16×18 work area for collectors and purifiers.
• A 600L tank.
• Three filter slots in series.
• Nightly automatic collection.
• A ledger log of water, output and filter durability.

Does it change margin? Yes, in two ways: it removes the daily collection time, and it makes a larger water operation possible without a room full of containers. The machine costs money and space, so it is a mid-game purchase, not a day-one upgrade.

WaterTowerPlus (3829418785)

5,778 subscriptions.

A fixed-scene water tower variant. It is an alternative to the buyable WaterTower, not a stack. Pick one.

Proficiency System (3828910575)

12,651 subscriptions.

Version 2.0.0 adds planting and chemistry categories. The nursery specialty gives −2% seed purchase price per level, and harvesting crops and trading plants feed the progression.

Does it change margin? Yes, slowly. A 2% discount per level is small at level 1 and meaningful at level 10. It rewards a long run, not a quick flip.

Mods that change price information

Better Water Trading (3828878417)

30,291 subscriptions.

Improves water quality scanning, vanilla water labels and filter maintenance. It does not change the price formula; it makes the quality visible.

Does it change margin? It prevents mispricing. A water seller who cannot see the quality is selling blind. The mod is a profit protector, not a profit multiplier.

Appraisal Assistant (3828921912)

116,080 subscriptions.

Shows authenticity and true value with the magnifier, including base value, modifiers and the minimum price. It also warns about augmented or wanted customers.

Does it change margin? It prevents bad buys. The margin comes from the decisions it informs.

Item Details (3828868413)

102,111 subscriptions.

Tooltip authenticity, true value and hidden information. Same logic: information, not price.

Mods that change luck and rules

Lucky Perk Plus (3829223778)

18,081 subscriptions.

The Lucky perk gives 50 luck instead of 5. The slider goes from 5 to 100, and an extra field adds 0–99,999. It affects inspections, scavenging injuries, some loot boxes, scratchers and the digital lottery. Higher luck does not guarantee every random event improves; each system uses luck differently.

Does it change margin? It changes variance. A high-luck run has fewer inspections and better loot, which can be worth more than a price mod. It is also a difficulty slider disguised as a perk.

Free Starting Perks (3828870935)

40,544 subscriptions.

Removes the perk point and count limits and can ignore mutually exclusive perks. It is a cheat mod. It is fun, but it invalidates the economy comparison.

Does it change margin? Yes, enormously, and not in a way you can balance. Use it for a sandbox run, not a profit test.

Pen's self-learning upgrade machine (3828925546)

32,038 subscriptions.

Adds an upgrade machine that learns. The exact effect depends on the mod version; check the Workshop page before you build a run around it. It is a machine-progression mod, not a price mod.

Mods that only save clicks

• Smart Inventory Arrange (3829206666) — sorting.
• Client Demand Highlight (3828938065) — customer demand.
• Shutter Events (3829019153) — event display.
• Reputation Pop (3829053332) — reputation feedback.
• Bargain Panel On The Left (3829267478) — panel position.
• AutoStorage (3829304074) — storage sorting.
• Appraisal Slip to Trash (3829353625) — slip disposal.
• DangpuPlus (3828893950) — 40+ conveniences.

These are excellent, but they do not change the price formula. If you are testing a profit route, install them after you have measured the vanilla margin, or you will attribute the gain to the wrong thing.

How to measure an economy mod

1. Save a baseline. Pick one route (water, wine, chemistry) and record buy price, sell price, time and difficulty.
2. Install one mod. Change nothing else.
3. Run the same route for three in-game days. Record the same fields.
4. Compare margin per day, not per sale. A mod that doubles a sale but triples the time is a loss.
5. Write down the assumption. "Water, Normal, 20L, bought at X, sold at Y" is a measurement; "it feels better" is not.

The money guide has the margin formula. The water merchant guide has a worked example with assumptions.

Recommended economy loadouts

First profit run

• Better Water Trading.
• Appraisal Assistant.
• WaterTower (once you can afford it).

Wine run

• Brewing Expansion.
• Proficiency System.
• Smart Inventory Arrange (for the bottle stacks).

Corporate run

• CorpPresence (low strength).
• Appraisal Assistant.
• Reputation Pop.

Sandbox

• Free Starting Perks.
• Lucky Perk Plus.
• Brewing Expansion.
• DangpuPlus.

Do not mix the sandbox loadout with a serious profit test. The results will not transfer.

Compatibility notes

• WaterTower vs WaterTowerPlus: pick one; they occupy the same role.
• Brewing Expansion vs other brewing mods: check for duplicate item IDs; two brewing mods can overwrite each other's recipes.
• DangpuPlus vs Client Demand Highlight/Appraisal Assistant: overlapping features; check hotkeys.
• 1.0.0.6: the modding security update may block mods that have not declared their capabilities. Update before you install.

The modded run pack is a stable ten-mod combination built around these.

A water tower added to the shop floor, with tanks and filters visible in the world.

FAQ

Which economy mod makes the most money?

Brewing Expansion adds whole routes, CorpPresence adds customers, WaterTower scales water.

Does Brewing Expansion break balance?

It adds 180 items and 67 recipes. Margins are strong but not instant.

What load order should I use?

Foundations first, UI last. The modded-run page gives a tested 10-mod order.

Sources and version notes

• Workshop item pages and subscription counts, 2 November 2026.
• Brewing Expansion item counts and WaterTower dimensions from their Workshop descriptions.
• Proficiency System 2.0.0 notes from its Workshop page.
• Build 1.0.0.6. Profit figures need testing; do not treat mod descriptions as measured margins.

Official source: Steam Workshop ↗ · Steam guides ↗ · Steam store ↗, checked 2 November 2026.