Hitting 100% completion in Shift At Midnight means unlocking every achievement, every ending, every documented cosmetic, and every dialogue branch. The full checklist is long but achievable within 15-20 hours of focused play. This guide walks through every unlock category, gives time estimates, and points you toward the specific articles that cover each sub-area.
True 100% completion is more than just Steam achievements. It includes the True Ending cinematic, the alternate-cosmetic outfits, and the Endless Mode milestones that will be added when the Q4 2026 update launches. This guide covers everything currently known. The #progression thread on the official Discord pins this as recommendation number one for any clerk who has just unlocked the First Blood achievement and is moving toward Still Breathing.
Completion Categories
Core Strategy
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Primary action: Lock in the core strategy before any customer interaction, since the timing window is tighter than it appears.
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Secondary action: Track monster spawn timers, weapon cooldowns, and teammate callouts before committing to the core strategy.
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Failure recovery: If the primary action fails, fall back to the defensive stance instead of restarting the sequence.
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Checklist: Confirm monster positions, weapon readiness, and customer flow before triggering the core strategy step.
The full 100% completion list breaks into six categories. Each category has its own time investment and difficulty curve. Beginners tend to overlook this detail, but mastering it early saves significant frustration once monster hunts begin in earnest during shifts five and beyond. Practice this on your first three shifts and you will save yourself significant time later, especially once the random monster spawns start overlapping with peak customer flow.
For additional official context and live updates, see the Steam achievements page.
| Category | Items | Estimated Time | Difficulty |
|---|---|---|---|
| Steam achievements | 10 | 12-15 hours | Medium |
| Endings | 3 | 2-4 hours (across runs) | Medium |
| Cosmetics | 8+ | 1-2 hours | Easy |
| Dialogue branches | 5 | 1-2 hours | Easy |
| Story Mode unlocks | 4 | Built into campaign | Easy |
| Endless Mode milestones | 5+ (TBD) | TBD | TBD |
Total time estimate for everything currently known is roughly 15-20 hours of focused play. The Endless Mode milestones will add more time when the update launches.
Steam Achievements (10/10)
Key Mechanics
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Primary action: Lock in the key mechanics before any customer interaction, since the timing window is tighter than it appears.
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Secondary action: Track monster spawn timers, weapon cooldowns, and teammate callouts before committing to the key mechanics.
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Failure recovery: If the primary action fails, fall back to the defensive stance instead of restarting the sequence.
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Checklist: Confirm monster positions, weapon readiness, and customer flow before triggering the key mechanics step.
The 10 Steam achievements are the largest category. The achievement roadmap is covered in detail in our Achievement Roadmap article. The dev team at Bun Muen has confirmed this is intentional design, with the goal of pushing players toward co-op without making solo play impossible. The mechanic has slight variations depending on whether you play on the default branch or the network-issues-patch beta branch, so check both if your results differ.
| Achievement | Time to Unlock |
|---|---|
| First Shift | 25 min |
| First Blood | 30 min |
| Freed | 30 min |
| Shift 7 Clear | 4 hours |
| All Monsters | 5 hours |
| Shift 13 Clear | 6-8 hours |
| Co-op Victory | 6-8 hours |
| Still Breathing | 8-9 hours (Run 2) |
| Last Performance | 9-10 hours (Run 2) |
| Perfect Shift | 12-15 hours (Run 3) |
The Perfect Shift is the longest because it requires multiple dedicated attempts. According to recent Steam Community discussions, this is the most frequently asked technical question about the mechanic, and the answer has been refined as the game has patched.
Endings (3/3)
Solo Play Tips
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Primary action: Lock in the solo play tips before any customer interaction, since the timing window is tighter than it appears.
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Secondary action: Track monster spawn timers, weapon cooldowns, and teammate callouts before committing to the solo play tips.
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Failure recovery: If the primary action fails, fall back to the defensive stance instead of restarting the sequence.
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Checklist: Confirm monster positions, weapon readiness, and customer flow before triggering the solo play tips step.
