Leaf It Alone New Map Guide: Castle and Sakura Explained

What the 1.1 Update Adds

The Leaf it Alone new map update landed on October 30, 2026, the game's first anniversary, and it's a big one. Instead of a single new yard, Eternity added two full maps: a squirrel-run Castle full of minigames and a Sakura park. If you finished Hometown and thought you'd seen everything, there's now much more to rake, plus 36 new achievements to chase.

Update 1.1 brings:

• Two new maps, Castle and Sakura, each with 18 achievements, for 54 achievements in total.
• Around 500K leaves across all three maps combined.
• Free for everyone who already owns the game. Old saves are fully compatible.
• Custom Mode, the game's take on New Game+. You can set starting money, income multiplier, starting tools, unlocked upgrades and area access.
• Input rebinding and a built-in game timer for Any%, All Leaves or All Objectives.
• Accessibility options, including color blindness modes, an input toggle split between tools and abilities, and an option to invert the X axis.
• Two follow-up patches:
  • v1.1.7, November 5: black screen and crash fixes, cheaper tractor upgrades, and a fix for leaves reappearing on Sakura after loading.
  • v1.1.8, November 6: fixes for spots where the tractor got stuck.

If you don't own it yet, you can grab it on the Leaf it Alone Steam page.

How to Reach Castle and Sakura

Story Mode plays the maps in order: Hometown, then Castle, then Sakura. Load the save where you completed Hometown to continue straight into the Castle. When you start a new Story session, you can also pick any map you've already played, which is handy for cleaning up missed objectives.

Custom Mode for a map unlocks once you've completed that map in Story Mode.

• Achievements count in Story Mode.
• Since patch v1.1.7, achievements also count in Custom Mode as long as the default parameters are applied. The Ranked toggle enforces those defaults.
• Custom runs at default settings skip cutscenes, let you choose your map, and let you restart from the Pause Menu.

The game leans heavily on your GPU for leaf physics. Check that you meet the minimum spec: Intel Core i3-8100 or AMD Ryzen 3 1200, 4 GB RAM, and a GeForce GTX 960. Also make sure your monitor is plugged into the graphics card, not the motherboard.

Castle: Area Order and Story Unlocks

You start trapped in the first area. Your hand upgrades carry over from Hometown, and Bagmaster is a new hand upgrade that cuts bag tying and emptying times.

Two early unlocks set the pace:

• Clean the starting area to open the gate to the Courtyard and earn Parole.
• Clean the Fresco to get the key to the Dinette.

Shop tips for this map:

• The shop sits beneath the Dinette.
• The Large Leaf Bag costs $7.49 and the Giant Leaf Bag (800 capacity) costs $14.99. You need to buy the Large one before the Giant one becomes available.

Castle Minigames and Puzzle Solutions

The Castle has small activities scattered between the leaf piles, and most are tied to achievements.

Image: Steam / Eternity

Crossbow (The 67 Club). Clean the surrounding area to unlock crossbow shooting. The 67 Club asks you to score exactly 67 points at the shooting range.

Petal sorting. This unlocks after cleaning the Hallway. Sort the petals into bowls by color. Instead of dragging, hover over a petal and press a number key.

Library books (Librarian). Once the Dinette opens, head into the Library tower and put all the scattered books on the bookshelf.

Bell. The bell in the Library tower has to actually ring, so a bag that just taps it won't count.

• Climb the bookshelves and throw from up high, often a few times.
• Alternatively, take the crossbow and peek through the Armory door. Don't step back so far that it unequips. Shoot the bell about four times, timing each shot for the peak of its forward swing.

Memory game (No peeking!). You'll find this matching game in the Dinette. Flip cards and match the pairs.

Sliding puzzle. The sliding puzzle unlocks when you clean the Labyrinth. Arrange the tiles in numerical order. For the last two rows, place 9 and 13 together, then 10 and 14, then 11 and 15.

Mosaics (Sisyphus). For Sisyphus, throw a leaf bag or a book at a finished mosaic and put the fallen pieces back.

Trade master ($10 bag). Follow these steps:

1. Max out Bag Capacity.
2. Clean the areas that boost leaf value: Terrace, Fresco and the Shooting Range.
3. Buy the Giant Leaf Bag.
4. Fill it and dump it.

Castle Playing Card Locations

Collect all eight for Poker Hand.

#	Area	Where to look
1	Shop	Under the bottom of the right-hand shelf
2	Fresco	Behind the shield next to the squirrel statue
3	Dinette	On the wall by the exit toward the stairs
4	Ruins	On the battlements, also visible from the Dinette
5	Terrace	On a battlement near the hatch
6	Love Garden	On a beam in the middle of the garden
7	Leaf Garden	On a column ledge, up top by the bench corner
8	Throne Room	On the threshold, left of the entrance near the Labyrinth

Crouch while you search, since several cards sit low or tucked behind objects.

Sakura: Area Order, Suction Mode and the Mini Tractor

Sakura plays like a chill, satisfying finale. You arrive with your tools, and the big new upgrade is Suction Mode. It turns the leaf blower into a vacuum that fills your bag directly. Suck up 10,000 leaves with it for Herbivore. As soon as you buy Suction Mode, start raising Bag Capacity too.

Visit the ancient tree and grab the nut to complete Story Mode.

The mini tractor is for sale in the park.

• Buying it earns They see me rollin'.
• Fully upgrading it earns Pimp My Tractor.
• Power Steering helps a lot in tight park corners.
• Drive the open sections with the tractor, then finish edges, benches and fire pits on foot with Suction Mode.

One tractor achievement needs technique: earning $250 in one go.

• Drive continuously through dense areas without stopping.
• Gather a lot of leaves into one big pile, then run over it with the mini tractor.

Sakura Battle Cards, Lanterns and Leaf Bags

Find all eight battle cards for Gotta Find 'em All:

#	Area	Where to look
1	Temple	On the railing, by the door on the right
2	Garden	On the right side of the stairs, near the bench and flower
3	Lanterns	On the left as you enter, tucked on a tree
4	Playground	Under the left side of the steps
5	Picnic	At the base of a tree, behind it by the roots
6	Recreation	Stuck on a lamp post next to a bench
7	Open-air	Behind the first support beam on the right, near a wooden stand
8	Dog Run	Under the dog tunnel

The Recreation lamp card is easy to miss, so look up while you're there.

Light all the hanging lanterns around the park for Bright Idea.

Dispose of the leaf bags spread across the park for Bag to Basics.

Tracking Down the Last Leaf

Getting stuck at 99.9% is a common frustration on both new maps. A leaf stays assigned to its original area no matter where you blow it, so the missing one may be sitting in a neighboring zone.

• Toggle leaf visibility to make the current area's leaves stand out.
• Check the tops of hedges in Sakura's Garden. It's easy to scan the ground and miss a single leaf sitting up high.
• Look inside Sakura's fire pits and under every bench and table.
• Sweep the edges of the next area over with your leaf blower to push strays back out.
• If nothing turns up, save, reload, and check again. A lone leaf has reappeared for some players after a reload.

Patch v1.1.7 also fixed leaves ending up inside objects like a torii beam or campfire, so update the game first if you're hunting on an older build.