To survive the first shift in The Mortuary Assistant, treat the clipboard as your authority: inspect and record every mark, submit the matching report, embalm in checklist order, investigate sigils during downtime, and do not burn anything until the demon, mark, reagent, sigil sequence, and body all agree. The first shift at River Fields Mortuary teaches a loop you will repeat throughout the game. This guide includes mechanical spoilers for the first shift and its possible outcomes.
What the first shift is asking you to do
The Mortuary Assistant is a single-player adventure, indie and simulation game developed by DarkStone Digital and published by DreadXP. It released on August 2, 2022. Your first shift places you at River Fields Mortuary while Rebecca learns the job under supernatural pressure.
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The shift combines two jobs that must be kept separate in your head:
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- Mortuary work: inspect a body, document its marks, complete the embalming checklist and return the body to cold storage.
- Investigation: use lettering strips, sigils, the Night Shift Database and changes in the bodies or building to identify the demon and the body it is using.
You can finish the routine work and still receive a bad outcome if the final burn is wrong. The safest approach is evidence first, action second: document everything, keep the demon reference available, and treat every burn as an irreversible decision.
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The complete first-shift loop
| Stage | What you do | What can go wrong |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Start the checklist | Take the clipboard and follow its current instructions. | Working from memory can make you skip a required task. |
| 2. Inspect | Examine every listed body area, rotate parts when necessary, and record every visible mark. | An unrecorded mark can make the computer report mismatch. |
| 3. Submit the record | At the computer, match the body’s name, age and marks, submit the entry and collect the printed report. | A wrong or incomplete record undermines later identification. |
| 4. Embalm | Complete the checklist in order, including jaw wiring, tank cleaner, cavity treatment and moisturizer. | Skipping or changing the order can leave the checklist unfinished. |
| 5. Investigate | Use lettering strips to reveal sigils, then compare them in the Night Shift Database. | A single scare or movement can be misleading evidence. |
| 6. Burn | When the demon and body are established, prepare the correct mark, sigils and reagent, then burn the selected body. | Wrong body, wrong sigils, missing reagent or a premature burn can produce an incorrect-body result or game over. |
How to find all the marks
Start with the clipboard
Pick up the clipboard immediately. It records the marks you discover and later displays the embalming tasks. The mark counter is your progress check; do not assume an area is clear because the body looks normal from one angle.
Inspect every body area
Work methodically through the head, both shoulders, both arms, both legs and the back. Rotate the body or individual parts whenever the camera prevents a clear view. A mark can be subtle, partly hidden or visible only after you change the angle.
The first-shift inspection can include a rash, contusion, mole, mild abrasion, hemangioma, blemish or keratolysis. These are documentation targets, not a checklist of marks that must appear on every body. Record each one you actually find, including multiple marks in the same region.
Use a fixed scan pattern
- Begin at the head and finish its front, sides and back before moving on.
- Check the left shoulder and left arm, then the right shoulder and right arm.
- Inspect the left leg and right leg from more than one angle.
- Rotate the body to inspect the back.
- Compare your notes with the clipboard counter before leaving the table.
This pattern prevents the most common first-shift mistake: remembering that you inspected the body while forgetting one shoulder, limb or the back.
How to submit the record at the computer
Once the inspection is complete, use the computer’s Record System. Select the body’s name, enter its age and match every mark you recorded. Submit the entry and collect the printed report.
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The report is more than paperwork. It confirms that your observations have been entered against the correct body. If the system does not accept the record, stop and compare the body, age and marks rather than guessing. Revisit the table if the clipboard counter and your entry disagree.
The embalming order for the first shift
Retrieve a body from cold storage and follow the clipboard’s embalming checklist in sequence. The order below describes the first-shift workflow supplied by the game’s tutorial material.
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- Make tank cleaner. Go to the bathroom closet and mix the listed cleaners to create tank cleaner.
- Load the embalming pump. Pour the tank cleaner into the pump.
- Fill the cavities. Use the trocar to treat the body cavities.
- Apply moisturizer. Put moisturizer on the facial features.
- Close the checklist. When all required tasks are complete, return the body to cold storage.
The clipboard should drive the sequence. If it still shows an incomplete task, do not move on just because the body appears finished; check the supply, tool and location associated with that line.
What to do during downtime
Reveal sigils with lettering strips
Lettering strips can reveal nearby sigils. When a strip smolders and burns out, watch for the symbol it exposes and record it. The symbol is evidence for the demon investigation, not decoration. Keep track of the order and location in which you find symbols so you can reproduce the required arrangement later.
Use the Night Shift Database early
Open the Night Shift Database as soon as you have useful sigils. Compare the symbols and their combinations to narrow the demon’s name. Doing this while you investigate reduces backtracking when the shift becomes more tense.
