Comparison

Needle in Haystack vs Haystack Factory

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Needle in Haystack

Search for a hidden needle among thousands of hay pieces. Collect and sell hay, unlock tools, feed animals, and complete community challenges to earn rewards. Explore the farm and barn in this engaging search game.

Highlights
  • Search for hidden needles
  • Collect and sell hay
  • Unlock and upgrade tools
  • Feed farm animals
  • Complete community challenges
  • Explore farm and barn
Features
Read full description

There’s one tiny needle hidden somewhere inside a massive haystack. Finding it sounds simple. It’s not. Search through 150 MILLION pieces of hay, grow your own crops, raise animals, drive vehicles, explore Downtown, and build your dream farm in a unique farming simulator with online multiplayer! BUILD, COLLECT & SEARCH • Search for the one hidden needle • Collect and sell massive amounts of hay • Unlock and upgrade powerful farming tools • Explore a giant hayfield with 150 million pieces of hay • Upgrade your Pitchfork to collect hay faster • Unlock powerful machines to automate your work GROW YOUR OWN CROPS • Plow the fields and prepare the soil • Choose from different seeds and plant your crops • Water your fields and help your crops grow • Collect animal manure and use it as natural fertilizer • Harvest your crops and sell them for coins • Manage your farmland and expand your farming activities RAISE ANIMALS & BUILD YOUR FARM • Feed and take care of your farm animals • Collect animal manure to fertilize your fields • Unlock automatic animal feeders • Use automatic hay sweepers and robots • Turn collected hay into hay bales • Feed your animals, sell hay, or prepare it for delivery • Explore the barn and develop your farm EXPLORE DOWNTOWN & RIDE YOUR MOTORBIKE • Hop on your motorbike and ride into Downtown • Explore a lively town filled with pedestrians and traffic • Enjoy a relaxing ride through the streets • Take a break from farming and discover a different environment • Experience motorcycle riding beyond your farm PLAY ONLINE WITH FRIENDS • Explore the farm with other players in Online Mode • Collect hay together with friends • Play together in larger multiplayer groups • Express yourself with fun emotes • Join Community Challenges • Work together to complete goals and earn rewards • Participate in live admin events and gift giveaways DRIVE, DELIVER & EARN • Drive the Delivery Truck yourself • Transport hay and complete delivery missions • Earn coins by selling hay and harvested crops • Unlock new equipment and farming machines • Upgrade your tools to work faster and more efficiently DAILY REWARDS & SPECIAL EVENTS • Collect Daily Rewards • Earn Weekly Rewards • Unlock special Monthly Grand Rewards • Join community events for extra prizes • Participate in special events with other players MORE THAN JUST FINDING A NEEDLE Start with simple tools and turn your farm into a thriving operation. Grow crops, care for animals, collect hay, operate powerful machines, ride your motorbike through Downtown, and enjoy multiplayer farming with friends. Whether you love farming, driving, collecting, upgrading, or simply exploring, there’s always something to do. ONE NEEDLE. 150 MILLION PIECES OF HAY. Somewhere inside that enormous haystack, one tiny needle is waiting to be discovered. Will you find it quickly, or will you clear the entire haystack? Can you actually find a needle in a haystack? Download Needle in Haystack and start your farming adventure today! Privacy Policy: https://www.nilplay.net/privacy_policy/ End User License Agreement: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

