Oil Tycoon! workers guide
Workers automate the four manual jobs in Oil Tycoon!. Once the line is built, they are the reason money keeps moving while you explore, mine or race.
Pairs with: Best Early Upgrades · Endings: How to Get Both · RoTexas Map: Every Area
The four workers
| Worker | Automates | Hire when |
|---|---|---|
| Well worker | Collects oil from the ground/pit | First hire — collection caps out manually |
| Drill worker | Runs the drilling input ($670 in a verified run) | As soon as the line can process it |
| Rig worker | Keeps the rig side running unattended | Mid game, once the rig is built |
| Farmer | Feeds the side routes (also hired at the catapult area) | After the main line is stable |
What each one looks like in play
- Well worker stands at the collection point and carries continuously. The game even comments on it — workers get told not to look sad, because the job never ends.
- Drill worker picks up crude, walks it to the machine and inserts it, on a loop. Watching one cycle confirms the route is correct before you leave it running.
- Rig worker unlocks with the rig hut and covers the rig-side production.
- Farmer is bought near the catapult and keeps the far side of the map fed.
Hire order
- Well worker — frees you immediately.
- Drill worker ($670) — the input side stops starving; biggest reliability jump in the game.
- Rig worker — when the rig is online.
- Farmer — when you start running side routes in earnest.
Workers and offline play
Workers are the mechanism behind offline production: they keep moving product while you are away. The catch is collection — barrels fill and stop, so long absences are capped by container size. See offline production.
What a worker actually pays back
| Worker | Cost | What it buys | Payback time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Well worker | — | your clicks back on collection | not published |
| Drill worker | $670 | the manual crude-into-machine stage, permanently | not published |
| Rig worker | — | the rig side running while you are away | not published |
| Farmer | — | the far side of the map fed | not published |
Only the drill worker's price is verified in the runs this site documents; treat the others as whatever the shop quotes you. No payback time is published for any of them, and that is the honest answer rather than a gap in the table: a worker does not raise the price of a unit. The upgrader does that — $23 to $33 per unit for $250. A worker buys you hours: the difference between a line that runs all hour and one that stops at the first empty stage. Judge the purchase that way, not on a payback figure nobody has measured.
Placement beats hiring
A worker on a badly laid route produces a badly running route, automatically, forever. The order that avoids wasting the $670:
- Fix the route — every stage feeds the next, no gaps.
- Prove it runs for ten minutes without you touching it.
- Identify which stage empties first when you walk away.
- Put the worker there.
What workers do offline
Workers are the reason offline production exists. With workers covering the stages that would otherwise starve, the line keeps selling while you are away; without them, production stops at the first empty stage and stays stopped. If you log in to a stalled line, the fix is almost always one more worker on the stage that drained first — not another conveyor.
FAQ
Which worker should I hire first in Oil Tycoon!?
The drill worker at $670 is the first real automation purchase. Hire workers only once the route is fixed, because workers cannot fix a badly laid line.
How many workers do I need?
Enough to cover the stages that stop when you walk away: one on extraction and one on the route keeps the main line moving while you explore.
