How to Beat Search for the Needle
To finish the Farmhouse stage in Search for the Needle, clear the haystack, collect the needle and bring it back to the farmer. Selling hay to the cow pays for the tools and upgrades that make the search easier. The story then continues in the Basement, where you must find a key, pull all the levers and solve three puzzles.
Start a Farmhouse run
Enter the FARMHOUSE portal in the lobby. Choose NORMAL for your first attempt, set Party Size to 1 if you want to play alone, then press CREATE. You can also join a run with other players; solo play is simply an option.
The farmer gives you the first goal: find the needle hidden in the huge haystack. His sign offers $1,000 for the job. Start by building up your clearing tools through the hay-selling loop, then return to him when you have the needle.
Collect hay, sell it to the cow and upgrade
Click the haystack to collect hay and watch the capacity counter fill. A fresh starting bag holds 25 hay, so those first loads will be small. When the objective changes to Give the Hay to the Cow, go to the cow at the barn window and use the Sell prompt. This empties your load and gives you cash to spend on improvements.
Press Tab to open the upgrade menu. Start with the Hand's Speed, Grasp and Hold options, then return to the pile after buying an upgrade you can afford. Grasp increases the amount you collect per action, which means each click removes more hay. Extra carrying capacity becomes useful when your load fills before you have cleared much of the pile.
Keep repeating the collection, sale and upgrade loop. If clicking stops adding hay, check your capacity and the current objective. A full bag means it is time to sell. As you upgrade, follow the limit displayed in your run instead of continuing to stop at the original 25-hay capacity.
Move into tools that clear more hay
The barn shop sells tools that help you remove more of the pile. The Pitchfork is a useful next step after collecting by hand; Dynamite and the Vacuum give you stronger clearing options as your cash grows.
| Tool | How it helps the search | Upgrade options |
|---|---|---|
| Pitchfork | Scoops several pieces of hay at once, so each collection action does more work. | Cooldown, Hold, Sweep |
| Dynamite | Blasts large sections of hay to expose more of the pile at once. | Lucky Blast, Speed, Power |
| Vacuum | Collects hay continuously and becomes more useful as you improve it. | Power, Cooling, Runtime |
Improve the tool you are actively using, then save toward the next clearing option when its purchase is within reach. Dynamite is useful when you want to open up a broad area. The Vacuum suits sustained clearing, especially once you have upgraded it. You can fund these tools by selling hay; a class roll or Robux purchase is optional for this route.
Pick up exposed rainbow hay when you spot it. Its higher sale value helps fund further upgrades, letting you put each profitable load back into clearing the pile.
Find the needle and return it to the farmer
Look over the hay you expose as you work. Check the top and outer faces, move around the pile, and inspect the lower edges as they become visible. Covering several faces gives you more places to search than digging one narrow tunnel.
If you have blasted away a large area and still cannot see the needle, look around the surrounding ground too. Keep checking newly exposed areas as you clear instead of assuming the needle must be at one particular height or spot.
Once you uncover the needle, collect it and take it to the farmer who gave you the task. The handoff finishes this part of the story. He directs you toward the Basement for the promised money, then pushes you inside and closes the hatch. Reaching that scene completes the Farmhouse stage and begins the Basement stage.
Continue with the Basement objectives
In the Basement, collecting and selling hay still funds your tools and upgrades. The new objectives are to find the key, pull all the levers and solve three puzzles. Keep track of all three tasks as you work toward escaping the chapter.
Follow the Basement walkthrough for the full chapter route and its escape steps. If you need help with one part, use the hidden Basement entrance guide, the Basement Key guide or the puzzle guides.