Dark Hours is capable of being played by yourself. While its certainly not ideal (groups are 100% better) it is more than doable. If you're either friendless, maidenless, or the servers are just dead, we'll take a look on how to play the solo side. I'll teach you how to go from dying in 5 minutes to Hide-Behind to breaking the Ghouls ankles and completing all 4 heist nights.

First, when we're starting a lobby we're going to want to do one thing. Disable our arch-nemesis, the Stone Statues! You'll also want to leave everything else default, like the streak goal being 4. Because you're a pro. And pros always make it out.


Why rule out the Stone Statues instead of other monsters? Well, apart from some weird jank with the Blind Ghoul, you can out-juke or simply always hide from the other monsters. As long as you're not in a zone with no hiding spots and the Banshee isn't freezing you. Pros don't get frozen in the first place though.

Stone Statues require your constant attention, but are completely doable in solo. You just need to manage where you drag them. So if you do struggle with other monsters more you're free to disable them instead or simply none at all. This has no effect on your end score. They also do spawn less statues when you're solo vs in a group.

This is what I have to say on buying equipment:



Your starting equipment is more than enough to get you through all 4 nights. Lugging around more simply blocks up slots in your inventory. They also don't carry over between nights, which really sucks. Overall just a waste of money. You can find items to "fight" the monsters inside the level if you're lucky too (pretty often). The next section talks about your starting items.

Our boss gives us a few choices when we're going in. Right now, it's pretty limited. But in my experience ones that have you stealing a single item (behold, THE SNAIL) or the lion statues are much better payouts. Also go for bigger team bags. I'm not 100% sure on any of this but its worked well for me.

Take one of everything. Yes, even the walkie-talkie.



A much needed item to smash open cases. But apart from that, you can dispel the Banshee and distract the Ghoul with it easily. Pros smash.


Nothing funny here. You just genuinely cannot beat the game without one.


The "uh oh, I got too silly" item. Taking a shot gives you a brief time of unlimited sprint (can even run while very heavy), vastly increased speed, and you're unable to be frozen by the Banshee. I'm not sure if you can just walk through enemies but don't try it. If you're caught in a dead end or without hiding spots you can pop this bad boy and zoom out of there. If you're getting ganked by the Banshee and about to be frozen you can also use it to avoid a game over. My personal Get Out of Jail Free Card.


Now, onto your new best friend. The walkie-talkie normally is just for 2-way communication but it also has a passive effect. When you're near a monster (or its nearing you) it will get loud and glitchy. It gets louder the closer a monster is. This counts for Statues or Ghouls nearing you, the Hide-Behind being near you (even when its ethereal/not manifested/about to manifest), and the Banshee being silently near you/in an adjacent room. Having this in your hotbar will always let you know when you're in danger and should seek a hiding spot. The sound from it getting louder does not set off monsters, so its safe to always have on.

Your inventory should look like this though:

We're keeping the adrenaline shot in your first slot for easy access until you need your crowbar. You Should try to save it as a last resort, but sometimes you get stuck in a room with no other way out besides drugs.

Your hacking device will stay in your second slot until you find the control room, then the vault (more on that later).

Your walkie talkie will STAY IN YOUR THIRD SLOT IF YOU PUT IT ANYWHER ELSE I WILL PERSONALLY THROW A CROWBAR THROUGH YOUR FAVORITE WINDOW ON A COLD WINTER NIGHT. Keeping it in your hotbar, again, will always alert you of danger. If you hear it spike, its time to dip under a table or split.

To unlock the starting door which you'd normally get a teammate to set off the alarm and get the key, you'll just go in yourself. Get the key after:


Then, turn around and press the "I'm a little solo guy" button to raise the iron bars up.


Also, as a side note, do NOT open the other side door unless you need to. You can use this room as an easy hiding spot if the main room does not have one.

There's various real hiding spots you can find, but they're all one of two things: a locker (noisy) or a desk/table.



Tables will let you hide from every monster, just out of reach from their tallness. Even if you are in a chase with the Ghoul/Hide-Behind you are safe if you get under a table and wait. Keep in mind where your closest table is. They can spawn in rooms or in the corridors. Some rooms, like the art gallery, will not have any. But adjacent corridors or rooms should. You are safe here even from Banshees.



