Needle in a Haystack
GameA farmer, a barn, a haystack, one needle. Find it by hand, one straw at a time. Co-op for up to 8.
Somewhere in there is a needle.
You are a farmer. In front of you is a haystack. Somewhere in it is a needle, and nobody is coming to help. That is the whole game. It is exactly as hard as the saying suggests, and we have done nothing to make it easier.
Merciless by design. No hints. No timer. No metal detector. No magnet on a string, no matter how many times you ask. Just you, your two hands, and a frankly unreasonable amount of hay. How it plays
- Take a straw. Left click on the pile and one straw comes away in your hand. One. You can hold ten, which will feel like a lot right up until you look at the pile again.
- Carry it somewhere else. Right click where you are looking and your handful is laid down there. Congratulations: you now have two piles, and the needle is in one of them.
- Watch for the glint. The needle only shows itself when the hay above it is gone and the light catches it just so. Move, and it flashes. Stand still, and it is gone again. Was that it? Probably not. Go and look anyway.
- Take it. Aim at it and press E. Then sit quietly for a moment and think about what you have done with your evening.
The glint
There is no marker, no sound cue, no helpful arrow. The needle is 32 millimetres of steel somewhere in a very large amount of hay, and it behaves like one. Drop your straws carelessly and it can sink back under the hay you just put down. You will do this at least once. You will know.
Bring friends
- Up to 8 players in one barn, working one pile. Many hands make light work. Eight hands make a slightly less enormous haystack.
- Drop in, drop out. Invite someone mid-search and they arrive in the barn as you left it. Leave, and your straws are set down for you. The pile does not care who is holding it.
- Shared win. Whoever's hand takes the needle, the whole crew found it. Arguments about who did the most hay are yours to settle.
Your barn waits
Close the game whenever you like. The haystack is saved exactly as you left it, down to the straw. Come back tomorrow, next week, or after you have had a long think about your choices. It will be there. It is always there.
It's barely a puzzle. Nothing is hidden from you. It's just a lot of hay.
Controls
- Left click - take a straw (up to ten)
- Right click - put your straws down where you're looking
- E - take the needle
- WASD / Space - walk, jump
Achievements
- Found it - the needle came out while you were in the barn.
- A thousand straws - you moved a thousand straws by hand, and nobody made you.
52
Total Users
61
Total Sessions
12.7 hours
Total Playtime
Global Statistics
20.1K
straws_moved
14
needles_found
Positive
Negative
How this works: This chart tracks all anonymous thumbs up/down votes, not just the written reviews below. Playtime is permanently recorded at the exact moment the user casts their vote. Data is exactly as returned by the Facepunch API.
1m - 2m
1
8m - 16m
1
16m - 32m
3
32m - 1.1h
1
34.1h - 68.3h
2
0 recorded entries
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Package ID:
aeterna.needle_in_a_haystack
Created:
2026-09-02 20:14 UTC
Updated:
2026-09-02 20:32 UTC
Type:
game
Public:
Yes
Version:
367053
files:
65
Size:
7.8 MB
Engine Version:
28
Asset Version ID:
367053
Version Created:
2026-09-02 20:32 UTC
Hash:
1792251271
Manifest: Open manifest
Multiplayer:
Yes
Versus:
Unknown
Co-op:
Yes
settings Engine & Multiplayer Configuration
Player Count:
1 - 8 Players
Tick Rate:
50 Hz
Network Type:
Multiplayer
Startup Scene:
scenes/minimal.scene
Map Select:
Hidden
367053
Sep 2, 2026
add achievements
367029
Sep 2, 2026
Initial release
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