Beginner Guide
Start your journey inside the warehouse with a complete beginner guide. Learn how to collect and sell hay, use your first tools, operate the metal detector, and prepare for your first automated production line.
Find The Needle
Independent Fan-Made Game GuideOfficial Demo Trailer · IGN · YouTube ↗
Dig through millions of strands of hay, search for hidden needles, and turn a simple warehouse into a massive automated factory. Learn how to use metal detectors, conveyor belts, scanners, and machines to build efficient production lines.
Early Access planned Nov 6, 2026Free Steam demo24 needles announced5 production stages announced300+ upgrades advertised
Latest Guides
- conveyors · 2026-11-03Find The Needle conveyor belts blocked: Power Checks and Scanner Bottlenecks
- conveyors · 2026-11-03Find The Needle conveyor no snap mode: The F Key and Demo V8 Building Tips
- conveyors · 2026-11-03Find The Needle conveyor not snapping to machines: Demo V8 Checks and Fixes
- conveyors · 2026-11-03Find The Needle hay sell stand setup: Shorten Trips and Connect Belts
Start Here
Your Find The Needle Journey
Tools and Money Guide
Discover how shovels, buckets, wheelbarrows, pitchforks, and vacuums help you process hay. Learn how to earn money, choose useful early purchases, and prepare for your first machines.
Conveyor Belts and Automation
Learn how to connect conveyor belts, transport hay, supply electricity, and operate machines. Build efficient production lines and troubleshoot common problems with machine connections and material flow.
Needle Detection and Scanners
Understand how metal detectors, scanners, and automated sorting systems help locate needles hidden in enormous hay piles. Explore ways to organize your search process while expanding your factory.
FROM THE WIKI
Find Your Next Guide
conveyors
Find The Needle conveyor belts blocked: Power Checks and Scanner Bottlenecks
Trace blocked conveyor cargo to an unpowered machine or slow scanner, check generator fuel, and balance the line using recorded player solutions.
Read guideconveyorsFind The Needle conveyor no snap mode: The F Key and Demo V8 Building Tips
Use F for conveyor No Snap Mode in Demo V8, understand when snapping helps, and separate placement controls from conveyor throughput problems.
Read guideconveyorsFind The Needle conveyor not snapping to machines: Demo V8 Checks and Fixes
Check No Snap Mode, the Demo V8 conveyor rework, and your belt layout when conveyors refuse to connect as expected.
Read guideconveyorsFind The Needle hay sell stand setup: Shorten Trips and Connect Belts
Set up a practical hay-selling route in the Find The Needle demo with a nearby loading point, snapped belts, and the right upgrades.
Read guideconveyorsFind The Needle how to connect conveyor belts: Demo Routing Guide
Connect conveyor routes to machines and the Hay Sell Stand, use Demo V8 snapping, and check direction and bottlenecks before expanding.
Read guideconveyorsFind The Needle U joiner guide: Merge Scanner Lanes into One Conveyor
Use a U joiner to combine parallel scanner outputs, distinguish it from a splitter, and check the merged line for backups.
Read guideconveyorsFind The Needle U splitter guide: Build Branches That Feed Your Factory
Use the Demo V8 U-Splitter to branch a hay line, distinguish it from a U-Joiner, and test the route before adding more machines.
Read guidefixesFind The Needle crashing on startup: Check the Demo's GPU Requirements First
Check Find The Needle demo's dedicated Vulkan 1.3 GPU requirement and integrated-graphics warning before treating community guesses as crash fixes.
Read guideFind The Needle
What is Find The Needle?
Find The Needle is a first-person factory automation and incremental simulation game developed by Needless Games for Windows PC. Players begin inside a mysterious warehouse containing an enormous haystack with approximately six million strands of hay. The objective is to find hidden needles while gradually building an increasingly sophisticated industrial operation.
Start with basic tools and a metal detector, then sell processed hay to purchase conveyor belts, scanners, robotic arms, and production machinery. The upcoming Early Access version is planned to feature 24 needles, five production stages, and a technology tree with over 300 upgrades. Players can also transform hay into products such as compressed bales, paper, pellets, and eco bricks.
- Developer
- Needless Games
- Platform
- Steam / Windows PC
- Genre
- Factory Automation Simulation
- Demo Release
- Sep 10, 2026
- Early Access
- Nov 6, 2026
- Needles
- 24
- Tech Tree
- 300+ Upgrades
- Production
- 5 Stages
Explore Find The Needle
Browse tools, needle detection, conveyors, production and factory progression. Demo and announced Early Access features are distinguished in each guide.
01
Find The Needle Beginner Guide
Start your journey inside a mysterious warehouse filled with approximately six million strands of hay. Learn how to collect hay, find needles, earn money, purchase your first tools, and prepare for factory automation.
1
Begin inside the warehouse and explore the enormous haystack using your starting equipment.
2
Use your metal detector to search for needles hidden among the hay.
3
Collect and sell hay to earn money for equipment and factory improvements.
4
Purchase manual tools such as shovels, buckets, wheelbarrows, pitchforks, and vacuums.
5
Progress toward conveyor belts and automated machinery to reduce manual hay processing.
