The Hollow Search for the Needle: Candles & Tickets

In The Hollow, Search for the Needle is one of the participating Roblox experiences you visit through an event portal, and its quest is a haystack hunt: dig through piles of hay until you find four candles, light them all, then finish the boss fight that starts. GamesRadar's event guide lists it among the games included in The Hollow and says completing one of these quests pays 20 Tickets plus an exclusive badge. It is a slow, repetitive errand rather than a puzzle, so the main thing to plan for is time.

The same GamesRadar guide notes that if you have already beaten the Search for the Needle boss (it calls it the Pumpkin Boss), you don't need to do it again — teleport in from The Hollow, come back, and the tickets can be claimed.

The basic quest flow

1. Join Search for the Needle from The Hollow's hub. On spawn, players describe choosing the event graveyard from the menu and pressing Create to open a run. You can do this alone or with friends.
2. Play through the short tutorial. It covers digging and the upgrade shop; you can spend on things like movement speed, digging speed and bag space.
3. Dig through haystacks. Players report the candles turn up inside the hay rather than sitting in the open, and that this is the slow part — one video calls it "literally needle in a haystack" digging, clicking through pile after pile.
4. Place each candle on its stand and light it with the small striking mini-game. Repeat until four are lit.
5. When the fourth candle is lit, a cutscene plays and a boss appears. Hit it with your items; if it grabs you, one player reports you break free using the on-screen key prompts. The same player describes the fight as easy and roughly five minutes long.
6. Return to The Hollow's hub area to collect the tickets — one walkthrough says the reward is picked up in the main hub after you finish.

A step-by-step player video showing the graveyard, the candle lighting and the boss is here: Search For The Needle BADGE & TICKETS!!.

How long it actually takes

Treat any number as a player estimate, not a fixed timer. One group of three reported about 25 minutes total, including a five-minute boss. A different solo player reported spending around 30 minutes and finding only one candle, and warned the grind could stretch much longer. Both runs are consistent with the same mechanic; they simply disagree on how quickly the hay gives up candles, so budget somewhere from half an hour upward and don't expect a quick in-and-out.

Tips that come up in player runs

• Upgrade digging first. Faster hay handling means more piles checked per minute, which is the whole bottleneck.
• Grab rainbow-coloured bundles when you see them. One player notes they sell for noticeably more than ordinary hay, which funds upgrades faster.
• Bring friends if you can. It is solo-friendly, but another player was unsure whether a group actually speeds up candle drops, so treat any group bonus as unconfirmed.
• Already done it earlier in the event? According to GamesRadar, don't repeat the boss — re-enter from The Hollow and return to claim.

If the tickets don't show up

The material does not document a specific fix, so these are general suggestions rather than tested steps: make sure you re-entered The Hollow through the same event portal you left from, check the claim point by that portal or door rather than the general shop, and if nothing appears, leaving and rejoining the experience is a reasonable thing to try. Note that the whole event is limited-time; GamesRadar's guide frames the quests as completable before November 2, so a missed window matters more than a missing button.

Next steps

• Working through other portal games in the event? The Hollow grow a garden covers that quest's requirements.
• If you're collecting tickets across several experiences, The Hollow keyboard escape is another one worth ticking off.
• The Hollow sell lemons has its own short quest if you want an easier ticket before coming back to the haystacks.

FAQ

What is "Search for the Needle" in The Hollow?

It's one of the participating Roblox experiences in The Hollow event. Its quest has you dig four candles out of haystacks, light them, and beat a boss for 20 Tickets and a badge.

How many tickets does the Search for the Needle quest give?

20 Tickets, according to GamesRadar's event guide, which lists the same reward for the other participating-game quests.

Do I have to search the haystacks again if I already beat the boss?

No — GamesRadar says that if you've already completed the quest (it cites the Pumpkin Boss), you can teleport in from The Hollow, return, and claim the tickets without repeating it.

How long does the search for the needle take?

Player estimates vary widely: about 25 minutes for a group of three including the boss, versus roughly 30 minutes for a single candle in another player's solo run.