How to find the needle in the haystack

HALM hides 5 needles in a haystack of 20 million straws. This guide shows you the fastest way from bare hands to an automated hay farm, and how to track down every needle.

Controls

• Computer: WASD to walk, Shift to run, Space to jump. Hold the left mouse button to dig and to pick up hay lying next to you. Right mouse button drops hay at the hopper, on a belt or on the ground. E opens the workshop in the red barn, B builds, H shows your farm, Q switches the metal detector.
• Phone and tablet: drag on the left to walk, drag on the right to look around. Hold Dig to dig, tap Drop to drop hay. Push the joystick all the way forward and hold it to keep walking on autopilot.

The first ten minutes

1. Walk to the haystack and hold dig. One grab gives 10 straws, and that is all your hands can carry at the start.
2. Carry the hay to the hopper next to the barn. It sells instantly.
3. In the workshop buy Bigger grip and then Carry: apron (25 straws), wicker basket (60), jute sack (150), backpack (350). More carrying means fewer trips.
4. Save up for the pitchfork ($60). It lifts whole clumps and is about three times faster than your hands.

Best upgrade order

1. Bigger grip and Carry up to the jute sack.
2. Pitchfork, then Strength and Swing speed a few levels.
3. Metal detector ($250) so you can start searching.
4. Farmhand hut: two farmhands dig and deliver for you around the clock.
5. Shovel, then conveyor belts, a loading ramp and a diesel generator.
6. Direction finder and depth gauge. With both, every needle becomes a short walk.
7. Baler and the other machines turn raw hay into more valuable goods.

How to find the needles

• Metal detector: it only beeps a few meters around you. The faster the beep and the fuller the bar, the closer the needle. Its battery lasts 3 minutes, spare batteries are in the workshop.
• Direction finder: an arrow points to the nearest needle. Follow it around the stack.
• Depth gauge: tells you how deep the needle lies, so you know whether to dig down or keep walking.
• X-ray glasses: let you see needles through the hay.
• Hay scanner: checks packages on the conveyor belt. Without it, a needle that a farmhand delivers can slip through the hopper and fall back into the stack.

Farmhands and the foreman

Farmhands dig on their own and carry hay to the nearest hopper. With the foreman upgrade you can tell them where to dig (a red flag marks the spot) and which hopper to deliver to. Drones and the wheel loader follow the same orders.

All quests

1. First straws: dig 10 straws.
2. To the hopper: deliver 50 straws.
3. Better grip: buy Bigger grip.
4. Carry more: apron and wicker basket.
5. Handful: Bigger grip level 3.
6. Hard worker: deliver 600 straws.
7. First tool: the pitchfork.
8. Full loads: deliver 3,000 straws.
9. The needle vault: visit the stone house next to the barn.
10. Needle nose: buy the metal detector.
11. The first needle.
12. Get help: build a farmhand hut.
13. Shovel.
14. Power on the farm: diesel generator.
15. Conveyor: 8 meters of belt to a loading ramp.
16. Press bales: build a baler.
17. Three needles.
18. Stack cleared: all 5 needles. Then start a new stack and chase your best time.

Questions

Does it run on a Mac? Yes, in Safari, Chrome or Firefox, no download. Also on Windows, Linux, iPhone and Android.

Is it free? The demo is free for 20 minutes with the full game. The full version is a one-time 2.90 USD, no ads, no subscription. Your demo farm carries over.