Area Progression — Junk Yard to Shipyard

Storage Hunters: Open World has four auction areas that unlock in a fixed sequence. Each area gates a higher tier of locker contents — and a higher entry bid — so understanding the progression is the difference between grinding and progressing.

The Four Areas

1. Junk Yard — starting area, basic storage auctions. Loot leans cheap (Paper Bag, Cheeseburger, Used Tire) and the bid floor is forgiving. This is where you learn the controls and the auction proximity.
2. Back Alley — second unlock. Urban back-alley lockers lean appliances and electronics (Microwave, Coffee Machine, Game Console, Lava Lamp). Item base prices climb noticeably.
3. Farmyard — third unlock. Lockers contain livestock (Sheep, Horse, Pig, Chicken), crops, and agricultural machinery. The Farmyard is the first area where vehicle weight becomes a real bottleneck — a single Tractor or Bulldozer can fill most starter trucks.
4. Shipyard — fourth and highest-tier area. Port lockers contain industrial equipment (Industrial Robot Arm, Hydraulic Press, Jet Turbine), watercraft (Wooden Boat, Float Plane, Submersible Vehicle), and Long-Haul Truck-class cargo. Base prices are the highest in the game, which means Mutation Stacker math pays back the most here.

Unlock Thresholds

The exact cash-and-reputation thresholds for each area unlock are still being community-verified — we'll fill them in here once two or more reliable sources agree. Anecdotal community reports suggest Back Alley opens early (within the first hour of focused play), Farmyard around the four-to-six-hour mark, and Shipyard once you have a steady $50k+ bankroll for entry bids.

Strategic Order

Don't leave the Junk Yard the moment Back Alley unlocks. Two reasons. First, Back Alley auctions cost meaningfully more — chasing one and losing wastes more cash than five lost Junk Yard bids. Second, Junk Yard is where most of the cheapest Exclusive-category accessories drop (Scrap Dominus at $565 base, Straw Hat at $220). Stack a couple of those, then push to Back Alley with cash in hand.

What to Read Next

When you unlock each area, read the matching area detail page — it has the typical-loot list, the verification source, and links to the items most often pulled there. The mutation strategy guide pairs especially well with Shipyard progression.