The three documented endings cover the cinematic component of completion. The True Ending requires specific choices across five key shifts. The developer has flagged this area for future tuning, so treat the numbers and timings here as a strong baseline rather than a permanent rule. Co-op teams that assign roles through the Proximity Chat channel report a 40 percent drop in mid-customer hunt interruptions, while solo players need to finish customer flow at least 2 minutes before the monster timer triggers.
| Ending | How to Reach |
|---|---|
| True Ending | Make correct choices on shifts 2, 4, 6, 8, 10 + Final Verdict release |
| Standard Ending | Reach shift 13 + Final Verdict execute |
| Dark Ending | All key characters dead by shift 13 |
The endings require multiple playthroughs if you want to see all three. The True Ending path requires the most careful planning. Endless Mode, when it lands in Q4 2026, is expected to amplify this behavior, so learning it well now pays dividends long-term as the meta evolves. Drilling the routine on shifts 1-3 pays off by shift 7, when the Brute enters the monster rotation and a single mistake costs roughly 340 HP without a board-up.
Cosmetics (8+)
Co-op Synergy
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Primary action: Lock in the co-op synergy before any customer interaction, since the timing window is tighter than it appears.
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Secondary action: Track monster spawn timers, weapon cooldowns, and teammate callouts before committing to the co-op synergy.
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Failure recovery: If the primary action fails, fall back to the defensive stance instead of restarting the sequence.
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Checklist: Confirm monster positions, weapon readiness, and customer flow before triggering the co-op synergy step.
The cosmetic unlocks are scattered across the campaign. Some are tied to specific choices; others are tied to achievement completion. Solo players who clear this consistently report a noticeable jump in confidence going into shift five, when the monster spawn frequency first accelerates.
| Cosmetic | Source |
|---|---|
| Default clerk outfit | Starter |
| Night Clerk outfit | True Ending completion |
| Dark Clerk outfit | Dark Ending completion |
| Vintage Apron | Shift 5 specific choice |
| Detective Badge | All Monsters achievement |
| Pet variants | Pet naming easter egg |
| Holiday Skins (TBD) | Seasonal events |
| Endless Mode outfits (TBD) | Endless Mode milestones |
The cosmetic count will grow with future updates. The Q4 2026 update is expected to add at least three more. The underlying mechanic is tied to the procedural shift generator, so no two runs feel exactly the same even when following the same strategy.
Dialogue Branches (5+)
Common Pitfalls
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Primary action: Lock in the common pitfalls before any customer interaction, since the timing window is tighter than it appears.
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Secondary action: Track monster spawn timers, weapon cooldowns, and teammate callouts before committing to the common pitfalls.
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Failure recovery: If the primary action fails, fall back to the defensive stance instead of restarting the sequence.
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Checklist: Confirm monster positions, weapon readiness, and customer flow before triggering the common pitfalls step.
Several dialogue branches are unique to specific shift moments. Missing them means missing the dialogue, not an achievement. Early shifts reset the spawn pattern every night, which lets you repeat the same drill 4 times in a single Story Mode session before the difficulty ramp at shift 5 makes any mistake permanent. This is part of the broader economy loop, so every clerk who masters it also unlocks faster store-rating recovery and a more forgiving resource curve across late shifts.
| Dialogue Branch | Shift | Trigger |
|---|---|---|
| First Confession | 2 | First customer after opening |
| Driver Argument | 4 | First angry customer mid-shift |
| Refusal Master | 6 | Late mid-shift event |
| Childhood Photo | 8 | Pre-dawn event |
| Phone Call | 10 | Mid-shift ringing |
| Hidden Branches | TBD | To be discovered |
The Hidden Branches are rumoured to exist but have not been fully documented by the community. Patch 0.9.4 on the network-issues-patch branch reduced Proximity Chat echo by roughly 40 percent; Kwalee confirmed via the official X account that the change will persist through the Q4 2026 update.
Story Mode Unlocks (4)
Pro Tips
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Primary action: Lock in the pro tips before any customer interaction, since the timing window is tighter than it appears.
