Anomaly Cafe Shift Checklist
A repeatable SOP for serving and maintaining Emma's Cafe under pressure.
How to run this checklist
Read it once, then execute as a loop between rushes. Assign an owner (often the counter lead or shift lead) who asks the questions out loud. Details live in Recipes and Serving and Co-op Tips.
A) Pre-shift (first 3 minutes)
- Correct place loaded: Anomaly Cafe / Emma’s Cafe (
121781732399469) - Roles announced: counter, prep, runners, watch
- Landmarks picked (three) using Café Map language
- Audio check: headphones / voice levels (Controls)
- Group rewards session refresh if needed (Group Rewards)
- Newcomers pointed at Beginner Priority
B) Between ticket waves (30–45 seconds)
- Clear floor blockers on service lanes
- Reset prep surfaces; no orphan ingredients
- Bus obvious trash/dishes
- Confirm who still owns watch duty
- One soft scan callout encouraged even if “all clear”
- Tickets backlog named (“two drinks waiting”) so nobody double-crafts
C) Mid-rush survival hybrid
- Counter lead still the only ticket assigner
- Runners not cutting through investigation clusters
- Watch not pulled into prep “just for a second” forever
- Callout grammar short: what / where / confidence
- If hard call: freeze novelty recipes; follow Survive Anomalies
D) Post-anomaly recovery (60–90 seconds)
- Clear call spoken
- Headcount / “anyone isolated?”
- Lanes reopened
- Backlog triage (finish or scrap stale tickets)
- Full Spotting Checklist once before declaring green
- Joke ban temporarily lifted
E) Patch-day addendum
- Skim Alpha Patch Notes ritual items
- Re-verify interact prompts
- Re-pick landmarks (they may have moved)
- Log new jank in Known Bugs
- Ignore fake “update codes” unless Active Codes changes
F) End of session
- Note one service improvement
- Note one spotting improvement
- Note one comms failure to fix next time
- Send newcomers to How to Play if they joined cold
Anti-checklist (do not do these)
- Install unverified scripts to “auto complete” tasks (Scripts Hub)
- Import rules from other café horror games
- Leave back-of-house solo “for content” during yellow/red status
- Argue during pursuit-tier events (Danger Tier)
Related pages
If you only keep one tool open on a second monitor, keep this one—and actually answer the boxes.
Voice lines you can steal
“Roles check.” “Landmarks still good?” “Lanes clear?” “Watch owner?” “Backlog count?” “Soft scan, anyone?” Short lines beat paragraph speeches. If your lobby hates checklists, they may still accept these six prompts between rushes while Spotting Checklist runs in parallel.
Integrating with voice bots or pins
If your Discord has a bot or pinned message, paste the six voice lines there. Do not paste personal information or executor junk in the same pin. Keep the pin updated when Alpha Patch Notes change station assumptions. A stale pin is how lobbies follow ghost procedures.
Failure modes this checklist catches early
No watch owner, blocked lanes, duplicate crafting, unrecovered backlog after a scare, and patch-day landmark denial. If your wipes map to those failures, you do not need a new strategy video—you need louder checklist ownership for three sessions straight. Assign ownership at the same time you assign counter lead so the SOP does not depend on the most anxious player volunteering forever.
Frequently Asked Questions
Quick answers to the most common questions.
Who should own the shift checklist?
Usually the counter lead or a designated shift lead who can ask the prompts without also soloing every ticket.
How often should we run the between-wave section?
After each rush cluster—or roughly whenever tickets hit zero for a breath.
What if we get an anomaly mid-checklist?
Abort to the survival playbook, then resume at the post-anomaly recovery section.
Is this checklist official?
No. It is a fan SOP aligned to the serve/maintain/survive loop for alpha co-op play.