Welcome to Midnight Heist. You've got the game loaded. You've done the tutorial. Now what? This guide is intended to get you through those first few heists. Mind you, I am not going to cover things that are covered in the tutorial. This is more of the next step. Some tips that have worked for me. I don't anticipate this will be a very long guide at all. Just some basics I wish somebody had told me. With that, let's move on!

I should mention, while I have quite a few hours in some horror style games, I'm no expert at this. I'm learning with you. I'll add to this Guide here and there, but keep in mind, it's not meant to grow with you. You're meant to grow out of it. It's just to get you going, especially if you're unsure what to do, or are one of the people that struggles with fear in these games. I hope it helps you!

When you feel you have outgrown this guide, please check out my advanced guide here:
https://gtm.steamproxy.vip/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3073539278

I should mention, when choosing maps, it might be good to pick one particular map and keep playing until you learn it. That is, you know where the hiding spots are and can get around. Having said that, if you're getting bored, don't hesitate to change maps!

Okay, you've walked in the door. Now what?

Pick a room to start in. Turn on the light in the room. First look for hiding lockers, or restrooms. You need to know where you are going to run to when the ghost comes. Once you learn the maps, you will skip this step because you already know, but until then, when you enter a room, don't loot first. Find your safe spot. Then loot! Should the lights and/or your flashlight start blinking, run to your hiding spot. (See the section on hunts!)

The ghost is inactive for a while when the map starts. Take advantage of this and RUN and loot like crazy! In beginner mode you have 8-11 minutes. In normal mode you have 5-6 minutes. Note that your current sanity affects this and the hunts can start early if you've had more ghost events!

You are safe while outside the building and sanity drain stops. If you need a break, feel free to step outside.

While the ghost is inactive, RUN. If there's no ghost hunting you then loud footsteps don't matter and the faster you can get things done, the less you expose yourself to danger. This includes the grace period at the beginning of the level as well as the period between hunts. If you think the ghost is inactive, RUN!

Try to get in the habit of using the keyboard shortcuts to switch between flashlight, phone, and tablet. It's much quicker than the mouse wheel. Default key mappings are 1 for flashlight, 2 for phone, and 3 for tablet.

Be sure to note the location of the fuse box when found. It is always in the same place for each map at the time of writing this guide.

Alright, you've got your escape routes and hiding spots. You've grabbed a couple obvious pieces of loot. Now it's time to Hack/Loot the room!

Make sure the light in the room stays on. The lights blinking is your early warning system that the ghost is coming. Should the lights be turned off, drop what you're doing and go turn it back on. Your flashlight also blinks, but the ghost will be closer than you like when your flashlight starts blinking. Until you are more comfortable evading the ghost, use the lights!

Start looting desks and drawers and hacking computers closest to the doors to the room first. These are the most hazardous hack and loot locations as you will have the least amount of warning before needing to run when the ghost approaches. Getting these done first, especially on your first room of the heist makes the remainder of the room safer. Should lights start blinking, run to your hiding spot.

There are some people who believe that unhacked cameras allow the ghost to detect you. This is not true. You can ignore them if you're not interested in being able to view them on your tablet.

Do not stand idle while you are hacking a computer. You can move around and loot nearby drawers. If you move away from the computer, your hack will slow down. At some point it may abort entirely but you can walk at least a few desks away.

Once your hack completes, but before you play the mini-game, step over to another computer and start the hack. You can then go back to the first computer and complete the mini-game while the second hack completes. Also, it is okay to have several computers waiting for you to complete the mini-game, but you don't get credit for the hack until the mini-game is complete so don't lose track of which computers still need to have the mini-game completed!

Your vision is obstructed when playing the mini-games. Pay attention to whatever vision you do have and use sound as a warning so the ghost cannot sneak up on you.

Sound. Is. Huge. The ghost makes noise just like you do. You can hear its footsteps as it moves around. Occasionally it makes other noises. LISTEN and LIVE. This is one of the things that separates good players from great players in many games. Do not neglect the importance of sound! Using headphones can help with telling the direction the sounds are coming from.

Hit TAB(or whatever key if you've remapped) to check your completion progress often. If you hit 100%, at this stage is probably good for you to get the heck out of Dodge(Exit the map!). If you're feeling saucy, by all means, stay. Just remember, bravery and wisdom is rewarded in this game. Foolish choices are often punished harshly. Know your limits. If you don't know them yet, you might err on the side of caution and leave. Having said that, the one thing that is more important is having fun. If you WANT to stay, do it. Just do it wisely. Or die. Whichever. =]

You CAN leave the level before you have completed it, but you still get a penalty, so there doesn't seem to be much point in leaving early. At least not yet.