Lockers, when closed, will let you hide similarly to a table. Monsters cannot reach you inside one. Unless the Ghoul or Statues glitch out and collide with you anyways. Closing/opening a locker will alert the Ghoul if its close enough. Monsters cannot open the door.

Other places, like bathroom stalls, can be used like lockers. But I haven't fully tested how well they work. If you're in a pinch, try hiding in one if its close. Just make sure to close it.

It's usually fairly close to spawn, but sometimes its far away. You should aim to find it sooner than other rooms. It will make things a lot easier. Use your hacking device to get into the room and then open the 2 safes in the room with the tool. Be aware, if the Ghoul is near he will run to the door once it opens. The cameras aren't too important unless you want to take a quick look around. We're just here for any keys or fuses that might be here, and the loot.

After hacking the control room, you no longer need the hacking tool. You can drop it in-front of the vault for later. This frees up a slot in your inventory for loot or other tools. Keep in mind where the vault is to run back to once we find all the fuses.

Remember to do your vault item and teambag goal first so you can always leave if things turn bad.

Some lasers will be disabled on the bottom layer of the lasers for the gallery. You can couch and move through them. There will always be a path to the back where a key and a vent is. This key is usually important so its nice to get earlier.

If you do not have the Ghoul monster, you have more room here to bring heavier loot to the teambag. Doing the art gallery sooner in the night makes it a lot safer and easier to run past Hide-Behind and the Banshee while carrying heavy items.

Keep in mind you don't need to have the key in your hotbar to use it. You can keep your needed tools on you while unlocking doors. Once you find a key you should try to run by the door its for (if its close) and use it to free a slot up. Until you find all 3 fuses you'll need to keep unlocking rooms to find them.

After you've found the control room and vault, you should have then found most or all of the keys you need for the map. As long as the monster isn't being too big of a pain, pick up any smaller loot you can find. Then move onto heavier loot if you want.

Remember, you can always pick up loot and leave with it. It will count towards your score.

Once you have a sizeable bag or enough loot to satisfy you, you should always think about heading to the exit. Your main goal is to get to the last 2 nights where our split is a massive payout. A good amount of loot is around 40k, a great amount is 60k and above. But if you've hit your goal and the monster is too much trouble, never feel bad about leaving some stuff behind and moving onto a bigger cut.

Socketing fuses can give the monster better powers/move it to the next phase. I'm not sure if picking them up does this too, but putting them all in/moving them around does affect the monster. You can leave the 2 extra fuses in the fuse room for when you're ready to get the vault open if this bothers you. Once you're a pro, you'll be able to dodge anything though.

A note for finding fuses, they can spawn in normal loot spots (like on statues, drawers, plants, etc.). The worst spot for them to spawn is these:


It can also spawn in the set of smaller, similar drawers to this one. If you're lost looking for them make sure to check these small drawers/kitchen cupboards. I have also seen them in plants or under desks.

Playing solo actually has some advantages over squading up. However, it also has drawbacks. The main drawback is of course your limited inventory space. You'll likely run into loot rooms where you need to deiced what to take back to the bag before coming back (if you're going for higher payouts). Looting solo will consist of:

1. Finds gems, lion/hippo statues, small items (fill inv with these)
   
2. Keep heavier items for later (get higher $$$ first)
   
3. Drop off smaller items into the bag, meeting your goal
   
4. Passively loot while looking for vault/fuses
   
5. Drop off heavy items in the bag if they're closer, or keep them to pick up as you leave if the exit is closer

As you find the control room, the vault, and so on you should also be bringing back lose loot to the bag. Our goal isn't to win, it's to be a pro. Pros make big money.

Once you've filled your teambag to the goal, any loot you take is just extra (but you SHOULD be taking it all). This means, if you've gotten the vault item or done your other objectives, you can safely leave with loot still on you.

If you saved the heavy stuff for last (as you should) you can pick that all up while heading for the exit. Any loot you leave with is still counted for you score and since you're by yourself, you don't need to worry about getting everything in the bag to split it correctly. You can also pick-up any lose items along the way to the exit or things you've had to leave behind without worry of needing to go back.

