Shift At Midnight Speedrun Walkthrough: All 13 Shifts and the True Ending

Speedrunning Shift At Midnight comes down to one thing: repeating a tight gas-station loop while knowing exactly who is human and who is a doppelganger before they open their mouths. The full run is 13 story shifts, and the cleanest route ends on the true ending with your pet saved. Learn the loop, memorize the doppelganger list per shift, and cut every wasted second between the counter, the shelves, and the exit.

Quick answer: Run the same loop every shift. Clean the store, open the garage for the delivery truck, restock right after each sale, scan every ID, shoot the shift’s known doppelgangers, then gun down the entity and the creatures it spawns during the 60-second alert. Bank enough personal cash to pay the $250 pet surgery before Shift 13, and do not call Clyde in the finale.

Scanning a customer ID at the gas station counter in Shift At Midnight — Scan every customer’s ID before you bag their items. Image: Kwalee

The core speedrun loop

Before chasing records, play the game normally a few times so the layout and the ID computer feel automatic. Once you know the store, every shift follows the same rhythm. The faster you settle into it, the more time you shave off the clock.

Enter the store and read the noticeboard for that shift’s objectives. From Shift 4 onward, also check the note by the gas pump, and read any counter or back-counter notes when the shift starts with one.

Clear the mess left from the previous night. Grab the mop, clean the blood in the next room, bag any limbs in trash bags, and dump them outside.

On the way back, grab the boxes and leave the garage door open for the delivery truck. Stock the shelves from the box inventory before customers pile up.

Serve each customer at the counter. Scan their card, bag their items, and restock immediately after they leave so you never scramble during a rush.

When a doppelganger arrives, shoot it. Mop the blood, bag the limbs, and dispose of them. Pick up the gun early on Shift 1 so you are always armed.

After the last customer leaves, the entity attacks. For a speedrun, the fastest play is to shoot the entity and every creature it spawns with your gun rather than waiting them out.

With the store cleaned and the entity dead, run for the bus to end the shift. From Shift 5 on, make sure you board the correct bus.

Tip: If a doppelganger completes its transaction before you shoot it, an entity alert triggers and you get a 60-second window. Lay traps in the garage and near the desk, then finish the entity with your gun. Killing a suspected doppelganger before payment is faster because it skips the alert entirely.

Every shift’s doppelgangers and key event

Knowing who is fake in advance is the biggest time save in the run. Shoot the names in the middle column on sight; treat everyone else as a paying human. The right column lists the one twist each shift throws at you.

Shift	Doppelgangers to shoot	Key event
1	Nathan Calloway, Julietta Granger	Road car lures out a monster; first entity attack
2	Natasha Lin, Emilia Carter, Norbert	Generator sabotage; go check it armed
3	Tommy Delgado (1st)	Heavier customer flow; pay the pet’s medicine bill
4	Keith Hargreaves, Driver (2nd), Martha Collins, Ray Rowland	Gas pumping starts; rat bonus task
5	Driver, Anita Varma, Elena Park	Blood rain; Arsenal is unreliable; break-room painting
6	Jade Sinclair, Ramona Delgado, Harold Brant, Driver	Forest limb cleanup; Norbert appears
7	Driver, Louisa Mari (1st), Herbert, Richard McCree	Second Louisa is real; thieves; the bear is fake; the Dentist arrives
8	Driver, Daria Groves, David Kennedy, Lisa Cannon	More customers and doppelgangers; no new entity tricks
9	Aria Romero, Clyde Dawson	Roach bonus; Norbert on a motorbike; fake Clyde
10	Rudnick Wex, Vivien Marrow, Net Pongsak	Blood rain; forest grave bucket task; $250 surgery revealed
11	Dylan Pike, Agnes Wells, Ethan Voss, Andal Khan (2nd)	First real Andal Khan; keep enough cash for surgery
12	Yasmin Carvalho, Maya Davila, Diana Volkov, Barry Aoki	Doppelgangers of you attack; sheriff email arrives
13	Swarm (all types)	Dentist chase; a stranger kills it and himself

Shifts 1 to 3: Lock in the routine

The opening shifts teach the loop, so run it clean. On Shift 1, Clyde Dawson and Bonnie McCree are your first real customers, and the road car sends a monster after you, so run back inside the moment it appears. Nathan Calloway and Julietta Granger are the fakes here.

Shift 2 adds a sabotaged generator. Take your gun, check it, and return to shoot the doppelganger waiting inside. If you run low on traps, buy more from the computer. On Shift 3 the customer count jumps, so read each name carefully and shoot only Tommy Delgado’s first appearance. End the night by paying your pet’s medicine bill so it can join you next shift.

A busy Shift At Midnight night with more tasks stacking up at the store — Each night piles on more tasks. Image: Kwalee

Shifts 4 to 6: Gas, rats, and forest cleanup

Shift 4 spikes the difficulty. You now pump gas for drivers as they pull in, and your boss calls about a rat problem. Collect every rat and throw them in the trash before the next customer arrives for a bonus, which becomes a steady income source. Clear the four doppelgangers, then handle the entity after Clyde leaves.

By Shift 5 you should have money to spare, so buy traps and scatter a few for later nights. Blood rain hits, and your manager warns that the Emergency Weapons Arsenal may fail, forcing you to hide if something appears before it opens. Your pistol is still enough to hold off the entity. Shift 6 sends you into the woods to bag rotting limbs with a flashlight and dump them, with Norbert showing up during the usual loop.

Shifts 7 to 10: The Dentist and the surgery bill

Shift 7 is a name trap. The manager calls immediately about Louisa Mari and warns you not to kill her. The first Louisa is a doppelganger; the second is the real one. Thieves also try to leave without paying, and shooting them is faster than chasing. The bear is a doppelganger too. The Dentist shows up alongside the entity, but upgraded weapons drive them both off.

Shift 8 just stacks more customers and doppelgangers with no new entity behavior, so keep the loop tight. Shift 9 adds a roach bonus, cleared with your mop, plus Norbert on a motorbike and a fake Clyde to shoot. Upgrade your weapons before the entity here.

Shift 10 brings blood rain again, which makes weapons harder to reach for half the entity fight. This time the forest call sends you to fill a bucket and pour liquid into the grave. When you leave, you learn your pet needs surgery costing $250, so start tracking your personal funds from this point.

Preparing to shoot during the final shift of Shift At Midnight — Keep your weapon ready for the finale. Image: Kwalee

Shifts 11 to 13: The finale and the true ending

In the final stretch you can speed things up by shooting nearly everyone approaching the store, but that costs you the income you need for the surgery. Only go aggressive once you are confident you have enough for the $250 vet bill. On Shift 11, remember the first Andal Khan is human and the second is the fake.

Shift 12 uses the same aggressive approach if your cash is secure. Doppelgangers of yourself assault you as the shift ends, but you can escape them. An email then offers to cover the surgery if you get the sheriff to appear. For the true ending route, do not call Clyde, treating the offer as a bluff.

Shift 13 is the swarm. Keep shooting the doppelgangers until the Dentist cutscene triggers, then run the opposite direction until it catches you in a second cutscene. A stranger kills the Dentist and then himself, ending the shift. If you banked enough money along the way, your pet is saved and you land the true ending.

You know the run worked when the finale cutscene plays out and the post-Shift 13 screen confirms the pet surgery was paid. The most common way to lose the true ending is reaching that check short on personal cash, so keep store money and personal funds separate and protect verified sales through the final three nights.