Seliana needs fuel to run and the Steamworks is where it happens. Of course, this isn’t just any old facility: it’s actually a minigame — the only one of its kind in Monster Hunter World: Iceborne.
What Are The Steamworks?
As mentioned before, the Steamworks is a minigame located in Seliana that players can check out in between hunts.
In order to participate, all you need is to use fuel generated by either completing quests or by converting fuel items or unwanted ore into usable fuel. Once you have enough, you’re good to go.
You don’t have to use the Steamworks if you don’t want to, but you’d honestly be a fool to ignore it. Not only do only do you get free consumable items, but you also get rare items such as King Armor Spheres and Celestial Wyverian Prints.
Really, there’s no reason not to play if you have the time.
Well, I Don’t Want To Be A Fool. How Do I Play?
Once you have enough fuel, all you need to do is press a random sequence of three buttons in order to generate steam power for the settlement. Does the order matter? Yes, but that doesn’t tell the whole story.
There are some things you need to consider:
- The closer your guesses are to the correct order, the better items you’ll receive.
- You’ll occasionally be told the correct order.
- Top-Quality items are reserved for multiple correct sequence guesses in a row.
- Even if you choose incorrectly, you’ll get items and build steam — just not as much.
As you can see, you’ll be rewarded if you perform better, but you’re never actually punished for doing poorly. You can’t really fail.
That said, performing well is the only way you’ll gain access to bonus events.
You’ll know these are coming up because of the notice at the top of the screen, and once activated, Felynes will appear to tell you which buttons for a limited period of time. It’s during these times that you’re most likely to get the best rewards, so it’s in your best interest to pay attention.
Lastly, though I said it’s technically impossible to fail, you can miss out on the overdrive bonus (filling the steam gauge to red) if you don’t have an ample amount of fuel saved up and you make too many incorrect guesses. You’ll still get rewards though, and the best one isn’t tied to the aforementioned bonus at all.
That’s it for the Steamworks in Monster Hunter World: Iceborne. It’s easy to access and you’re rewarded simply for playing. If you were looking for something to do while not hunting, then this is the minigame for you.