You should also ditch your equipment as you make it to the exit (NOT THE WALKIE-TALKE HES OUR BEST FRIEND) to pick-up more stuff. Your items refresh on the next night and you can't carry anything over anyways.

Everything from small lockboxs (the vault, accounting room) to plants to bookshelves can have items tucked away in them. Even under tables or curtains in storage rooms! These loot items are usually gems so it's always worth checking.

(Better images coming soon)

If you'd like, there's also a guide that gives some specifics on the monsters of Dark Hours made. I will be giving my owner version of monster tips but its fairly well made and worth a read:
https://psteamcommunity.yuanyoumao.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3362343134

Hiding is key when solo. You don't have someone to revive you and a down means game over. You should always keep track of where your closest hiding spot is (table, off-shoot room, lockers). Using the amazing walkie-talkie you'll be able to tell when someone is getting a little too close. Once you get used to ducking under things you'll be set to fully speedrun looting and shooting.

The Ghoul is, as it states, blind. It cannot see you or the environment. It relies on sound to track you down and gets better at hearing as the night goes on/fuses are slotted in. You can mute your mic to avoid tripping him easily. Opening and closing of doors will also alert him (even hacked doors). Smashing windows and throwing around items will also draw his ire.

The Ghoul has some pretty weird AI. It will "hover" around you until you move around a lot, making the Art Gallery and other areas a lot harder to loot. While he is a bit weird you can walk around him pretty forgivingly. Like other monsters, you're safe from him in a hiding spot though. Even if you alert him there.

You can throw objects to lure him away (crowbar is useful for this), or even knock on walls to lure him to the other side of areas.

Him being a physical being, you can trap him as well. If you lure him into a maintenance room (or the vault) and remove the fuse for the door, he will be unable to leave. Besides the Statues, he is probably the most annoying monster to solo. You can however use darts to slow him down, or stun him with the fog horn if you find either.

You should focus on throwing a spare item to a far room, smashing open loot, then hiding to loot properly.

Hide-Behind is a ghost that will periodically hunt you directly, unlike the Banshee who requires line of sight. He will actively seek you out and get more aggressive with fuses and time. Your walkie-talkie is useful in seeing if he's in the room with you or about to appear behind you. When you hear the walkie spike, it's likely time to find a hiding spot. You can also use a flash camera to dispel him briefly, but be aware that during a hunt he may come right back.

Like other monsters, hiding under a table or in a locker will prevent him from harming you. He will appear behind you from time to time and burn out lights in rooms around you. If he appears near you and doesn't go away right after you look at him, he's likely about to hunt you.

You can outrun him but he will teleport mid-chase and cut you off a lot. Finding a hiding spot is more advised. However if you do run a few rooms past him he will let up and cease hunting.

Again, your walkie-talkie will be your best friend in dodging him. Listen well for it.

The Banshee is a ghost and can move freely across the map. However, unlike Hide-Behind it will not actively seek you out. It will teleport around (and sometimes directly in your room behind you), only actively attacking when you come to close or in line of sight of her.

Her shriek will freeze you, and at that point its game over. However, like everyone else, she can be avoided by hiding under a table or in a locker. Later in the game, simply being a few feet from her will slowly freeze you and she will gain a dash attack. Her dash is fairly easy to dodge assuming you're not in a dead end hallway. She will only dash down a narrow, straight path and will not stop until she hits an object. Her shriek can be avoided by running away or wearing ear muffs.

Unlike other monsters, the Banshee has a way to be fought back against easily. You can throw your crowbar at her to dispel her. Sometimes, its a bit finicky, but it overall works in getting rid of her. Even if she freezes you as long as your crowbar smacks her you'll be fine. You can also dispel her like Hide-Behind with a camera.

The Statues are, by far, the most annoying entity solo. You must keep your vision on them at all times or they will grab and kill you. Like others then can open doors to get to you. They can also block off exits easily and end up leading to some genuinely unfun gameplay. This is why I recommend ruling them out.

Like the Ghoul, you can trap them in a powered room, but it is significantly harder to do so solo. You would need insanely good RNG to do so. However, you can disable them for a time by dropping an iron bar door on them (pressing the button/tripping the alarm while they're under it). It will take around 30 seconds for them to come back.

The game, thankfully, does spawn less of them if you're alone. Most I've seen is 3 but its usually only 2.