Shift at MidnightShift at Midnight

7/11/2025

A full beginner-friendly guide to Shift at Midnight, covering game overview, basic controls and UI, a recommended first-night walkthrough, questioning strategies to spot doppelgangers, barricades and traps, common mistakes, and recommended graphics settings to survive the graveyard shift.

Shift at Midnight Game Guide: Complete Walkthrough and Survival Tips for Beginners

So you just clocked in for the night shift at a creepy 90s gas station… and now some of your customers are pretending to be human.

Welcome to Shift at Midnight — an online co-op detective horror game for 1–3 players where you run a gas station, interrogate suspicious customers, and desperately try not to get eaten when things go wrong. :contentReference[oaicite:0]{index=0}

This guide is meant to be your first-night survival manual. We’ll walk through:

  • What the game is actually about
  • How the basic controls and UI work
  • A step-by-step plan for your first night
  • How to use your limited questions smartly
  • When and where to barricade, trap, and hide
  • Classic beginner mistakes to avoid
  • Recommended settings so you can actually see what’s trying to kill you

Grab a coffee, keep one eye on the CCTV, and let’s get into it.

Game Overview

Shift at Midnight plays like someone smashed together Papers, Please, FNAF and a co-op survival horror, then set the whole thing inside a lonely rural gas station in the 90s.

You’re working the graveyard shift. On paper, it’s simple:

  • Serve customers
  • Check IDs
  • Keep the store stocked
  • Lock up at the end of your shift

The problem?

A portion of those “customers” are actually doppelgangers. If you let the wrong one through, the whole night spirals into chaos. :contentReference[oaicite:1]{index=1}

Gameplay naturally splits into three phases:

  1. Investigation Phase

    • Customers arrive one by one.
    • You check their ID, cross-check their details on the computer, and ask up to a limited number of questions.
    • Your job is to decide: human or doppelganger?

  2. Management Phase

    • Between waves, you’ll:
      • Restock shelves
      • Manage deliveries
      • Plan where to place traps
      • Move around the station and prepare for trouble
    • Think of it as a mini store management sim sandwiched inside a horror game.

  3. Survival Phase

    • If (when) things go bad, a creature gets loose.
    • Suddenly, it’s all about barricades, traps, and hiding spots.
    • You’ll listen for audio cues, watch the environment, and try to survive long enough to make it to dawn.

In the demo, the shifts are more scripted — you’ll get a curated taste of what the full game will be like. In the full release, runs are planned to be much more random, with an “enormous number of randomly generated shifts”, so every night can play out differently. :contentReference[oaicite:2]{index=2}

Whether you’re solo or playing co-op with up to two friends, your success depends on how well you can read people, manage time, and stay calm when things start scratching at the windows.

Basic Controls & UI

Exact keybinds can change between versions, but the demo follows pretty standard PC horror controls. If something feels off, always double-check the in-game Controls menu.

Movement & Interaction

  • Move – W / A / S / D
  • Look / Aim – Mouse
  • Interact / Talk / Use PC – usually E
  • Crouch – Ctrl
  • Sprint – often Shift (if available in your build)
  • Pause / Settings – Esc

Treat this like any other first-person horror: move slowly, clear corners, and don’t spin your mouse like you’re in an FPS montage. You need to actually read things.

The Front Desk UI

Most of your detective work happens at the front counter:

  • Customer Portrait – their face and body language. Twitchy eyes, weird smiles, delayed reactions — all red flags.
  • Physical ID – check:
    • Name
    • Photo
    • Expiry date
    • Address / details
  • Computer Terminal – lets you:
    • Cross-check ID data in the system
    • Look up past records or watchlist tags
    • Sometimes see extra notes about the customer

Think of it like airport security but with more blood.

Question System

The signature mechanic: you only get a limited number of questions per customer. Once you burn through those, you have to make a call. :contentReference[oaicite:3]{index=3}

Questions might probe:

  • Where they’re coming from / going
  • Details that should match the ID
  • Suspicious inconsistencies (job, address, previous visits)

Your goal is to squeeze the maximum info out of the minimum number of questions.

