The Potato in Yet Another Zombie Survivors is one of those items that looks completely pointless until you realize there is actually a little secret attached to it. If you picked one up and wondered why the game bothered giving you a potato, you’re definitely not the only one.
The Potato is connected to achievements, a hidden developer tribute, and Sanji the Rabbit, who can be found hiding at a specific location on the Vile Wasteland map. Here’s how the whole thing works after the game’s 1.0 launch.
Yet Another Zombie Survivors Potato Guide – How to Find Sanji and Unlock the Achievements
The Potato has a couple of different purposes.
First, collecting it is tied to the Why’d You Pick That? achievement. More importantly, having the Potato allows you to trigger the hidden Sanji the Rabbit encounter on Vile Wasteland.
There’s also an interaction involving SWAT’s grenades, with the Potato being intended to turn them into exploding potatoes.
So, while it looks like a joke item at first, there is actually some achievement and secret content attached to it.
Potato Achievements in Version 1.0
The Potato is connected to two achievements, and their rewards were changed when the game reached version 1.0.
Why’d You Pick That?
This achievement is straightforward: get a Potato.
The reward has also been changed in the 1.0 version of the game. It now gives the Great Nade instead of the old Skip Rope reward.
So if you already unlocked this achievement before 1.0, don’t be surprised if you’ve seen a different reward listed elsewhere.
Curly Little Potato
This is the achievement tied to finding Sanji the Rabbit.
You’ll receive the Easter Egg as the current reward, replacing the previous Jade Amulet reward.
The achievement is also a nice hint toward the story behind the Potato, because Sanji wasn’t simply placed there as another random secret.
How to Find Sanji the Rabbit
Finding Sanji is actually pretty simple once you know where to look, but getting the Potato to appear can take considerably more effort.
Here’s the route I’d use.
1. Complete Power Overwhelming First
The Power Overwhelming achievement is believed to be a prerequisite for the Sanji encounter.
There has been some uncertainty around this requirement, but players have reported that completing it first is necessary, so it’s worth getting it out of the way before spending time hunting for the Potato.
2. Load Into Vile Wasteland
Once that’s done, start a run on Vile Wasteland.
Endurance mode is a good option because you’ll have more time to work on getting the item without feeling rushed by the normal run.
3. Increase Your Chances of Finding the Potato
This is where the hunt can become annoying.
The Potato comes from an item chest, so you’ll want to manipulate your available item pool as much as possible.
A good approach is to:
- Ban as many unwanted items as possible.
- Use your rerolls.
- Use banishes when available.
- Bring a high-level Gamble Badge if you have one.
- Reduce the number of competing items in the pool.
The idea is pretty simple: the fewer things competing with the Potato, the better your chances of seeing it.
Once you find the Potato in an item chest, pick it up and continue the run.
Sanji’s Location on Vile Wasteland
After you’ve obtained the Potato, head toward the eastern, top-right edge of Vile Wasteland.
You’re looking for a house positioned outside the normal playable area.
Once you reach the correct location, stop moving and wait.
You don’t need to attack anything or interact with a special object. Just stand still for roughly 5–10 seconds.
If you’ve done everything correctly, Sanji the Rabbit will appear in the window.
That’s what unlocks the Curly Little Potato achievement.
How Many Potatoes Do You Actually Need?
This caused quite a bit of confusion because the requirement wasn’t always the same.
Originally, players were required to collect three Potatoes in a single run to complete the secret.
That requirement was later changed because it was frustrating and unnecessarily difficult for players trying to complete the achievement.
The current requirement is one Potato.
So don’t waste time trying to collect three in the same run. Once you’ve got the Potato, focus on getting yourself to Sanji’s location.
Who Is Sanji the Rabbit?
This is probably the nicest part of the entire secret.
Sanji was the developers’ pet rabbit, who has since passed away. The developers referred to him as a “curly little potato,” which explains the unusual name of the achievement.
That makes the Potato and the hidden rabbit encounter more than just a random Easter egg. It’s essentially a small tribute tucked away inside the game.
Once you know that, the whole Potato quest makes a lot more sense.
The Potato Has a Hidden Message
There’s another little detail hidden in the Potato that makes the secret even cooler.
If you inspect its tooltip, you’ll find this string:
d2luZG93IGluIGRlc2VydA
At first glance, it looks like a completely random collection of letters and numbers.
It isn’t.
The string is Base64 encoded. Once decoded, it says:
“window in desert”
And that’s exactly where you’re supposed to look.
The developers basically left the answer sitting on the Potato itself. If you didn’t know what the string was, though, you’d probably never realize that it was giving you a clue about Sanji’s location.