Once you have finished a room, turn the lights off and proceed to a new room. Follow the same pattern. Should the ghost come while you are switching rooms, run back to the closest hiding spot you can remember until the coast is clear. Then venture out and try again. You will be running from the ghost A LOT. This is okay. This is fun. Expect it. =]

The ghost is coming! What do you do?

First, try not to panic. The ghost has rules it must follow. You can take advantage of these rules. Here are some ideas to help you survive:

You get a few seconds of grace to run away when the ghost appears. You should probably run.
Current grace seconds according to Parona:
Beginner: 5 seconds
Normal: 3 seconds
Nightmare: 2 seconds

Note: Sometimes the ghost can spawn right on top of you. The devs said this is not supposed to happen and they are working on fixing.

Do not fear the ghost. He is immortal, but so are you. You will not "die". You just lose part of the money you would have made if he catches you. Aside from the angry sound he makes when he catches you, we don't even know what he does when he catches you. For all we know he tickles you to unconsciousness, steals part of your earnings(the penalty) then prances off to do...whatever ghosts do when they're not chasing us. (Watching sitcoms maybe?) When you see the failure notice like this, it's no big deal.












Use the lights and sound to know when the ghost is coming and when it's gone. If the lights are off, use your flashlight. It blinks when the ghost is near too. If the ghost turned off your lights, once it's gone turn them back on. Listen for the ghosts footsteps, and it's little pig-like grunts and bellows. These are often your best method of knowing where the ghost is.

Running is loud and the ghost is more likely to hear you when you run. Only run when being chased or if you don't care if the ghost hears you. Normal walking still makes noise, but less. The detection range is diminished when walking. Crouching makes no noise.

Beginner mode you are slightly faster than the ghost. Normal mode you are the same speed as the ghost. On harder modes you are slower than the ghost. This means on Beginner and Normal mode the ghost can be kited and looped around tables and the office easily. Harder modes this is more difficult as it has a greater chance of catching up to you.

You can crouch/hide behind things to hide with varying levels of success. If you are trapped try crouching behind something. With a little luck you may live. Pay attention to what seems to work so you can use it again next time if needed. (Note: The lockers and bathroom stalls should be your preferred hiding spots. Only use other spots if these are not available!)

Flashlights do not affect if the ghost detects you in a hiding spot. Further, currently the ghost cannot open bathroom stall doors, so you are 100% safe in them. There is a very small chance the ghost will open locker doors, but it has nothing to do with seeing or detecting you. It's just a small percentage chance. (Confirmed by Parona 11/3/23). This is likely to change as development continues though in my opinion. Also, the ghost cannot "see" the flashlight in any way so it will not increase the chance of you being spotted. (Confirmed by Dan Green 11/5/2023)

Once the ghost leaves an area it may return moments later or you may have a minute. You never know. Be vigilant, but not so fearful you are frozen in fear and can't do anything. Be willing to take the occasional chance when the rewards might be worth it. =]

Once you have completed the primary objective, you can leave the map. You can always hang around to loot and hack more or accomplish secondary objectives if you feel comfortable doing so, but my recommendation would be to leave until you get skilled enough to handle zero sanity hunts.

Keep in mind the doors are locked while the ghost is hunting. You cannot leave if it's active. This means running to the exit if you are being chased will not work. You'll just end up at a locked door and die. Wait until the hunt is finished.

Do not camp the exit waiting for a hunt to finish unless you know what you are doing. Rather, make sure you are standing somewhere that gives you an escape route or a hiding spot should the ghost come after you. If you are unsure if the hunt has ended, run to the exit and try the door periodically, but don't stay there.

If you are near the door, you will hear it make a "click!" sound at the beginning and end of the hunt. This is a good way to know when the hunt starts and ends when the ghost is not near you.

Once you exit the building, you are safe. The ghost cannot exit the building.

If you are playing multiplayer and you see the exit door close, report it to the team so they know the hunt is on.

To finish the level, run to the van and "use" it. You will be asked if you want to finish the current heist. Select yes and the round will end and you will be taken to the results screen.

Remember, at the end of the day, the ghost is just following the AI as the devs have programmed it. This will never be as good as you can be. The ghost is the one with the handicap. Not you!

This is a game of cat and mouse, and you are the mouse. Be wise. Be cunning. Be a royal pain in the butt! Make the ghost curse the day you waltzed in to its office. Laugh as it screams and wails, for they are the wails of frustration!

Seriously. It's a game, and while some of the deck is stacked in favor of the ghost, you have quite a few cards to play yourself. Do it fearlessly yet wisely. As your confidence gains you will quickly outgrow this guide. I hope that this guide speeds you to that point.

Leave me a comment to let me know it helped you. It would be appreciated.

If you are ready for a little more advanced stuff, feel free to check out my other guide here:
https://gtm.steamproxy.vip/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3073539278

Thank you!