This route collects what I believe to be the fastest 35 magnets in order to buy the Fancy Backpack before Bubblebath Path. There are several listed as backups as well, in case a magnet or two gets missed.

NOTATION: G = 1st magnet = Green B = 2nd magnet = Blue Y = 3rd magnet = Yellow P = 4th magnet = Purple A = 5th magnet = Aqua R = 6th magnet = Red Red candy = Sweet Candy Gravel = Diet Gravel Power Punch = Punch Punch Red cape = Shadow Cloak Silver cape = Glimmering Cape " -> " = "equip in place of following item" " _ _ " = "to reach this item optimally, press Left to loop the cursor to the end of the menu, then press Left then Down"

1. Squishy Squad: Unite! Magnets: G B Y (backup: A) Cannot shop.

2. Entralia Tunnel Magnets: G P Auto-equip:

• 1 Hat Cookie (ideally use later) Safety option:
• Buy 1 more Hat Cookie

3. Sparkling Breeze Magnets: G B Y No shop usage.

4. Snowcone Dessert Factory Magnets: Y No shop usage. (use Hat Cookie here)

5. Frosty Encounter No shop usage.

6. Prototype District Magnets: G B P No shop usage.

7. Thunder Alley No magnets. No shop usage. (use safety Hat Cookie here if owned)

8. Flickerforest No magnets. Buy:

• 1 Gravel
• 1 Red candy (ideally use later)
• Red cape
• Silver cape

9. Pepper Falls Magnets: B P Make sure you have 2-3 HP and candy. (use Red Candy here)

10. Dr. Pepper Pyramid Buy:

• Instant Sirly
• 2 Power Punches

11. An Inconvenient Descent Magnets: G Y P Buy:

• 2 Red Candy (ideally use later) (Only grab the Y magnet if the fuzzies are spawned well, otherwise get a backup magnet later)

12. Forgotten Shore Magnets: B P No shop usage.

13. Whirlpool Patrol Magnets: Y P Make sure you have 2 candies. (use 2 red candies here)

14. Deepsea Moonstone Labs Magnets: Y (backups: G and B ) Safety option:

• Buy 1 Sirly Cookie
• Buy 1 Red Candy (alternatively, go itemless here)

15. City Main Generator Buy:

• 2 Power Punches

16. Wide Wide Desert Magnets: G Y P Cannot shop.

17. Bounceberg Magnets: Y P Buy:

• 1 Surge Soup
• 1 Pocket Rocket

18. The Fridge No shop usage.

19. The Beepo Realm Magnets: R Buy:

• 2 Pocket Rockets (alternative: buy 1 soup, 1 rocket)

20. Volatile Grape Juice No magnets. No shop usage.

21. Orbital Cliffside Magnets: Y A (backup: P) Buy:

• 2 Surge Soups

22. Stardust Hive Magnets: G B Y A Buy:

• 2 Surge Soups

23. Honeystar Headquarters Buy:

• 1 Power Punch
• 1 Sour Flour

24. EZ Train Magnets: G Buy:

• 1 Pocket Rocket
• 1 Sirly Cookie

25. Frostbitten Mansion No magnets (backups: B and Y) Buy:

• 2 Surge Soups
• Instant Sirly (if getting Y magnet)

26. Return to the Oasis Buy:

• 2 Power Punches

Trade for the Fancy Backpack. No more magnets required for the run.

27. Bubblebath Path Buy:

• Suspicious Soda
• 3 Surge Soups

28. Grampus Hamlet Buy:

• 3 Gravels
• Whirlpool Pipe (-> Red Cape)

29. Reunited Buy:

• 2 Gravels
• 1 Surge Soup Withdraw:
• Red Cape (-> Whirlpool Pipe)

30. Down-low in Downtown Buy:

• 2 Gravels
• 1 Surge Soup

31. Darkmatter Fleet Dash Buy:

• 3 Surge Soup (I personally withdraw Whirlpool Pipe here for safety, but it's not needed)

32. Clash on Catharsis Buy:

• 13 Power Punches at once* **
• 2 more Power Punches to equip *make sure you have 600 coins first!! **press Jump once for quantity menu, press Up once to increase by 10

33. Roofstop Run Buy:

• 3 Gravels

34. Funky Area Buy:

• 3 Surge Soups

35. EZ Ascent Buy:

• 3 Surge Soups

36. EZ Corp Head Office Withdraw:

• 3 Power Punches
• Whirlpool Pipe (-> Suspicious Soda)

37. Heart of the Tower Buy:

• 1 Gravel
• Liquid Hat (-> Whirlpool Pipe)
• 1 Surge Soup
• 1 Bubble Bottle (alternatively, buy a Red Candy in place of Gravel, and buy Gripe Juice (-> Red Cape); requires extra $180 but allows going for two more clips)

38. Permafrost Research Lab Withdraw:

• 3 Power Punches
• Whirlpool Pipe (-> Liquid Hat)
• Suspicious Soda (-> Red Cape/Gripe Juice)

39. Subzero Heroes No shop usage.

Surge Soups move to the bottom row until you buy Wide Cape, due to Time unlocking.

40. Corridors of Nature Buy:

• 1 Time
• 3 Surge Soups Withdraw:
• Red Cape (-> personal preference)

41. Library Buy:

• 3 Surge Soup

42. Halls of the Lost Buy:

• 3 Surge Soups
• Wide Cape (-> Whirlpool Pipe/Suspicious Soda)

43. Staircase to Midnight Withdraw:

• 3 Power Punch
• Drenched Hat (-> Red cape)
• Whirlpool Pipe (-> Silver cape) Make sure health is full and that you don't have a costume.

44. Absolute Zero (Sectors A & B ) Buy:

• 1 Time (if you have $300)
• 3 Surge Soup Withdraw:
• Red Cape (-> Drenched Hat)
• Silver Cape (-> Wide Cape) Return to map at Sector C checkpoint.

44. Absolute Zero (Sectors C & Final) Buy:

• 1 Time (if you have $180)
• 3 Surge Soups

45. A Hero's Resolve Withdraw:

• 3 Power Punches
• Wide Cape (-> Red Cape)
• Drenched Hat (-> Silver Cape) Make sure you have 2-3 HP.

Menu tips:

• Gravels and Power Punches are always at the end of the shop, and very close to the end of the Stash menu with only the backpack being in the way. Use cursor looping to reach these optimally (press Left while highlighting Hat Cookie)
• Power Punches are always highlighted the moment you cursor loop in the shop (but not necessarily for Stash).
• Gravels/Punches sometimes require pressing Up after cursor looping, and sometimes require pressing Left then Down. The latter situation is marked by underscores in the above notes.
• When placing equipment, be careful if you immediately buy a consumable item right after, because the placement cursor will be in the same slot.
• I personally try to buy consumable items in the order they will be used in the following stages (e.g. Gravels before Soup for Reunited). Alternatively, you could also make a mental note for yourself to move the placement cursor when buying out of order.

Misc. Notes:

• One strat I have not yet considered would be Panic Bandage usage, to allow for more D-boosting like in ILs. Costs $175.
• I refer to the 3rd magnets in each level as Yellow even though they could be considered more orange just because labelling a stage with "Magnets: O" looked kind of misleading.