Night-Shift Survival Tips

Most clerks do not die to a doppelganger. They die to bad habits — a dark aisle, a ignored camera, a customer they waved through without looking. This guide collects the routines that separate a survivor from a statistic.

Keep the lot lit

A lit forecourt is your early-warning system. Doppelgangers avoid bright light, so a well-lit pump island and parking area buys you reaction time.

The 2-minute sweep

At the start of every night, walk the perimeter and top up any flickering lamp. Burned-out lights are not cosmetic — they are blind spots.

Run a camera routine

The back-office monitors are free information. The mistake new clerks make is glancing once and forgetting them.

Call outs over the mic

In co-op, one player should own the cameras and call movements: "Something at pump 4", "Back door just opened". Say it out loud, every time.

The one rule

Never let a customer behind the counter. The moment someone steps past the register line, the night is effectively over — that is where the kills happen.

If a regular asks to "grab something from the back", that is not a regular. Politely refuse and reach for the scanner.

Manage your flashlight

The flashlight drains, and on later nights the devs slowed the drain but not by much. Use short bursts to verify IDs, not as a constant beam.

End-of-night checklist

• All windows boarded before the 3 AM rush
• Tripwire alarms armed on both doors
• One clerk watching cameras, one on the floor
• Scanner charged and on the counter

Run that checklist and you will clear far more nights than you lose.