First Night Walkthrough (Step-by-Step)

Let’s walk through a “typical” first night in the demo. Exact events can vary, but the rhythm is usually something like this:

1. Settling In

When you first gain control:

  1. Look around the station

    • Learn the layout: front counter, aisles, backroom, exits, windows.
    • Find potential choke points and hiding spots early.

  2. Check the computer

    • Get familiar with:
      • Customer database
      • Any tutorial messages / emails
      • Basic UI navigation

  3. Adjust your settings (we’ll talk more about this later):

    • Brightness
    • Mouse sensitivity
    • Subtitles

2. First Customers

Your early customers are basically a tutorial for the interrogation system:

  1. Greet them & grab the ID

  2. Compare the photo and the person

    • Do the eyes, haircut, age, and general vibe match?

  3. Check the details on the ID

    • Expiry date
    • Name spelling
    • Address

  4. Use the computer to cross-check

    • Make sure the system data lines up with the physical ID.
    • Any mismatch should raise your suspicion meter in your head, even if the game doesn’t show a literal bar.

  5. Ask 1–3 questions

    • Start with something simple:
      • “Where are you heading?”
      • “How long have you lived at [address]?”
    • Watch for hesitation, contradictions, or robotic answers.

At the end, you’ll be forced to decide: approve or flag as doppelganger.

Early on, the game is forgiving. Later customers will not be so chill.

3. Store Management Between Waves

When there’s a gap between customers:

  • Walk the aisles and check stock levels.
  • Take note of:
    • Entrances you might want to barricade later
    • Corners that would make decent hiding spots
    • Narrow hallways where traps would be effective

If deliveries or new equipment show up, stash them somewhere you can access quickly once things escalate.

4. When Things Go Wrong

Eventually, you’ll hit the moment where a wrong call, a scripted event, or just bad luck means a creature gets loose.

At that point, the game flips into loud, panicked, “WHY IS IT BEHIND ME” mode:

  1. Drop whatever you’re doing
  2. Barricade priority doors and windows (more on that next section)
  3. Place traps in likely paths
  4. Listen
    • Footsteps, breathing, banging, or distorted voice lines can give away where the creature is.
  5. Decide: hide or fight
    • In co-op, you might split roles (one baits, one supports, one secures routes).
    • In solo, you’re playing both cat and mouse at the same time.

Survive the encounter, and you’re back to trying to run a “normal” gas station until the next nightmare starts.

How to Question Customers Efficiently

You don’t have infinite time or infinite questions, so let’s talk actual tactics.

1. Always Start With the Basics

Before you ask anything, do a silent check:

  • Does the face match the photo?
  • Does their age match what the ID claims?
  • Does the expiration date make sense?
  • Any super obvious typo or error?

If the ID already looks cursed, you know you need to dig deeper.

2. Use a 3-Layer Question Strategy

Think of your questions in three layers:

  1. Warm-up (1 question)

    • “Where are you headed?”
    • “You been here before?”
    • Purpose: get them talking, establish a baseline of how they sound when relaxed.

  2. ID-linked detail (1–2 questions)

    • Ask about:
      • Address
      • Job
      • Something specific on the ID
    • Compare their answer with the written info.

  3. Pressure test (1 question)

    • Rephrase something they already answered in a slightly different way.
    • Humans will usually stay consistent without thinking; fake things often break under repetition.

If a customer fails layer 2 or 3 badly, it’s usually safer to assume doppelganger.

3. Watch for Behavioral Red Flags

You’re not just reading text — you’re reading people:

  • Too calm in a clearly creepy situation
  • Delayed answers to basic questions
  • Overly specific stories that feel rehearsed
  • Staring straight at you without blinking

One red flag is a coincidence. Three or more… maybe don’t let them walk around your store.

4. Don’t Waste Questions on Fluff

Avoid things like:

  • “Nice weather, huh?”
  • “How’s your night going?”