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Re-check bodies after events
Continue checking bodies after story events. New marks, movement and other possession tells may appear, but the demon can also create misleading signs. A disturbance is a prompt to gather more evidence, not proof by itself.
How to know which body is possessed
Do not select a body because it produced the loudest scare. Use several independent clues and give priority to evidence you can verify.
| Evidence | Reliability for a first attempt | How to use it |
|---|---|---|
| Recorded physical marks | High when the inspection is complete | Compare the body’s documented marks with the record and later changes. |
| Revealed sigils | High when the symbols are clearly recorded | Use the complete set in the Night Shift Database to narrow the demon. |
| Movement or an unexplained disturbance | Medium to low alone | Treat it as a reason to inspect again and check the other evidence. |
| A single frightening event | Low alone | Do not burn on this clue without confirmation from marks and sigils. |
The practical rule is to combine marks, sigils and database results. The demon can mislead you, so a body that appears suspicious is not automatically the correct target.
Where the sigils and mark go before the final burn
The final preparation has several separate requirements. Complete all of them before using the retort:
- Identify the demon. Use the sigils and the Night Shift Database to establish the demon’s name.
- Assemble the matching sigils. Arrange the symbols required for that demon in the correct order on the mark.
- Prepare the pump mixture. Add baleful reagent when the preparation requires it.
- Choose the body. Place the completed mark on the body you have identified as possessed.
- Verify before committing. Recheck the mark, sigil order, reagent and body one last time.
- Burn the body. Put the marked body into the retort only after the previous checks agree.
Think of the mark as the carrier for the sigil arrangement and the body as a separate choice. Having the right demon name does not compensate for placing the mark on the wrong body, omitting the reagent or using a different sigil order.
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Why a burn can produce the wrong ending
If you burned a body and did not get the expected result, check which condition failed instead of assuming the game ignored your evidence.
- Wrong body: the marked body was not the one identified as possessed.
- Incorrect sigils: the arrangement did not match the demon.
- Missing baleful reagent: the pump mixture lacked the required reagent.
- Premature burn: you used the retort before the investigation and preparation were complete.
- Unfinished record: a visible mark was never entered, weakening your body identification.
These failures are distinct from the standard first-shift routine. Repeating the embalming steps without correcting the evidence or final preparation will not fix the outcome.
First-shift survival checklist
- Take the clipboard before starting work.
- Inspect the head, shoulders, arms, legs and back from multiple angles.
- Record every mark and use the clipboard counter as a completion check.
- Match the body’s name, age and marks in the Record System.
- Collect the printed report before continuing.
- Embalm in checklist order: jaw, tank cleaner, pump, cavities, moisturizer, cold storage.
- Use lettering strips to reveal sigils and write down each symbol.
- Consult the Night Shift Database while you still have time to compare evidence.
- Re-check bodies after story events and treat scares as clues, not conclusions.
- Before the retort, confirm the demon, sigil order, baleful reagent, mark and body.
What endings the first shift can lead toward
| Outcome | Condition described for it |
|---|---|
| Correct-body ending | Burn the correct body with the correct sigils on the mark. |
| Incorrect-body ending | Burn the wrong body, omit the reagent or use incorrect sigils after the relevant preparation. |
| Standard ending | Complete a later shift correctly after the first one. |
| Basement and closure endings | Collect additional story-specific items and complete scene actions before a correct final burn. |
| Game over or possession | Allow possession to fill or burn prematurely. |
The first shift is therefore both a tutorial and an evidence-management test. A correct routine teaches the work loop; a correct final burn depends on connecting that routine to the demon investigation.
Troubleshooting common first-shift problems
“I cannot find all the marks.”
Return to the scan pattern: head, both shoulders, both arms, both legs and back. Rotate the relevant part and use the clipboard counter. If the count is short, keep inspecting rather than submitting a partial record.
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Verify that you selected the same body you inspected, then recheck age and every recorded mark. A mismatch in any of those fields prevents a reliable report.
“I saw movement, so is that body possessed?”
Not necessarily. Re-check the marks, compare the available sigils in the Night Shift Database and look for corroborating evidence. The demon can create misleading tells.
“Where should I put the mark?”
Put the completed mark on the body identified by the combined evidence, not simply the body associated with the most dramatic event. Confirm the sigil sequence and reagent before the burn.
“I burned a body and got game over.”
The documented causes are allowing possession to fill or committing a premature or incorrect burn. Slow down, finish the investigation and treat the retort as the final step rather than a way to test a guess.
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When uncertain, use this order of confidence: a complete mark record, a submitted report, a confirmed demon from multiple sigils, and a final check of reagent, sigil order and body. If one of those links is missing, keep investigating instead of burning. That discipline turns the first shift from a sequence of scares into a repeatable procedure you can use on later shifts.
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