Pick up, then discharge into a clear path
The cited equipment guide lists a 1,000-potato tank. Equip slot 3 and hold the left mouse button near the loose potatoes you want to collect. The community control reference lists the right mouse button for discharge and reports peeled output, including when raw potatoes went in. Aim a short discharge into a clear receiving route first. If the water is already backed up, clear the obstruction before emptying the whole tank.
At the supply window open Handling and inspect the Potato Vacuum dossier. The screenshot shows slot 3, LMB for intake and RMB for discharge. Stand beside a small visible group. Hold LMB until it disappears, walk to the water inlet and use a short RMB burst. If a Vacuum jammed message appears, keep the tool equipped and follow the removal prompt. The walkthrough describes holding E, then finishing the stuck potato by hand.
When the purchase is worth considering
The community price table records 2,800 on build 1.0.1; use the price shown by your terminal for the current purchase. A player who reached the end without enough money for the tool reported that another run could finish without it. Choose it for a concrete job such as scattered leftovers or repeated overflow, rather than budgeting around an assumption that the main ending requires the purchase.
Watch one full delivery before spending. If machines run but pieces repeatedly spill out around the water bend, the tool gives you a way to collect the scattered output. If drums idle while you walk from the outside mound with sacks, the bottleneck is delivery. Follow one outdoor hook into the indoor bay to see whether the next purchase should serve the line instead.
Saving a full tank and finding the key potato
The studio added tank persistence in hotfix 1.0.2. If you pause mid-cleanup and reload, check the vacuum before searching the outdoor pile. The same patch keeps the key potato in place until you pick it up; the vacuum and puppy can no longer take it away. For that specific potato, approach the drop directly instead of sweeping more ordinary potatoes into the tank.
For a small persistence test, put a visible batch into the tank, save, reopen that shift and try a short discharge into a clear inlet. Seeing an output burst is direct evidence the tank retained stock. If the final airdrop has arrived, stop vacuuming and pick up the special potato separately. The key-potato protection does not change the rules for ordinary potatoes.
Developer notes • Hotfix 1.0.2 ↗
Sources
- Player discussion • Finishing without buying the vacuum steamcommunity.com
- Player report • Overflow at the water channel bend steamcommunity.com
- Community upgrade reference • Controls and transport functions potatopleasewiki.wiki
- Community reference • Terminal prices recorded on build 1.0.1 potatosplease.wiki
- Walkthrough • journal tasks and machine jam prompts 9puz.com
- Developer notes • Hotfix 1.0.2 steamcommunity.com