Unless the game explicitly uses small talk to reveal hidden tells, you should stick to questions that:

  • Directly connect to the ID
  • Give you new, checkable information
  • Force them to improvise details

Barricades & Traps

Once the game leaves “customer service” and enters “monsters in the vents”, barricades and traps become your best friends.

1. Pick Your Choke Points

Before anything happens, mentally mark:

  • The main door customers enter through
  • Any side doors or back exits
  • Large windows that could be break-in points
  • Narrow hallways that would be perfect trap funnels

You don’t have infinite boards and equipment, so focus on:

  • Main entry points
  • Paths that lead straight to you or your team
  • Areas with poor visibility

2. Smart Barricading

General rules:

  • Don’t waste boards on doors you never use and the enemy rarely touches.
  • Barricade the most direct paths first.
  • Make sure you’re not barricading yourself into a dead end with no escape.

In co-op, assign one person as the “defense lead”:

  • Their job is to remember where boards and traps are
  • They call out which door to reinforce next
  • Everyone feeds resources to them

3. Trap Placement Tips

Common trap mistakes:

  • Dropping traps in the middle of wide open rooms
  • Clustering all traps in one place “just in case”
  • Forgetting which doorway you trapped and walking into it yourself

Try this instead:

  • Place traps:

    • Just behind doors
    • Around tight corners
    • In narrow aisles between shelves

  • Think in pairs:

    • Trap + barricade
    • Trap + hiding spot

You want the creature to hit a trap right before it reaches you or a critical doorway.

Common Beginner Mistakes

If your first few runs go horribly wrong, you’re not alone. Here’s a list of “don’t be that guy” moments.

  1. Ignoring the expiration date

    • Everything looks fine… except the ID expired five years ago. That’s not “oops”, that’s “shoot on sight”.

  2. Trusting vibes over evidence

    • “He just seems nice” is how horror movies start, not how they end well.

  3. Burning all your questions too fast

    • Don’t ask five random things in panic.
    • Have a plan: warm-up → ID detail → pressure test.

  4. Tunnel-visioning on one system

    • Only staring at the PC and forgetting to watch the actual person.
    • Or staring at the person and not checking the database.

  5. Bad time management

    • Spending ages on one customer and then getting overwhelmed later.
    • Try to keep a rhythm: be thorough but decisive.

  6. Panicking when the creature appears

    • Running in circles, forgetting where your traps are, or hiding in a dead end.
    • Breathe. Pick one plan: barricade here, trap there, hide there.

  7. Zero communication in co-op

    • Everyone doing their own thing silently is the fastest way to wipe.
    • Call out suspicious details, announce where you’re placing traps, and warn before you barricade a door someone is using.

Recommended Settings & Graphics

You don’t get bonus points for suffering through a game that’s too dark to see.

1. Video / Graphics

If your PC is mid-range or close to the minimum specs (roughly an Intel i3-2100, 4 GB RAM and a mid-tier GPU like a GTX 750 Ti), prioritize frames and visibility over ultra graphics. :contentReference[oaicite:4]{index=4}

Recommended tweaks:

  • Brightness / Gamma
    • Set it so dark corners are spooky but not completely black.
  • Shadows
    • Medium or Low if performance is bad.
  • Anti-Aliasing
    • Low or off for extra FPS.
  • Resolution
    • Native if possible; if you’re struggling, lower the resolution scale a bit instead of dropping the base resolution right away.

2. Audio

This game is heavily about audio cues:

  • Turn sound effects fairly high.
  • Keep music a bit lower so you can hear footsteps, doors, and breathing.
  • Use headphones if at all possible — knowing whether a sound came from the left or right can save your life.

3. Controls & Accessibility

  • Mouse sensitivity – Set something that lets you 180° turn quickly but still fine-tune on IDs and UI.
  • Subtitles – Turn them on. In horror, clear voice lines are important.
  • Head bob / motion blur – If you get dizzy easily, turn them down or off.

You’re now more prepared than most poor souls walking into Shift at Midnight blind.

Use your questions wisely, don’t cheap out on barricades, listen carefully, and remember: if a customer feels just a little too normal for this gas station… maybe that’s the most suspicious thing of all.

Back to Articles