Player guide

Your base.Your next move.

Learn where to start, how to build your equipment and when to bring your loot home.

Start with the basics Survive Dead Signal

A quick guide to the current test version. Balance may change.

Know your enemyDead Signal

Loading the 3D model…

Scavenger

Watch the warning. Dodge the strike.

Prepare at the base. Return with a plan.Read the guideWorld artwork

Afterlight

Your first session

Your room is your base. Night Shift gets you started; the reactor and salvage robot keep it growing.

Afterlight room with its reactor, salvage robot and arcade — Afterlight: the arcade on the right, N–07 by the window, S–07 at the freight station.

01
Play Night Shift
Open Game or interact with the arcade. Jump, duck and fight your way through a run. Finish a productive run lasting at least 30 seconds to earn your first materials.
02
Start N–07
Open Claim or Upgrade → Station. Use 1 Scrap and 1 circuit fragment for the one-time manual start: 2 Bit of starting energy. Collect it; the reactor then produces Bit over time.
03
Send S–07 for salvage
Open Upgrade → Robot. Choose the materials you need, pay the dispatch cost and send Scout. Its first trip takes 4 hours and costs 1 Bit.
04
Collect and craft
Receive the returned cargo. Make chips or aluminium in Station, then open Craft for equipment. Check the full recipe and collect the finished order before equipping it in Inventory.

Short on materials?

The manual start uses your circuit fragment. If you have none left for a chip, send Scout or finish another productive Night Shift run first.

The gameplay loop

Understand your next move

Select a step to see its screen and what to do there.

Afterlight hideout — Your base
Afterlight
Walk to a station and press E, or use the bottom menu.

Dead Signal currently uses a separate expedition stash. Its cargo does not feed room crafting or the shared Neuro ranking.

Keep these close

Controls

W A S D / Click: Walk around the room
E: Interact with a nearby station
Drag / scroll wheel: Rotate / zoom the camera
R: Restore the reference camera
Esc: Close a panel or return from the arcade

On a phone, use the movement stick and tap the station or menu. Graphics and weather are in Profile → Settings.

N–07 / S–07

Keep your base running

Bit

Reactor energy. Spend it on robot trips, repairs, crafting and infrastructure upgrades.

Neuro

Progress earned through productive play and development. The ranking tracks what you earn.

N–07 produces energy

Collect Bit in Claim or Station. A full reactor buffer stops production, so make room by collecting and spending energy. The normal collection reserve is 48 Bit.

Reactor levels
Level	Bit per hour	Buffer	Craft slots
MK1	0.25	6 Bit	1
MK2	0.50	12 Bit	2
MK3	0.65	18 Bit	3
MK4	0.90	24 Bit	4

S–07 brings materials

Choose a route for industrial salvage, electronics, or textiles and casings. Scout and Hauler take 4 hours; Surveyor and Pathfinder take 3. MK1–2 cost 1 Bit to dispatch; MK3–4 cost 2. Receive one trip’s cargo before sending the next.

Watch the condition

Each dispatch uses 20% condition. Repair the robot at the station before the next trip at 0%. Repairs cost Bit; upgrading a model does not repair it.

Upgrade in this order

N–07 MK2 → S–07 MK2 → N–07 MK3 → S–07 MK3 → N–07 MK4 → S–07 MK4

The reactor unlocks models and recipes; the robot brings the ingredients for the next upgrade. Check each upgrade’s material and Bit requirements before starting.

Your workshop

Turn salvage into equipment

Make components in Station, choose a recipe in Craft, then equip the completed item in Inventory.

Crafting menu with a recipe and material costs — Check the recipe, Bit cost, station level and timer before placing an order.

Microchip1 circuit fragment + 1 Scrap + 1 Bit → 1 chip

Aluminium2 Scrap + 1 Bit → 1 aluminium

Build towards the next tier

Equipment progresses through Common, Uncommon, Rare, Epic and Legendary. Higher-tier equipment recipes can require the previous item. Collect the finished order, then choose a slot in Inventory and equip it.

What equipment changes

Current equipment bonuses affect the room economy. They do not change Night Shift speed, health or combat. A crafted weapon does not add a new arcade attack.

Basic boxes

Basic boxes can arrive with robot cargo. Open a box you own in Market. The animation preview is only a preview and grants no item. Premium purchases are currently unavailable.

Beyond the base

Dead Signal

Explore the abandoned district, search for salvage and choose when to leave. Loot in your backpack is still at risk.

Read the attack before it landsWarden attack demonstration from a test scene with health protection enabled. In a normal run, marked attacks deal damage.

Search the district
Start at the southern Afterlight gate. Follow roads, check the radar and approach a crate. Press E to search it. Your backpack holds 36 material units; a crate stays closed if its contents will not fit.
Choose your fights
Fire at visible enemies. Walls block shots. Leave the marked attack area or dodge before the strike lands. Warden is optional: you can evacuate without defeating it.
Secure what matters
Reach a shelter to heal and reduce exposure. Open its cargo menu, choose the quantities to store and confirm. Entering a shelter alone does not secure your backpack.
Evacuate safely
Reach an exit, press E and stay still for 4 seconds. Movement, firing, damage or leaving the zone cancels evacuation. Death or leaving the run loses everything still carried; secured cargo survives.

Expedition stash

Dead Signal cargo is saved separately in this browser. It is not transferred to the room inventory or shared Neuro ranking. Reloading ends the current run; only successfully secured cargo remains.

Watch radiation warnings in R–07. Step out of contaminated areas; shelters reduce exposure and restore health.

The long game

Progress and rankings

Player level

Productive runs, returned cargo, collected energy and development earn permanent XP. Player levels are separate from the competition’s dates.

Season Neuro

Rank tracks earned Neuro from qualifying activity. Spending resources does not reduce this score. Competition dates will be announced separately.

Best Run

Your strongest Night Shift distance. Room equipment does not give an arcade combat advantage.

Daily Night Shift rewards

The first 6 productive runs give full materials and Neuro; the next 6 give half. After 12, you can keep playing for Best Run, but material rewards stop until the next UTC day. Short failed attempts do not use a reward slot.

Night Shift arcade start screen — Night Shift opens from the arcade in your room or the Game menu.

When you get stuck

Quick answers

Why is the reactor not producing?

Check whether you have completed the one-time manual start and whether the buffer is full. Collect energy, then spend Bit to make room in your collection reserve.

Why can’t I send the robot?

Receive its previous cargo first. Then check your Bit and the robot’s condition. At 0% it needs repair; only one trip can run at a time.

Why didn’t a run give materials?

A reward requires a productive completed Night Shift run lasting at least 30 seconds. Very short attempts, early exits and runs without pickups or victories give no reward. The daily reward limit also applies.

Are my old local items in the ranking?

Older local practice saves remain separate from server progress and shared rankings. Local stock is not automatically uploaded or credited as ranked progress.

Where is the play button?

This page is the player guide. The main site remains on Coming Soon until public access is announced.

Back to Coming Soon