The Kids Have Jobs update is live in 99 Nights in the Forest, and it hands all four rescued kids a real role around camp. Instead of just Dino Kid pitching in, Kraken Kid, Squid Kid, and Koala Kid now handle their own resource loops once you feed them and recover their lost trinkets to level them up.
Quick answer: Rescue each kid from their cave, keep their hunger bar filled, and return their scattered trinkets. Leveling a kid unlocks its passive job. Dino Kid chops wood, Kraken Kid fishes, Squid Kid cooks, and Koala Kid gathers scrap. Reaching Level 5 with Kraken, Squid, and Koala Kid grants three badges and unlocks a Tree Swing for your camp.
Official Kids Have Jobs patch notes
The kids are ready to start pulling their weight around camp! Once rescued, you can keep the kids fed and recover their lost trinkets to level them up, unlocking new jobs for them to perform around the campsite.
The patch adds a job for each of the four kids, plus a leveling loop tied to feeding and trinket recovery. Once a kid gains its role, it automates one of the most time-consuming manual tasks in a run.
What each kid does
Each kid collects one resource and drops it at a fixed spot. Run all four at once and your camp passively produces wood, fish, cooked food, and scrap without you doing the legwork.
| Kid | Job | Delivery spot |
|---|---|---|
| Dino Kid | Chops wood | His tent, the Campfire, or the Scrapper |
| Kraken Kid | Catches fish | Her tent |
| Squid Kid | Cooks food | His tent, or the Crockpot if it’s empty |
| Koala Kid | Scavenges scrap | Her tent or directly to the Scrapper |
Note: Koala Kid doesn’t need existing scrap in your world to work. She generates it herself. Squid Kid’s automatic Crockpot placement only kicks in at Level 5, so if you want cooked food flowing straight into the pot, he has to be maxed first.
How to level up the kids
There are two sources of experience. Feeding is the steady drip that carries your progress, while returning trinkets is the big one-time boost. Combine both and a kid climbs to Level 5 much faster than feeding alone.
Feeding
Wait until a kid’s hunger bar drops before feeding, since feeding a full kid gives no experience and wastes the food. Food quality changes how much experience you earn.
| Food | Experience |
|---|---|
| Basic cooked food | Low |
| Cooked fish | Moderate |
| Stew (Crockpot) | High |
| Cake | High |
Once your Crockpot is built, switch to stew as your main feeding source instead of burning through basic dishes. Some kids, including Koala and Squid Kid, favor cake when they’re craving it, which gives bonus experience or a mood boost.
Returning trinkets
Every kid has a lunchbox, yo-yo, crayon, and plush lost somewhere on the map, just like Dino Kid’s set. Picking one up sends it to your inventory, though the lunchboxes don’t stack. Handing a trinket back grants a large chunk of experience that dwarfs a single feeding.
Trinket search areas are color-coded on your map, with red marking Dino Kid and blue marking Squid Kid, and each circle narrows as you upgrade your campfire. Trinkets can hide inside structures like shacks or near landmarks, not only out in the open. In multiplayer, only the player who physically picks up a trinket can hand it over, so a teammate grabbing it first can leave your marker looking stuck.
Rescue order and campfire tiers
All four kids sit in caves whose locations are revealed as you upgrade your campfire. Spawn positions shift between runs, so place and expand your map early to track them. Rescue each one as soon as it’s reachable, because every night a kid spends fed at camp counts toward its first job.
| Order | Kid | When it opens |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dino Kid | Usually first, closest to camp |
| 2 | Kraken Kid | After a few campfire upgrades |
| 3 | Squid Kid | Mid-run, once the map opens further |
| 4 | Koala Kid | Last, needs the highest campfire tier |
After a kid is back at camp, interact with them and confirm to begin their friendship progression. From there, feeding and trinkets do the leveling.
Badges and the Tree Swing reward
Three badges are tied to the update, one for each non-Dino kid, and all three require reaching Level 5. You have to claim each badge from the badge board when you hit the level, since the game won’t hand it to you automatically. Claim all three and the Tree Swing becomes available as a camp placement item.
| Badge | Requirement | Reward |
|---|---|---|
| Kraken Daycare | Kraken Kid to Level 5 | 5 Diamonds |
| Squid Daycare | Squid Kid to Level 5 | 6 Diamonds |
| Koala Daycare | Koala Kid to Level 5 | 8 Diamonds |
Leveling all four in a single run is worth the effort if you rescue them early. Koala Kid is the hard part, since she needs the top campfire tier and there’s less time left to grind her once she’s freed. Prioritize her cave upgrades and keep everyone fed on stew, and you’ll turn a solo scramble for wood, fish, food, and scrap into a camp that mostly runs itself.