About

Haystack Factory

Features
Read full description

Grandma's barn holds one enormous pile of hay: 1,500,000 strands, and every single one is counted. Somewhere inside, she hid her needles. So roll up your sleeves, walk in and start pulling it apart. No ads. No pressure. Just cozy hay hunting with Grandma. PLUCK EVERY STRAND • Play in first person, in landscape: left thumb to walk, right thumb to look around. • Pluck hay by hand until your apron is full. Every strand you move leaves the pile, and the counter keeps ticking down. • Weigh your hay at the Hay Scale for coins. Keep the deliveries coming and the combo climbs. BIGGER TOOLS, BIGGER HAULS • Toy Trowel, Garden Spade, Hay Fork, Feed Bucket, Wheelbarrow, Garden Wagon, Push Broom, Leaf Blower and the gloriously loud Hay Vacuum (mind the overheating). • The Pin Finder pings and buzzes in your hands as you get close to metal. • Three upgrade tracks per tool, with the numbers right there: 1 strand per grab becomes 2, then 3… BUILD YOUR OWN HAY LINE • Place every machine by hand, right in the barn: Conveyors, Rake Pistons, Pitch Arms, Hay Hoppers, Fork Junctions, Decks, Stairs and a Barn Lift. • Put a Magnet Gate on a belt and it stops anything metal in its drawer. Walk over, open the drawer and see what you caught. • Power it all with Hay Stoves, Power Poles and Batteries. • Press hay into bales, wrap them, mill pellets and roll paper. Lob clumps across the barn with the Hay Cannon, or send a Crop Copter to tidy the floor. GRANDMA'S SEWING CABINET • 28 needles to collect, from the everyday Darning Needle to the legendary Golden Needle. Each one comes with Grandma's story and a perk. • The paperclip will fool you at least once. Junk goes in the Junk Drawer: 18 oddities to dig up. • Lucky strands go in Grandma's Lucky Jar. The odds are fixed and shown in the game. A WHOLE FARM'S WORTH OF HAY • Orders from the neighbors: Old Man Hawkins, the bakery, the stables, the zoo and more. • The Farmer's Almanac: more than 200 pages of upgrades across 8 branches. • Clear Grandma's Barn, then take on bigger stacks: the Back Field, the Old Silo, the Harvest Fair Heap and, one day, Mount Haymore. • The Daily Haystack: one small stack with one needle, the same for everyone today. FAIR, ALWAYS • Needles are never for sale. You find every one yourself. • No loot boxes. • Nothing you can buy helps in the Daily Haystack. • No ads. • Plays offline. No account needed. Best with two thumbs and haptics on. Haystack Factory is free to play, with optional in-app purchases that never include needles. Payment is charged to your Apple Account. Haystack VIP subscriptions renew automatically unless cancelled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period; manage them in your App Store account settings. Terms of Use: https://clausewl.github.io/haystack-factory/terms.html Privacy Policy: https://clausewl.github.io/haystack-factory/privacy.html

Screenshots

Needle in Haystack4 screens
Haystack Factory4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ads: Haystack Factory at none against Needle in Haystack's shown. Needle in Haystack's advantage is iOS requirement (15.0 vs 18.0). On price, update cadence, in-app purchases and device support there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Needle in Haystack sells 8 one-off in-app purchases and Haystack Factory sells 5 in-app purchases, starting at $7.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 4 days. The most recent releases landed on November 10, 2026 and November 13, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 8 level
Needle in Haystack versus Haystack Factory: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterNeedle in HaystackHaystack Factory
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.0 (13 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews11.8% of reviews—
Number of ratings13 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 4 daysEvery 4 days
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS15.0 — better18.0
Further details — not scored
Size245 MB18 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperSERAP KIZILTEPEClau SEWL

In-app purchases

8 purchases

Needle in Haystack

One-time8
  • 100 Hays + No-Ads$0.49
  • 250 Hays + Double Collect + No-Ads$0.99
  • One-Time Exclusive Starter Bundle$2.99
Show 5 more
  • 500 Hays + 3x Collect + No-Ads$2.99
  • 1000 Hays + 5x collect + No-Ads$3.99
  • Vehicle Bundle$8.49
  • Emotes Bundle$19.99
  • Ultra Coin Pack$19.99
5 purchases

Haystack Factory

Subscriptions2
  • Haystack VIP (Monthly)$7.991 Month
  • Haystack VIP (Yearly)3 Days trial$39.991 Year
One-time3
  • Starter Farm Pack$1.99
  • Golden Detector$6.99
  • Double Coins$7.99

Questions

Is Needle in Haystack free?
Needle in Haystack is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Haystack Factory free?
Haystack Factory is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Needle in Haystack or Haystack Factory have ads?
Needle in Haystack shows ads; Haystack Factory does not.
Which is updated more often, Needle in Haystack or Haystack Factory?
Needle in Haystack ships an update every 4 days, and Haystack Factory every 4 days. Most recently, Needle in Haystack was updated on November 10, 2026 and Haystack Factory on November 13, 2026.

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