Leaf It Alone Work Smart, Not Hard: $700 Achievement Guide

What Work Smart, Not Hard Actually Requires

Few achievements on the Hometown map punish a casual playthrough like the Leaf it Alone Work Smart, Not Hard achievement. You need to earn an "immense number of shekleaves," which means $700 in a single run. Patch v1.0.8 added that figure to the achievement description. If you sell as you go, you can finish the whole map just shy of the mark. Falling short like that after hours of raking hurts.

The name is a little misleading. You have to work smarter, but you also have to work harder. The whole trick is timing: sell your leaves only after you've collected every leaf value bonus.

Runs that hold off selling until all three value bonuses are active have finished at $725, $727, $733 and $736.49.

Official page: Leaf it Alone (eternitygames.net)

How Shekleaves Count Toward $700

There are three rules to keep in mind for this achievement:

Image: Steam / Eternity

• It tracks total earnings, not cash in hand. Buying the rake, the leaf blower, bags, upgrades or leaf inlets doesn't lower your progress. You can be holding around $678 when the achievement pops mid-run.
• The ending stops the counter. Money earned after you crawl into the secret room doesn't add to the total. Unlock the achievement before you go through the basement vent.
• Your final total appears on the summary screen. After the ending cutscene, the summary shows how much you earned in the run. Check it if you aren't sure how close you were.

Leaf Value Bonuses and Cash Rewards

Three areas raise leaf value, and two more pay a flat cash bonus. Every leaf you sell before a value bonus is active earns less than it could have, so these areas set your route.

Image: Steam / Eternity

Area	Requirement	Reward
Entrance	Clean 100%	+25% leaf value
Basement	Clean 50%	+25% leaf value
Pool	Clean 50%	+25% leaf value
Garage	Clean 100%	$7.50 shekleaves
Grill	Clean 100%	$15 shekleaves

Here's what that does to a full 500-leaf bag:

Bonuses active	Value per 500-leaf bag
None	$2.00
Entrance	$2.50
Entrance + Basement	$3.00
All three	$3.50

The Pool is the slow part. With 18,000 leaves, half the Pool is roughly 9,000 leaves you have to bag by hand before you can sell anything at full value.

Step-by-Step $700 Route

Image: Steam / Eternity

1. Clear the Porch first. This unlocks bag tying, which is the core of the strategy. Pick up the first 800 Porch leaves by hand and sell them to the bin for early upgrades. Buy the Medium Leaf Bag ($0.75, 200 capacity) in the shed. Keep the last 200 Porch leaves in your bag. The moment you grab the final leaf, bag tying unlocks, and you can tie that bag and set it down unsold.
2. Clear the Entrance without selling. Only grab Entrance leaves here. Gray leaves belong to other areas and get sold at the lower rate if you mix them in. Toss tied bags onto the porch.
3. Cash in the Entrance bags once. With +25% active, sell this batch. Max out your hand upgrades (Greedy Grasp and Dexterity) and buy the Large Leaf Bag ($3.49, 500 capacity). Make that your last spending until the Pool is half done.
4. Get a movement bonus for the garage. Clear the Court for Sprint, or the Driveway or Front Yard for a movement speed bonus. Keep those bags too. To open the garage, stand in the shed doorway and hold the button until the door is fully open. Press it a few more times, then sprint and jump to the garage. With only one speed bonus, you'll barely make it.
5. Clear the Garage. The $7.50 bonus counts toward your total and costs you no leaf value.
6. Clear the Basement fully. The value bonus kicks in at 50%, but you need 100% to unlock the Shed area. Stack bags in the corner by the stairs.
7. Clear the Shed. Throw bags toward the porch, away from the trash can. This unlocks the Grill and Pool.
8. Bag half the Pool. Leave the Grill area for later. Throw the bags up into the Grill area. Put on music or a podcast, because this part takes a while.
9. Sell everything. Once the third bonus pops, carry or throw all your stockpiled bags to the bin. From here you can repair inlets, buy the rake and leaf blower, and finish the map however you like.
10. Grab the Grill's $15 before the ending if you're cutting it close.

A relaxed run on this route took about 1 hour 45 minutes and ended at $736.49.

Keeping Your Bag Stockpile Safe

Losing bags is the easiest way to fall short.

• Stack bags on the porch. It's close to the bin and stays out of your walking path.
• Throw Basement bags up the stairs one at a time.
• Patch v1.1.7 added more blockades so bags can't land in unreachable spots, but you should still aim carefully near fences.

Pairing It With Craftsman

Craftsman requires finishing the game without repairing any leaf inlets. Since this route already has you picking everything up by hand until the Pool, the two fit together naturally. Just keep going without inlets after you sell. Be careful around the inlet on the right side of the porch: it costs $0, so a stray click repairs it even when you're broke.

FAQ

Can I earn Work Smart, Not Hard in Custom Mode?

Yes. Since the 1.1 update, achievements can be earned in Custom Mode with Ranked Mode enabled, and v1.1.7 made them earnable without Ranked Mode as long as the default parameters are applied. Story Mode works too.

Do I need to clean every leaf?

No. The achievement can pop while you're still collecting, well before 100%. You do need to clear the Greenhouse and Swings to reach the ending, but the $700 has to be earned before you enter the secret room.

Does it matter which tool I use or which inlet I feed?

What matters is your leaf value at the moment of sale. Bags sold after all three bonuses earn the full $3.50 per 500 leaves, and once you're there, inlets are a fine way to finish fast.

I missed by a few dollars. Can I fix it without restarting?

Not after the ending. Money stops counting once you go through the vent. Back up your save before the secret room so you can reload and finish the leftover areas if you come up short.