Elvira's Backyard: 100% Mowing Guide

What the One More Lawn Backyard Job Asks of You

Elvira pays well, and she is not subtle about marking down sloppy work. The One More Lawn backyard job runs on three conditions: every blade cut, grass left at exactly five centimeters, and absolutely nothing broken — with her garden gnome sitting at the top of that list. The One More Lawn backyard is the second contract in the free demo, right after your own front yard, and it is the map that teaches habits that carry into the full game's golf course and island jobs.

Treat her job card as a checklist rather than flavor text. She is described as picky for a reason, and the delivery screen rewards you with a receipt full of comments if you cut too short, skip a strip, or clip something you shouldn't have.

The free demo gives you your own front yard plus Elvira's entire backyard, solo or in online co-op, and your save carries into the full release on November 12.

Mower Setup: Controls That Decide Your Score

You are working with an old riding mower and a mechanical dashboard, not a modern zero-turn. That matters, because two of the dials on that dash decide whether the job grades well or turns into an afternoon of cleanup.

Start by holding the ignition key until the engine actually catches. Tap it and the mower stalls, so keep the key held through the rough cranking. Then flip the blade switch, check the deck-height lever, and confirm a bag is mounted on the back before you roll forward.

The bag gauge is the one people ignore. Once the bag is packed, the deck stops collecting and starts leaving a trail of clippings and uncut grass, which reads as sloppy work when Elvira inspects. Empty it early instead of waiting for the warning.

Beer is optional and honestly a trap on a graded job. Drinking blurs the screen and makes steering harder, which is exactly what you don't need while threading a mower between a fence and a ceramic gnome. Save the can for after delivery.

A Step-by-Step Route Through Elvira's Backyard

Route order matters more than raw speed here. The yard is large, the turning radius is wide, and the deck sits close to your feet rather than at the nose of the mower — so line the deck up with the uncut edge, not the front of the machine. Using the mower's nose as your guide is what leaves thin uncut strips along every pass.

Plan every turn at the edges of the lawn rather than mid-yard. A wide turning arc in open grass leaves a scuffed patch you then have to re-cut, and re-cutting wastes both time and bag capacity.

If your coverage keeps stalling along fences, try trimming those lines first. Clearing the tight strips before you commit to full laps means the mower never has to squeeze into a gap it barely fits through.

Bag, Fuel, and Trimmer Work

Keep the bag ahead of the grass

Empty bags when they hit roughly three-quarters full, not when the gauge screams. Dump the clippings well off your mowing line so you aren't driving back over a pile, and re-mount a fresh bag before the next block of stripes. If a buyer pulls up in a truck looking for bagged grass, hand the clippings over for cash instead of dumping them.

Fuel is a walking errand

There is no fuel delivery service. When the gauge drops, park the mower, walk to the gas can by the back door, and carry it back yourself. Refueling before the final third of the yard is far cheaper than stalling halfway through a stripe and losing your rhythm.

The trimmer is where jobs get ugly

The string trimmer cuts lower than the mower deck, so lingering in one spot scalps the grass below Elvira's five centimeters. Keep the head moving in a steady arc, walk forward for speed, and use the slower backward pass only where you need precision. You also have to pull-start the trimmer with a mouse drag before it fires, so budget a second for that every time you pick it up.

That gnome is the single most expensive object in the yard. Elvira's brief specifically calls out not breaking it, and it is easy to clip with either the deck or the trimmer while you're focused on the grass line.

Scoring, Co-op, and the Timelapse

When you finish, you deliver the job and get graded. A messy run with a wandering route can still land in the low 80s on perfection, which tells you coverage and care matter as much as pace. The game also keeps a leaderboard for the map, and fast entries come from clean routing rather than frantic driving. After delivery you can watch a timelapse of the whole job, which is the fastest way to spot the strips you missed.

Co-op changes the math. Up to six players can share one lawn, each on their own mower, joined by Steam invite or a six-digit code, with proximity voice chat so you can coordinate who takes which side. It also gives you wave, point, and dance gestures, plus fruit throwing and punches that only leave the other player dizzy. Streamer Mode and shared music settings are worth checking before you record anything.

FAQ

Does the One More Lawn backyard job really require exactly five centimeters? Yes. Elvira's brief specifies five centimeters and nothing taller, so set the deck-height lever before your first pass and don't raise it mid-job to save time.

What happens if I hit the garden gnome? It can be knocked over by the mower or caught by the trimmer, and Elvira's instructions are explicit about not breaking it. Steer wide around its base and trim that spot from a short distance.

How many players can mow the One More Lawn backyard together? Six total, each on a separate mower, using a Steam invite or a six-digit join code with proximity voice chat.

Do I keep my progress when the full game launches? Yes. Demo saves carry into the full release, so any practice you put into the One More Lawn backyard job is not wasted.