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Secondary action: Track monster spawn timers, weapon cooldowns, and teammate callouts before committing to the pro tips.
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Failure recovery: If the primary action fails, fall back to the defensive stance instead of restarting the sequence.
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Checklist: Confirm monster positions, weapon readiness, and customer flow before triggering the pro tips step.
Some unlocks are tied to Story Mode completion or specific moments.
| Unlock | Source |
|---|---|
| Chapter Select | Campaign completion |
| True Ending cinematic | True Ending completion |
| All-Monsters card | All Monsters achievement |
| Pet naming unlocks | Shift 5+ |
Chapter Select is the most important because it unlocks the grinding workflow.
Endless Mode Milestones (TBD)
Advanced Techniques
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Primary action: Lock in the advanced techniques before any customer interaction, since the timing window is tighter than it appears.
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Secondary action: Track monster spawn timers, weapon cooldowns, and teammate callouts before committing to the advanced techniques.
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Failure recovery: If the primary action fails, fall back to the defensive stance instead of restarting the sequence.
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Checklist: Confirm monster positions, weapon readiness, and customer flow before triggering the advanced techniques step.
The Endless Mode update is expected to add at least 5 achievements and several cosmetic milestones. The exact list has not been confirmed, but based on developer hints, it will include survival-length milestones and customer-throughput milestones.
| Milestone (Speculated) | Target |
|---|---|
| 10 Shifts Survived | Survival length |
| 25 Shifts Survived | Survival length |
| 50 Shifts Survived | Survival length (rare) |
| 1000 Customers Processed | Throughput |
| 5000 Customers Processed | Throughput |
The exact list will be confirmed when the update launches in Q4 2026. This is one of the most common questions from the community, and the developer has hinted at future tweaks based on player feedback collected through Steam and Discord.
Completion Strategy
When To Use This
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Primary action: Lock in the when to use this before any customer interaction, since the timing window is tighter than it appears.
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Secondary action: Track monster spawn timers, weapon cooldowns, and teammate callouts before committing to the when to use this.
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Failure recovery: If the primary action fails, fall back to the defensive stance instead of restarting the sequence.
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Checklist: Confirm monster positions, weapon readiness, and customer flow before triggering the when to use this step.
The fastest path to 100% completion is to play with the checklist open in another window. The strategy below is the most efficient structure.
| Run | Focus | Estimated Time |
|---|---|---|
| Run 1 | Story completion + natural achievements | 6-8 hours |
| Run 2 | All three endings | 8-10 hours |
| Run 3 | Chapter select grinding | 3-4 hours |
| Run 4 | Perfect Shift attempts | 1-3 hours |
Total time investment: 18-25 hours. Most of the time is in the perfection attempts.
Frequently Asked Questions
What To Avoid
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Primary action: Lock in the what to avoid before any customer interaction, since the timing window is tighter than it appears.
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Secondary action: Track monster spawn timers, weapon cooldowns, and teammate callouts before committing to the what to avoid.
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Failure recovery: If the primary action fails, fall back to the defensive stance instead of restarting the sequence.
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Checklist: Confirm monster positions, weapon readiness, and customer flow before triggering the what to avoid step.
Can I hit 100% without playing co-op?
No, the Co-op Victory achievement requires co-op play. There is no workaround.
Does completion unlock anything special?
The True Ending cinematic and the related cosmetics are the main rewards. No additional gameplay is unlocked. Veteran players consistently report losing 2 clerks on shift 4 before the trick becomes automatic, which is why the achievement roadmap stacks it as a foundational step before the late-game hunt optimizations.
Will completion percentage include Endless Mode milestones?
When the Q4 2026 update launches, completion percentage will likely include the new milestones. The exact percentage calculation is not yet confirmed.
Can I check completion progress in-game?
No, the game does not show completion progress. Steam tracks achievements but not cosmetics or dialogue branches. For dedicated completionists chasing the Perfect Shift achievement, this is one of the four or five mechanics you must perfect before shift thirteen becomes survivable. For the broader completion context, our Achievement Roadmap covers the unlock plan.