Quick answer
The Turtle Catcher unlocks when Crow's Eyes become available for hire. Its listed base output is 8 Turtles per minute, enough for two Soup Kitchens. A kitchen also needs Fresh Water; extra Turtles cannot fix an empty water input.[^1][^2]
Version and source notesUpdated 2026-09-07 · Within source review window
- Updated
- 2026-09-07
- Works with
- PC production and crew unlocks; listed wiki base rates
- What this guide covers
- Source-reviewed, not gameplay-tested; calculated examples are labelled
- Version notes
- Recheck live tooltips after production or progression updates
- Update status
- Within source review window
Find the unlock before expanding
- Open the crew overview and look for Crow's Eyes.
- Check which available ship can employ them and inspect the associated unlock requirements.
- Complete the relevant progression step, then recheck recruitment availability and the building menu.
- Once the catcher is available, plan its delivery route before opening more kitchens.
The documented gate is crew availability. Do not spend materials on several unrelated ships solely because a forum comment mentions a tier. Use the building unlock chart if you cannot identify the intervening requirement.
Size the Turtle Soup chain
| Building | Listed inputs | Base output per minute | Output storage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Turtle Catcher | No recipe input shown | 8 Turtles | 16 Turtles |
| Soup Kitchen | 4 Fresh Water + 4 Turtles | 15 Turtle Soup | 30 Turtle Soup |
The official catcher page explicitly gives the one-to-two kitchen ratio. Two kitchens therefore have a nominal combined output of 30 soup per minute. That is a production baseline, not a promise of delivered supply: workers, water, transport and output space still matter.12
Our planning recommendation is to open one kitchen first. Watch water and Turtles arrive and soup leave before duplicating it. This makes a missing connection easier to isolate than starting the entire chain at once.
Diagnose the signal you can see
| Symptom | Next check |
|---|---|
| Catcher absent from menu | Crow's Eyes recruitment availability |
| Turtles accumulate but kitchen is idle | Kitchen's Fresh Water input and delivery connections |
| Catcher output stays full | Destination capacity and collection route |
| Soup is produced but demand remains unmet | Compare actual delivered supply with current consumption |
At the listed base rate, an empty catcher output store could fill in two minutes if nothing leaves it. This arithmetic is useful for recognising a collection bottleneck; building another catcher would only add more stranded stock.
FAQ
Do I need to hire Crow's Eyes first?
The wiki names availability for hire as the gate, not a requirement to hire a particular number.1
Can one catcher supply three kitchens?
The documented baseline is two. Inspect actual rates before extending beyond it.
Where should I look if several inputs are missing?
Use the resource shortage checklist, then compare the wider production chain.