See Upgrade Tree for a list of upgradable appliances, and Blueprints for more on the shop, rerolls, and item pools.
Research involves upgrading blueprints in order to acquire more powerful appliances. These blueprints can also be discounted and copied.
Upgrading requires a Research Desk next to a Blueprint Cabinet, and an 
Upgradable blueprint. Appliances which have already been purchased and placed down cannot be upgraded.
- During the Preparation Phase, place a Blueprint Cabinet in one of the eight adjacent spaces around a Research Desk. They all must be within the same room. Grab an Upgradable blueprint and store it in this Cabinet.
- During the Customer Phase, hold Interact on a Research Desk with a progress bar to upgrade a blueprint (repeat this process for multiple Blueprint Cabinets, until the progress bar disappears).
- During the following Preparation Phase, Grab the newly upgraded blueprint out of the Blueprint Cabinet, and purchase or discard as desired. Some blueprints can be left in the Cabinet and upgraded a second time.
The Discount Desk and Copying Desk follow the same steps, but will work with any blueprint (not just Upgradable).
¶ Discounts and Copies
- The
Discount Desk halves the cost of a blueprint, rounded up. It can be applied any number of times to the same blueprint (down to a minimum of 1 ), and the discount will carry over if the blueprint is later upgraded. - The
Copying Desk duplicates a blueprint. A Blueprint Cabinet can only hold the original and a single Copy at once. Copies cannot be further copied, or replaced once removed from a Cabinet, but may be upgraded, discounted, or rerolled.
Although one desk can affect up to eight Blueprint Cabinets, each effect ( Upgrade, Discount, Copy) can only be applied once per day to each Cabinet. Players can Interact with the desks in any order, and all effects will apply to the resulting blueprint.
- Example
One copy of a 20 Conveyor blueprint is placed in a Blueprint Cabinet, next to a Research, Discount, and Copying Desk. During the Customer Phase, each desk is used once to produce two copies of a 30 Grabber blueprint (half the usual cost of a Grabber). However, the three desks could not be used again on the same day to produce two more 15 Smart Grabber (or Grabber - Rotating) blueprints.
¶ Desk Placement
When a desk is placed within range of a Blueprint Cabinet, a corresponding item is shown above the cabinet.
 Research Desk (green flask) |
 Discount Desk (coin stacks) |
 Copying Desk (copier) |
 A blueprint in this Cabinet may be upgraded, discounted, and copied, all on the same day (but only once each) |
 The Blueprint Desk does not require an adjacent Blueprint Cabinet to function, and shows no corresponding item |
 Cabinets that are not in the same room as the desk(s) will not be affected by those desks. |
¶ Card Modifiers
The following Cards affect desks and Blueprint Cabinets.
| Name | Description | Notes |
|---|---|---|
 Simplicity |
Desks can only be used once per day | Each individual desk (Research, Discount, Copy) can only apply its effect to one Blueprint Cabinet each day. Multiple desks of the same type can be used once each, on different Cabinets. Used desks are marked with an 'X' |
 Double Homework |
Gain two copies of blueprints from desks | Copies do not replace other Shop blueprints, but appear in addition to the usual quantity |
¶ Tips
- All desks and Blueprint Cabinets have hitboxes of 1 x 0.5, meaning that players can pass between them if positioned correctly. A desk may be surrounded by Cabinets on all 8 tiles, and still be accessible.
- A Discount Desk is practically required for the Teleporter, which would normally cost 1250 . After several days of discounting, this number can be brought below 100 . With an accompanying Copying Desk, players can purchase one cheap Copy every day, and continue to discount the original blueprint.