Keycaps
OfficialThe collectible core. Rarity tiers exist ('roll and collect rare keycaps'), and your placed keycaps shape the setup you show off and upgrade.
Build A Keyboard Resource Calculator
A resource plan in Build A Keyboard! is three numbers: the goal, the seconds you are willing to wait, and the earnings rate that closes the gap. This page does that math transparently and hands the payback decision to the planner.
The goal math, in one screen
Every resource goal reduces to required rate = goal ÷ seconds available. If you want a 1.2M upgrade before an 8-hour overnight window, the goal is really the cash you must hold before logging off, and the seconds available are the rest of today's session. Subtract the rate you already measure from the required rate and the difference is the exact job you are hiring workers and buying upgrades to do. Keep the two numbers separate in your head: your current rate covers the wait, the required rate covers the deadline, and purchases exist only to close the second gap.
Then let offline time work. The official description promises the keyboard earns while you are away, so a goal can also be stated in nights: a rate of 500 per second earns 14.4M across eight offline hours with no extra play. No official cap or formula is published, so verify against your own first overnight payout and adjust — that is what makes the plan honest rather than optimistic.
Worked example
Planning a 1.5M expansion
Illustrative inputs in typical mid-game ranges — plug in your own measured numbers.
Suppose the next expansion costs 1,500,000 cash, you hold 300,000, your setup earns 350 per second, and you can play 40 minutes tonight before logging off. The remaining goal is 1,200,000. Forty minutes is 2,400 seconds, so your current rate covers 350 × 2,400 = 840,000 — a 360,000 shortfall. The required average rate is 1,200,000 ÷ 2,400 = 500 per second, so purchases tonight must add a measured 150 per second combined.
Now the planner does the ranking: check each candidate's cost and observed gain, and buy in payback order until the measured rate reaches 500. The ILOVEKEYCAPS boost slots in here too — its five minutes of doubled earnings adds roughly 350 × 300 = 105,000 of the gap on its own, which is why you save it for the session where the deadline matters instead of spending it on a lazy evening. Finish the night by buying whatever payback justified, and tomorrow's offline line pays the rest: 500 × 28,800 = 14.4M across the eight hours you are asleep.
Reference
The resources worth planning around
Sources and checked date: 2026-10-10. Full reward notes on the wiki.
Cash
OfficialThe main currency, generated by keycaps, workers, and offline time, and spent on rolls, workers, upgrades, and expansion.
XP
Code trackersGranted by the THANK5K code (500 XP) and used for leveling and upgrades per the trackers.
Dumpling Box
Code trackersA reward container from the DUMPLINGCRATE code. Whether it holds keycaps, cash, or both is not publicly documented — trackers describe Dumpling Crates as keycap drops without contents or rates.
2x Money boost
Code trackersA five-minute temporary cash multiplier from ILOVEKEYCAPS. Time it over active play, not idle time.
Cash, XP, boosts, and boxes behave differently: cash compounds into rates, XP unlocks upgrades, boosts are bounded (five minutes), and the Dumpling Box is a lottery ticket with unpublished odds. Plan rates with cash; treat the rest as session bonuses.
Use the tools together
Which calculator does what
This page: goal → required rate
State a goal and a deadline, and the math above returns the earnings rate you need and the gap your purchases must close.
Farming routineUpgrade planner: purchases → payback
Enter a candidate's cost and observed gain to get payback time and the new offline earnings — the ranking step of the same plan.
Open the plannerFAQ
Resource questions
What counts as a resource in Build A Keyboard?
Cash is the main one — it pays for rolls, workers, upgrades, and expansion. XP levels you up, the ILOVEKEYCAPS code grants a five-minute 2x Money window, and the DUMPLINGCRATE code grants a Dumpling Box whose exact contents are not publicly documented.
How do I plan a savings goal?
Divide the goal by the seconds you are willing to wait; that is the earnings rate the goal requires. Subtract the rate you already have and the difference is what workers and upgrades must close. The worked example below shows the full calculation.
Should I save cash or keep rolling keycaps?
Compare what the cash buys: an upgrade with a measured payback under a few minutes of active play usually beats banking cash, because the higher rate then compounds into every later goal. The upgrade planner's payback figure is built for exactly this comparison.
Is offline income a reliable planning input?
It exists — the official description promises your keyboard earns while you are away — but no cap or formula is published. Plan overnight gains from your own measured overnight results, and treat a first-night surprise as information rather than a bug.
Which calculator should I use?
Use this page to turn a goal into a required rate, and the upgrade planner to decide which purchase gets you there fastest by payback. One plans the target; the other ranks the purchases.