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The 0.4.0 update introduced locked treasure pods found all over the map, which can be opened once you have the required upgrade, but they're not purchasable right away.
So far I've found three different kinds of treasure pod, but I've only been able to buy the lowest level of Treasure Cracker.
What causes the Treasure Crackers to become available for purchase?
The game developer Nick Popovich has confirmed in a Tweet that there are requirements other than time.
Seems to be based entirely on Extractor Cycles (get items from drill/pump/apiary buildings) now that I've played more.
Slime Rancher Wiki found the exact(?) numbers.
You usually have to sleep to get the unlock to pop, but one time I did not--might check every X hours or Y time of day instead of whether you slept.
With the 0.5.0 update, three new achievements were added to the games for fabricating 1, 35, and 100 Slime Science gadgets. After seeing this Tweet from the developer stating that Treasure Crackers are unlocked after fabricating items, I decided to see if I could unlock them by reaching the achievement milestones. Sure enough, a day after fabricating a single extractor, and not even placing it down, I unlocked the first Treasure Cracker. One day after fabricating 35 gadgets of any kind, I unlocked the second. And finally, one day after fabricating 100 gadgets, I unlocked the third.
With that experience, it's confirmed that Treasure Crackers are unlocked like so:
Since Treasure Crackers are unlocked depending on gadgets fabricated, fabricating the advanced extractors is actually detrimental to unlocking Treasure Crackers. It's more beneficial to use regular extractors, which cost less plorts to fabricate and will get used up faster.
It's definitely not based on gadgets made/used. I've only ever crafted 1 Novice Drill and haven't even placed it down yet (I keep forgetting to enter Gadget Mode when I'm out and about...) but I just got the unlock for the Green Cracker while I was standing in my Lab after putting a bunch more plorts into the Refinery, so maybe filling the Refinery is one way you can unlock it (or maybe if you just spent enough time in-game it unlocks naturally)
Try completing six (non-advanced) drills in one day. ;)
