Gems: the currency that lasts
Gems come from two places: opening chests found in the water, and claiming badge rewards at the lobby Badges station. They persist through the lobby and between runs, and they are spent on buckets. Some guides call this currency "Diamonds" and there is a Diamond Rewards skill node that raises how many you get — it is the same persistent currency under two names.
| Currency | Earned by | Spent on | Persists? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tokens | Pour full buckets at the drain station | Skill Tree upgrades at the Upgrade Computer | Reset every run — the game is run-based, so unspent Tokens do not carry between matches. |
| Gems | Open chests found in the water and claim Badge rewards in the lobby | Buckets at the lobby Bucket station | Persist between runs. Some guides call this currency "Diamonds"; it is the same persistent currency, and the Diamond Rewards skill raises how much you get. |
Chests
Chests appear as hidden treasure in the water, and more surface as the lake gets deeper. Each one you open pays Gems, boosted by the Diamond Rewards branch if you have invested in it. Their exact drop amounts and any rarity tiers are not published, but the milestone badges show how much chest-hunting the game expects — and the award counts show how far most players get. Millions have found 10 chests, but the 1,000-chest badge sits in the single digits, so serious Gem farming is a long-haul project, not a one-run sprint.
| Badge | Requirement | Reward |
|---|---|---|
| Lucky Find | Find 10 chests | 40 Gems |
| Sunken Riches | Find 100 chests | 110 Gems |
| Bottomless Treasure | Find 1,000 chests | 140 Gems |
Bottomless Treasure — find 1,000 chests — has been earned by only a handful of players, which tells you chests are meant to be collected steadily over many runs, not rushed.
Buckets
You start every run with the Wooden Bucket, the plain default that has no passive. Better buckets are bought with Gems at the lobby Bucket station, and each carries a unique passive of its own — more capacity, faster fill, or a Token or Gem boost. Because Gems persist and Tokens do not, buckets are the one upgrade that makes your next run start measurably stronger, so spend your Gems here between runs rather than hoarding them for no reason.
| Bucket | Unlock | Cost | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wooden Bucket | Default starter | Free | Baseline capacity and fill speed with no passive. Every run begins with it. |
| Gem-shop buckets | Bought at the lobby Bucket station | Gems (prices not published) | Each carries a unique passive — more capacity, faster fill, or a Token/Gem boost. Buy them between runs because Gems persist and Tokens do not. |
| Ancient Bucket | Claimed after earning 10 Badges | 10 Badges (not Gems) | A special reward bucket handed out from the lobby once you have collected ten badges. |
The Ancient Bucket & Bucket List
Two badges frame the bucket collection. Earning 10 badges lets you claim the special Ancient Bucket from the lobby — a reward for playing broadly rather than paying, and an easy early target since ten badges come naturally just from reaching the first few checkpoints and chest milestones. And the Bucket List badge, for unlocking every single bucket, has been earned by essentially no one, which tells you two things: the roster is large, and completing it costs a serious pile of Gems banked over many runs. If you are chasing that badge, treat every chest as mandatory and lean on the Diamond Rewards branch to speed the grind.
The individual names, Gem prices, and passives of the mid-tier buckets are not published on any source, so this wiki does not list invented ones. When those are captured in-game, a full bucket roster with prices and effects will be added here.
Spending Gems the smart way
Because Gems persist and Tokens do not, the timing of a purchase matters more than in most simulators. Save your Gems for the lobby between runs and buy the next bucket up rather than trickling them away — a better bucket carries more water or fills faster on every trip of your next run, so it compounds the same way Token Income does inside a run.
If you enjoy farming currency, the Diamond Rewards branch in the Skill Tree pairs directly with this page: it raises the Gems you pull from every chest, which means faster bucket unlocks and quicker progress toward the Ancient Bucket at 10 badges. A run built around chest-hunting with Diamond Rewards active will out-bank a pure-depth run for persistent currency, even if it reaches the phone a little slower.
Rule of thumb: spend Tokens the moment you have them (they vanish at run end), but let Gems sit until you can afford a real bucket upgrade.
