Anomaly Cafe Spotting Checklist

How to use this checklist

Watch floaters run this on a repeating timer (every 2–4 minutes during calm, continuously during yellow status). Speak results with callout grammar from Spot Anomalies. Zone names come from Café Map.

Pair with the service SOP on Shift Checklist.

Loop 1 — Entrance & threshold

• Door/welcome props match shift-start baseline
• Lighting color feels unchanged
• No extra silhouettes in the threshold
• Audio near entrance matches expected hum/music bed
• Soft call if anything is 40%+ suspicious

Loop 2 — Counter sightlines

• Menu/sign text still reads correctly
• Equipment placement unchanged
• Pass window shows expected prep activity (not wrong bodies)
• Customers in queue follow normal spacing logic
• Confirm with counter lead if service-side weirdness appears (Recipes and Serving)

Loop 3 — Dining floor left/right

• Landmark A still present
• Landmark B still present
• Seating not mirrored/duplicated oddly
• No “extra table set” that nobody placed
• Path lanes still walkable for runners

In large 24-player lobbies, split left/right ownership (Co-op Tips).

Loop 4 — Prep / back edge

• Staff-only edges clear of wandering guests
• Storage props not rearranged into impossible stacks
• No pressure to send a lone investigator further back
• If investigating: buddy system only (Survive Anomalies)

Loop 5 — Audio sweep (eyes off optional)

• Music layers count matches baseline
• Machine noises present where expected
• Footsteps have visible sources—or get a second listener
• Dialogue timing not stuck in a wrong loop
• Location-tag any stray sound before chasing it

Loop 6 — Social / cast sweep

• Teammate positions make sense for roles
• No one isolated without announcement
• Familiar faces in valid contexts (Characters)
• Anyone claiming a private “must see this alone” moment gets a hard no

Escalation box

When two loops fail or one loop fails with high confidence:

1. Soft → hard call as needed
2. Classify via Anomaly List
3. Apply Danger Tier thinking
4. Freeze novelty tickets
5. Resolve, then run Loops 1–6 once completely before green status

False-positive parking lot

Write recurring alpha jank here mentally, then transfer to Known Bugs:

• Example: chair jitter after patch day
• Example: prompt delay on mobile
• Example: texture pop that resolves in seconds

Training mode (quiet server)

• Narrate ten normal details before any callouts
• Complete two full loops without helping prep
• Swap with a runner so both skill sets spread
• Review with Beginner Priority

Related pages

• Tools Hub
• How to Play
• Updates Hub
• Scripts Hub (spoiler: do not replace this checklist with ESP)

If nobody runs the loops, the café will run them for you—on its terms.

Scoring a practice run

One point per loop completed without helping prep. Two points for a correct soft call. Minus one for a hard call with zero confirm. Keep scoring light—this trains Beginner Priority habits, not a toxic ranked mode. Reset scores after each patch night.

Dual-watch handoff protocol

When Watch A needs a break, they announce “handoff dining left after this loop.” Watch B repeats ownership. Silent handoffs create uncovered zones for a full minute—the exact minute Category D pressure loves. Practice handoffs on calm nights so they are boring on loud nights.