Cleaning up space is usually a chore, but in Team Asobi’s latest masterpiece, it’s a prerequisite for a shiny digital trophy. You've probably spent hours bouncing around the vibrant worlds of Astro Bot, but if you’re hunting for the Platinum, you’ve hit a wall with a specific, oddly named achievement: Cleaning Lady. The description tells you to "Find the turtles in trash Astro Bot" style, but it doesn't give you a map. Or a hint. It just expects you to know where the garbage is piling up.
Honestly, it’s one of those tasks that feels like it should be simple until you’re actually looking for it. You’re scanning every beach and every desert. You’re punching crates. You’re looking for literal trash cans. But the game is playing a bit of a trick on you. The turtles aren't just decorative elements in the background; they are part of a specific environmental interaction in a specific hub world.
Where the Turtles are Hiding
Stop looking in the main levels. You won't find the turtles in trash Astro Bot requirements satisfied inside the Serpent Starway or the Gorilla Nebula. You need to head back to the Crash Site. This is your home base, the place where all your rescued Bots hang out and where you spend your hard-earned coins at the Gatcha Lab.
As you unlock more parts of the Crash Site by rescuing Bots, you'll eventually open up the southern area of the map. Look for the section where the environment looks a bit more tropical, near the water. There is a cluster of turtles here that look like they’ve had a very bad day. They aren't swimming. They are stuck. They're literally covered in space junk and debris, spinning around in distress.
Freeing the Turtles
The mechanic here is straightforward but requires a bit of finesse. You need to use your spin attack—hold down the square button and release—to clear the gunk off their shells. There are four turtles in total.
Wait. Why isn't the trophy popping?
This is where most players get frustrated. You can't just hit one and walk away. You have to clear all of them. Once you’ve spun the trash off their backs, they’ll scurry toward the ocean. It’s a small, rewarding moment that reminds you of the environmental themes Team Asobi loves to pepper into their games, much like the beach cleaning bits in Astro's Playroom.
The Physics of Trash in Astro Bot
The game uses a highly sophisticated physics engine. Everything in Astro Bot feels tactile. When you hit the turtles in trash Astro Bot uses its haptic feedback to let you feel the "crunch" of the debris breaking away. If you’re playing on a DualSense controller—and you should be—the tension in the triggers and the vibrations in the grips change based on the material you're hitting.
It's not just about the trophy. It’s about the "toy-box" feel.
Think about the way the loose bolts and scattered metal pieces react when you walk through them. In the Crash Site, the trash isn't just a static texture. It's a collection of individual assets that have weight and momentum. When you spin into the turtles, you aren't just triggering an animation; you’re physically displacing the objects that were trapping them.
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Missing a Turtle?
If you've cleared the beach and the trophy hasn't triggered, you likely missed one tucked behind a rock or further up the shoreline. The turtles usually spawn in a loose line.
- Check the tide line.
- Look for the blue sparkles that indicate a stuck object.
- Make sure you’ve rescued enough Bots (usually around 100-150) to even have this section of the Crash Site fully accessible.
Why This Trophy Matters for the Platinum
Astro Bot is a game of discovery. It’s a love letter to PlayStation history, but the Cleaning Lady trophy is a nod to the game’s internal logic. It teaches you that your actions in the hub world matter just as much as your actions in the platforming stages.
The turtles in trash Astro Bot puzzle is essentially a "soft gate." It rewards players who take the time to explore their surroundings rather than just rushing from one level to the next. It’s also a high-visibility objective for the PlayStation "Activities" tab. If you look at your trophy list, this one often has a lower completion percentage than some of the harder platforming challenges simply because it's so easy to overlook.
Common Misconceptions
Some players think you need to find these turtles in the Bayou Boogie level or Luna Scented. You don’t. While there are aquatic creatures in those levels, they are usually enemies or NPCs that provide power-ups. The "Cleaning Lady" title is a literal reference to tidying up your home base.
Also, don't confuse this with the "Bot-erfly Effect" or other environmental trophies. Each one has a specific "tell." For the turtles, the "tell" is the visible clutter on their backs that matches the space-trash theme of the crashed Mothership.
Pro-Tips for Completionists
If you’re going for 100%, you need to treat the Crash Site like its own level. There are hidden Bots here too, some of which only appear once you’ve interacted with the environment—like our turtle friends.
- Use the Map: The Crash Site is bigger than it looks. Use the bird's eye view to spot areas you haven't "cleaned" yet.
- Sound Cues: Listen for the distressed chirps. The 3D audio in Astro Bot is incredibly precise. You can literally hear which direction the trapped turtles are in.
- Bot Assistance: Sometimes, your rescued Bots will gather around points of interest. If you see a crowd of VIP Bots (like the ones dressed as Kratos or Nathan Drake) standing near the water, go check it out. They might be pointing you right toward the turtles in trash Astro Bot needs you to find.
The Role of the Gatcha Lab
Once you've freed the turtles, don't forget to head over to the Gatcha Lab. Often, cleaning up these little environmental messes or completing "hidden" tasks in the hub world feels like it earns you better luck with the drops. While there's no official stat for "Luck," the community has long suspected that "interacting" with the world increases the frequency of rare pulls. Or maybe it just feels that way because you're having more fun.
What to Do Next
Now that you've cleared the trash and the turtles are safely in the water, you're one step closer to that Platinum. But the Crash Site has more secrets.
Look for the giant DualSense ship and see if there are any other bots needing a hand. Check the cliffside for hidden murals. Most importantly, keep an eye on the water—once the turtles are freed, they often stick around, swimming happily near the shore. It's a small detail, but in a game like Astro Bot, the small details are the whole point.
Final Checklist for the Cleaning Lady Trophy
- Navigate to the Crash Site (Hub World).
- Unlock the South Beach area by collecting enough Bots.
- Locate the four turtles covered in metallic debris.
- Perform a spin attack (Square button) on each turtle shell.
- Wait for all four to reach the water to trigger the notification.
Getting this trophy out of the way early makes the rest of the cleanup much more relaxing. You can go back to finding those pesky hidden puzzle pieces knowing the environment is a little bit cleaner than you found it.
After you finish with the turtles, head to the desert section of the Crash Site and look for the hidden cactus interactions. There's a whole world of physics-based trophies waiting for you there that use the same "clean and interact" logic as the turtles. Your journey to the Platinum trophy is mostly about being curious and hitting things until they give you a reward. In the world of Astro Bot, that's a winning strategy.