- The DNA machine can be upgraded by submitting prehistoric plants to the Raptor NPC in Grow a Garden.
- Prehistoric plants are the ones you get from opening Ancient Seed packs in the game.
- Once the machine is upgraded (up to five times), it won't take long for players to trade for Dinosaur and Primal eggs.
The past few updates in Grow a Garden received backlash due to mediocre quest events. Among these is the DNA Machine mechanic that lets you trade pets for Dinosaur pets and eggs. It used to take a lot of time for a single trade to occur. So, the developers decided to make the process a little convenient by introducing a short side quest. It lets you upgrade the DNA machine and reduce the time required to craft Dinosaur eggs and pets. Moreover, the upgrade also gives you access to new Primal eggs. So, here is a step-by-step guide to upgrading the DNA machine in Grow a Garden.
How to Upgrade Dino DNA Machine in Grow a Garden
The DNA machine is located beside the Dinosaur Egg stall in the center of the play area. It was first introduced in the Prehistoric update in Grow a Garden. However, you’ll now find a new Raptor NPC named Barry beside the machine wearing a construction hat. So, follow the steps below to upgrade the DNA machine:
- Interact with Barry the Raptor by pressing the ‘E‘ key.
- Note that he asks for only prehistoric plants, so hold out one if you have it. Otherwise, check out this Ancient Seed pack to get the prehistoric plants in the game.
- With the plant in your hand, press the “Take all my prehistoric plants” dialogue to hand it over to the Raptor.
- Repeat the process with prehistoric plants until the blue bar on top of the Raptor’s head fills up to upgrade the DNA machine.
You must submit plants until you meet the weight requirements, and the DNA machine will be upgraded. Now, the next time you trade with the Graham NPC at the Dinosaur Eggs stall in the center of the play area, the machine will show a reduced time to give you eggs or pets.
Grow a Garden DNA Machine Upgrade Levels
With the Pet Mutations upgrade, you can not only upgrade the DNA machine once, but a total of five times to unlock two new features. Firstly, the upgrade will unlock the new Primal Egg in Grow a Garden. Secondly, the DNA machine will now take less time to spew out an egg or dinosaur pet.
That said, here are the upgrade levels and the requirements for the DNA Machine:
| Upgrade Level | Requirement |
|---|---|
| 1 | 40kg prehistoric fruit |
| 2 | 60kg prehistoric fruit |
| 3 | 80kg prehistoric fruit |
| 4 | 100kg prehistoric fruit |
| 5 | 120kg prehistoric fruit |
Why Should You Upgrade the DNA Machine in Grow a Garden
After the final upgrade, the DNA machine looks like a huge Dinosaur head with green skin and red eyes. You can’t interact with it directly, and its only purpose is to hold the pet(s) or pet egg(s) you are going to receive after trading with Graham.
To get the Dinosaur or Primal eggs, simply interact with Graham on the side, give him the pets you own, and the machine will start processing the DNA.
You can also notice a timer inside the dinosaur’s mouth. Once the time is up, go back to the machine to find your items ready to be collected. Now, you can press the ‘E‘ key to get the Dinosaur pets and eggs or the Primal pets and eggs, whichever the machine offers you.
As of now, I would not recommend upgrading the Dino DNA Machine if you’re an active player and like to take on the quests quickly to get all the new rewards. If that’s the case, you can easily gather the small bunch of items required to craft the Primal egg in Grow a Garden.
However, if you feel like there are lots of pets in your backpack that you can readily give away, and you’re going to be away from the game for a while, do consider upgrading the DNA machine. The process to trade pets doesn’t cost you much, and you have a chance to get Primal pets as well.
The only downside to using the DNA machine is its random nature. There’s a chance that you might end up with a Dinosaur egg after all the time and effort you invest into the process.
So, have you received your first Primal egg pet yet? What is the rarest Primal pet you own? Let us know in the comments below!