02
Find The Needle Demo Guide
Discover how to download and play the free Find The Needle demo on Steam. Check the demo release date, supported platform, system requirements, and the planned Early Access release before starting your factory.
Free Demo
A free playable demo is available on Steam for Windows PC.
Demo Release
The Find The Needle demo was released on September 10, 2026.
Steam Demo ID
The demo has its own Steam application ID: 5165210.
Early Access
The main game is scheduled to enter Early Access on November 6, 2026.
Minimum RAM
The demo requires at least 8 GB of RAM and a dedicated graphics card supporting Vulkan 1.3.
03
Find The Needle Automation Guide
Learn how Find The Needle transforms manual hay collection into an increasingly complex automated factory. Explore conveyor systems, robotic equipment, production machinery, and factory expansion to understand the game's central automation mechanics.
1
Begin by manually collecting and selling hay to fund your first equipment purchases.
2
Introduce conveyor belts to transport hay between processing areas.
3
Install machinery that processes hay into products such as compressed bales and pellets.
4
Incorporate powered equipment, scanners, and robotic systems into your factory.
5
Research upgrades that improve production speed, increase efficiency, and unlock additional machinery.
04
Find The Needle Conveyor Belts Guide
Understand how conveyor belts move hay through your factory and connect different stages of production. Learn the fundamentals of material transport, machine connections, and conveyor layouts before expanding into larger automated systems.
1
Collect and sell enough hay to begin purchasing conveyor equipment.
2
Place conveyor belts to transport hay instead of moving every load manually.
3
Connect conveyor routes to compatible hay-processing machinery.
4
Organize material flow between transport belts, processing equipment, and product outputs.
5
Expand the conveyor network as additional machines and production processes become available.
05
Find The Needle Needle Detection Guide
Explore the equipment used to search for needles hidden inside enormous piles of hay. Learn the roles of metal detectors, scanners, and automated machinery, and understand the needle-collection objective described for the upcoming Early Access version.
Metal Detector
A starting tool used to search manually for needles hidden inside the haystack.
Scanners
Automated detection equipment included among the game's factory machinery.
Robotic Arms
Industrial automation equipment used as part of increasingly advanced factory systems.
24 Needles
The planned Early Access experience includes a progression goal of finding all 24 needles.
Haystack
The game's central haystack contains approximately six million individual strands of hay.
06
Find The Needle Machines Guide
Discover the manual tools and industrial machines available throughout Find The Needle. Compare the roles of collection equipment, hay balers, robotic arms, scanners, and other factory machines before planning your production setup.
Manual Tools
Shovels, buckets, wheelbarrows, and pitchforks help players handle hay before extensive automation becomes available.
Vacuums
Vacuum equipment provides another method of collecting and processing hay.
Hay Balers
Baling equipment supports the production of compressed hay products.
Robots and Drones
Automated robots and drones are among the advanced systems advertised for factory development.
Scanners
Scanning machinery supports automated needle detection within the factory.
Paper Machines
Paper-processing machinery enables the conversion of hay materials into paper products.
07
Find The Needle Tech Tree Guide
Explore the technology tree and upgrade systems that drive factory progression in Find The Needle. Discover how research unlocks machinery, improves production speed, increases efficiency, and supports larger factory operations.
300+ Upgrades
The official game description advertises a technology tree containing more than 300 upgrades.
Machine Unlocks
Technology progression unlocks additional machines and new factory capabilities.
Production Speed
Upgrades can increase the speed of factory production processes.
Efficiency
Research improvements support more efficient resource processing and factory operations.
Factory Expansion
Technology progression enables larger factories and more advanced production systems.
08
Find The Needle Hay Products Guide
Learn how ordinary hay becomes valuable products through industrial processing and automated production lines. Explore the confirmed product types, including compressed bales, hay pulp, eco bricks, paper, and pellets, to understand the factory economy.
Hay Pulp
A processed material produced from hay and used within the game's industrial production systems.
Compressed Bales
Hay can be compressed into bales as part of the factory's processing and product system.
Eco Bricks
Eco bricks are among the valuable products that players can manufacture from processed hay.
Hay Paper
Paper production converts processed hay into additional commercial products.
Pellets
Pellets are another confirmed output of the game's hay-processing machinery.
Advanced Materials
The planned Early Access production stages extend into bioplastic and carbon fibre.
Frequently Asked Questions
The Steam factory game, its demo and the upcoming release.
Which Find The Needle game does this site cover?
This site covers the Steam factory automation game by Needless Games, not the Roblox game with a similar name.
Is Find The Needle available to play?
The free Steam demo is available. The main game lists a planned Early Access release date of November 6, 2026, as checked on November 3.
Are all 24 needles and five production stages part of the demo?
The main game’s Early Access description announces 24 needles and five production stages. Do not assume that every announced full-game feature is available in the demo.
Is this an official website?
No. This is an independent fan-made guide site and is not affiliated with Needless Games.
Ready to Master Find The Needle?
From collecting your first handful of hay to designing advanced automated factories, our guides help you understand every stage of Find The Needle. Explore essential tools, optimize conveyor systems, improve production efficiency, and prepare for the full Early Access experience.
Read the Beginner Guide