Need for Sweep Achievement Guide (Leaf it Alone)

What Need for Sweep Requires

The official description is "Complete the game in under 40 minutes". It is the rarest Hometown achievement, held by only 6.7% of Steam players. Completing the game means crawling through the basement vent into the secret room.

You do not need to clean every area, find photos or earn achievements on the way. The timer is in-game time, and pausing stops it. Since update 1.1, you can also turn on a built-in game timer in the settings.

The Areas You Actually Need

The story chain decides what is required. Everything else can be skipped, including the Entrance, Garage clean-up, Grill and Maze. Here is the minimum set.

Step-by-Step Route

This route matches several runs that finished between 35 and 37 minutes. Start by repairing the free leaf inlet to the right of the porch stairs for instant cash. Then buy early hand upgrades and the Medium bag for $0.75.

• Clean the Porch for bag tying.
• Clean the Driveway or Front Yard for +0.2 m/s, then buy the Large bag ($3.49).
• Back up your save, then do the garage sprint.
• Clean the Basement and max your hand upgrades.
• Clean the Shed, buy the Rake ($7.49) and keep $15.
• Repair the Pool inlet ($15) and rake everything into it, saving $25.
• Repair the Swings inlet ($6) and sweep it clean.
• Repair the Greenhouse inlet ($25) and clear it.
• Run to the basement, open the vent and crawl to the end.

Nailing the Garage Sprint

The garage door is the main place runs fail. Stand in the shed doorway so the button is barely visible, and hold it until the TV shows the door fully open. Then run the shortest line to the garage.

One guide hugs the porch stairs, jumps onto the flowers and cuts toward the rain pipe. Another bunny-hops the whole way after clearing the Front Yard. Back up your save first so a miss does not cost a full restart.

Rake or Leaf Blower?

Most guides buy the Rake after the Shed and upgrade Sweep Radius, Handle Length and Leaf Stickness. Raking leaves straight into the Pool inlet is quick money. Some routes add the Leaf Blower ($49.99) for the Greenhouse.

One 36-minute run never bought the rake and used the blower instead. It focused on blower width, which that player called very important. Both approaches have finished under 40, so pick the tool you are comfortable with.

Tips That Save Minutes

Press V to show only the current area's leaves, which helps you find the last few quickly. Grab leaves while running between areas for extra cash. Practise jump-throwing bags into bins so you never walk back.

Skip Fluid Picker early, or use a mouse macro for clicking, as guides suggest. Pause whenever you need to check the route, since the timer stops. If one area sits at 99.9%, sweep the edges before searching the whole map.

Leaf Inlets for the Run

Leaf inlets suck up every leaf you push into them, which is why this run uses them. Each one must be repaired for a price before it works. The route uses the free porch inlet, the Pool, the Swings and the Greenhouse inlets.

Repairing any inlet fails the Craftsman achievement, so keep this run separate. Plan your money so the next inlet is affordable the moment you arrive. Short on cash, rake leaves into the inlet you already own.

Upgrade Priorities

Hand upgrades come first because they are cheap and speed up every early area. One guide buys three Greedy Grasp and two Dexterity during the Porch, then maxes both in the Basement. It skips Fluid Picker early to save money.

After the Shed, the Rake and its Sweep Radius, Handle Length and Leaf Stickness upgrades do most of the work. A fully upgraded rake can clear the Greenhouse in that route. Other routes buy the blower instead and push its width upgrades.

Back Up Your Saves

Several guides recommend backing up your save as you go. The most important backup is right before the garage sprint, after the Front Yard or Driveway. A missed door then costs seconds instead of the whole run.

Patch 1.0.15 fixed the Open Saves Folder button so it opens the correct location. A community save file for this achievement also exists on Steam, but that skips the challenge. Most players prefer a few honest attempts with backups.

Need for Sweep FAQ

Does pausing stop the clock? Yes, guides confirm pausing the game pauses the timer. You can stop to read a guide without losing time. The built-in timer added in 1.1 helps you track pace.

Can I get it in Custom Mode? Only with default settings and Ranked enabled, according to the developers. Ranked Custom runs skip cutscenes and let you restart from the pause menu. Story Mode works as normal.

Videos and More Help

Yadilie's 35:00 run on YouTube has chapters for each area and is one of the most watched guides. ScoobysBooty's commentary run explains the general approach for getting under 40. Several Steam players credit these videos for their first success.

For the full speedrun scene, see the Leaf it Alone speedrun guide. For a shorter checklist, see beat it under 40 minutes. Do this on a separate save from your Craftsman run, since this one uses inlets.

Related Guides