Bobby's Daycare Beginner Guide: Starting Your First Overnight Shift

Quick answer

To start your first overnight shift in Bobby's Daycare, walk into the nursery and interact with the powerbox when you see the red 'Turn on the powerbox to start the shift' prompt. Your goal before morning: finish your chores quietly and get the whole crew into the blue SAFE ZONE at the front door.

• The run opens with a 'NIGHT 1 MONDAY - 12:00 AM' intro card, and using the powerbox officially starts the shift.
• Your work is tracked on a chore panel with five chores, each with its own progress, plus a floor counter such as 'First floor 10/25'.
• After the chores are done, a glowing blue safe zone appears at the front door — the night is complete only once the whole crew is inside.

What your first shift actually is

The premise puts you on the clock: a company sends you to clean an abandoned daycare overnight, and the goal is to finish the job before morning while keeping quiet, because something inside the building is listening. That presence shapes every decision on a shift — the game's description points to staying quiet as the main way to avoid drawing its attention, so every loud move you make is a risk you choose to take.

You don't have to take the job alone, either. Bobby's Daycare is playable on all devices and supports co-op with up to 30 players, so a first night can be a solo cleanup or a full crew operation. For survival strategy that goes beyond night one, the survival guide collects the wider picture.

Before you clock in

The developer recommends headphones and max graphics, and the written start guide makes those the first preparations: put on headphones, set the graphics to the highest level available, then start cleaning and move through the daycare without making noise. The guide also tells you what to brace for — watch for flashing lights, loud noises and jumpscares as you explore.

Checklist

• Put on headphones

  Recommended by the developer so the game's sounds are heard as intended.

• Set graphics to the highest level available

  The other half of the developer's recommended setup.

• Know the content warning

  The game officially contains flashing lights, loud noises and jumpscares.

• Commit to quiet movement

  Cleaning and exploring without making noise is the core habit of the entire shift.

Starting Night 1: the powerbox

A new run opens with a 'NIGHT 1 MONDAY - 12:00 AM' intro card. Walk into the nursery and a red prompt appears on screen: 'Turn on the powerbox to start the shift'. Interact with the powerbox, and your shift officially begins. Everything you're meant to accomplish before morning flows from that point:

How Night 1 runs

1. 1

   Turn on the powerbox

   Interact with the powerbox in the nursery to start the shift.

2. 2

   Work the chores

   Clear your chore panel quietly across the floor.

3. 3

   Reach the safe zone

   After the chores, a glowing blue safe zone appears at the front door with a countdown.

If you'd rather follow the night beat by beat, the dedicated first night walkthrough maps it out step by step.

Your controls on the floor

Once the shift is running, the screen carries the chore panel with five chores and their individual progress, the floor progress counter, and a control panel:

A SNEAKING indicator confirms when sneaking is active — you'll lean on it constantly, because quiet movement is the habit the rest of the shift is built around.

The chores you're meant to finish

The chore panel is your to-do list, and the cleaning itself is hands-on. Trash is picked up through a 'PICK UP [TRASH]' prompt, and pickups pay cash — for example '+$14', though the amount varies per pickup. Glowing battery pickups grant '+1 BATTERIES'. Some chores are interaction holds instead: hold E to wipe handprints off a window. Watch your per-chore progress and the floor counter to see how much is left before you can think about leaving.

For a closer look at each cleaning job, the cleaning tasks guide breaks them down.

Staying quiet is the real job

The game's warnings repeat one idea all night. Cross broken glass and you'll see 'Watch your step! Broken glass makes sound.' — a reminder that even the floor can betray you. When loud steps come close, the game tells you directly: 'Hear loud steps close by? Hide or stay quiet.' Sneaking with C keeps your movement quiet, and the SNEAKING indicator confirms when it's active. The controls even include a BREATHE action on F, and during tense moments Night 1 surfaces a 'BREATHE IN / BREATHE OUT' breathing minigame — a lung icon appears while a child hums nearby — that helps you stay stable.

All of this serves one rule: the building contains a presence that is listening, and staying quiet is the main way the game's description suggests you avoid drawing its attention. If noise management is where your nights fall apart, the how to stay quiet guide goes deeper.

How the night ends

Finishing the chores doesn't end the night by itself. Once the work is done, a glowing blue SAFE ZONE appears at the front door with a countdown, and the night only counts as complete when the whole crew is inside — in a co-op shift that means everyone, not just whoever finished cleaning first. When everyone makes it in, the run closes with 'NIGHT 1 COMPLETE - THE WHOLE CREW MADE IT OUT'. That's the full answer to what you're supposed to accomplish before morning: chores done, crew out.

Good to know on your first night

A few extra systems touch a first shift without changing its shape. Keep track of your lives, because running out of lives ends the run. Progression is also tracked with badges, and your early hours line up with three of them: 'The New Janitor!' (Welcome newbie, get ready to clean.), 'Complete Your First Night!' (First night shift unscathed.) and 'Complete Chapter 1!' (How did you get this far?). The badges page lists the full set.

Finally, if you host a room, Custom Match lets you change the rules of your match — handy when you want a group's first night on your own terms. The custom match guide and the hosting guide cover the setup.

From the powerbox in the nursery to the safe zone at the front door, that's the whole shape of shift one: move quietly, watch the floor, keep the crew together. Once Night 1 is behind you, the chapter 1 walkthrough covers the road ahead.