Where to start on this wiki
This wiki has grown to more than 35 pages, and none of them tell you in what order to read them. If you just bought the game, or you are stuck on your first Hunt, this page is a suggested path through the site — beginner first, advanced last — with one line on why each step matters before you click through.
Last verified 11 September 2026 · game version: 29 July 2026 patch
Before you launch the game
- Release date & the basics. Confirms you are looking at the current game, not an outdated May listing left over from before its two delays — a five-minute read that prevents every other page from confusing you with dates that no longer apply.
- Platforms. Steam, Xbox, and Game Pass from day one — worth confirming before you buy on the wrong storefront, especially if you are trying to play with a specific friend (see step 6).
- System requirements. A GTX 1050 Ti minimum and a Steam Deck rating of Playable, not Verified — check this before install, not after a crash sends you to troubleshooting later.
Your first shift
- Beginner's guide. The single most important reframe on this wiki: this is a job simulator with a horror game hiding inside it, and most failed first runs come from playing it the other way round. Read this before your first shift, not after a bad one.
- Doppelganger guide. The actual job — reading an ID, cross-checking the N.E.T. database, and deciding whether the person in front of you is real. This is where the patience-meter removal (29 July patch) matters most, and where the glossary earns its keep if a term here is unfamiliar.
When something goes wrong
- Survival guide. What to do once a Hunt has started — sound and doors first, weapons fourth despite being what most players reach for first. Read this before you need it, because a Hunt does not pause for you to alt-tab to a guide.
- Compare all threats, then the individual monster pages. Once survival mechanics make sense generally, the comparison page sorts all seven threats into three response types — shoot it, outsmart it, or accept there is no fight — before you go deep on any single monster's own page.
Playing with other people
If you are playing solo, skip to the next section. If not: multiplayer & co-op covers lobby size (three by design, six since the 23 July patch) and why proximity chat is a mechanic, not just convenience, given the Entity tracks sound. If your group spans storefronts, read crossplay before anyone buys anything — Xbox and PC Game Pass share a pool, Steam does not, and that is not something a refund fixes after the fact.
Going deeper
- Achievements and endings. Once the core loop is comfortable, these two pages cover the completion curve (96.9% down to 10.1%) and the two variables — the Sheriff Clyde call and your Shift 13 savings — that decide which of the three endings you get. Each ending now has its own page (True Ending, Grave Decision, Empty Home), and the achievements split into the four kill achievements and the three decided by a Hunt.
If you would rather work from a checklist than a reading order, the 100% completion tracker puts every achievement, ending, named threat and fixed story beat on this wiki into 46 tick boxes that save in your browser.
After that, nights & Endless Mode explains what changes once Story Mode's 13 shifts are behind you, including the Post-Story-only Rake. If you are chasing every corner of the game rather than just finishing it, mods and updates round things out; if something breaks along the way, troubleshooting separates the fixes that are confirmed from the reports this wiki could not verify.
What this order deliberately skips
A few pages are useful but not part of the critical path, so they are left off the numbered list above rather than forced in: credits (who made it), languages, controls, cheats, Employee Package, the free demo, the review page, and similar games are all reference material you reach for when a specific question comes up, not steps you need before your next shift.
Quick answers
I just want to survive my first Hunt. What's the minimum I should read?
Steps 4, 5 and 6 above — the beginner's guide, the doppelganger guide, and the survival guide. That covers the job, the mistake that triggers a Hunt, and what to do once one starts.
Do I need to read the monster pages before playing?
No. The comparison page is enough going in; the individual monster pages are more useful after you have actually met each one and want the specific counter confirmed.
I'm playing with friends on different platforms. Where do I start?
Read crossplay before anyone buys the game. Steam and Xbox/PC Game Pass players are in separate pools, and that decides which storefront your group should buy on.
What changed most recently that this order should account for?
The updates page tracks this: as of its last check, the 29 July 2026 patch was still the newest documented change, and it is the one referenced throughout this order, since it removed the patience meter and added the Rake. We have not been able to confirm the contents of anything newer.
Where do I look up a term I don't recognize?
The glossary — every term used across this reading order is defined there in one place, each linked back to its full page.