Monsters in the Mansion Beginner Guide (2026)

Monsters in the Mansion drops eight players into Doctor Mondo's mansion: one becomes the Monster, and the other seven Survivors must gather hidden books, brew an antidote, and cure the Monster before they are all caught. This beginner guide walks you through your first round — what to do at spawn, how the book hunt works, and the habits that keep you alive.

Your first round, step by step

1. Spawn with your squad and stay together. Lone players are the easiest targets in the mansion. The first ten seconds decide the round: assign roles before anyone moves.
2. Assign the four roles. You need book runners (two or three), at least one decoy to pull the Monster's attention, a cure carrier who will apply the antidote, and support to guard and revive.
3. Learn your first wing. Memorize the foyer or grand hall you spawn in, one route out of it, and one hiding spot near your first objective. The maps and layout guide expands this into a full route plan.
4. Complete objectives quietly. Crouch-walk by default, keep your flashlight off, and use push-to-talk. Voice chat is audible to the Monster — idle chatter is a flashlight for your position.
5. Move to the cure. Once books are in, the squad brews the antidote at the craft station and the carrier lands the cure. The full sequence is covered in How to Cure the Monster.

The five beginner mistakes (and their fixes)

The community sees the same five errors every round:

Mistake	Why it kills you	Fix
Sprinting everywhere	Sprinting is the loudest thing you can do; here there is no exit to sprint to	Default to crouch-walking; sprint only on planned decoy routes
Talking on open mic	Voice chat is audio in-game — the Monster hears you	Switch to push-to-talk, keep callouts short
No role assignment	Seven players all hunting books means no decoy, so the Monster free-farms	Designate runners, decoy and cure carrier at spawn
Hoarding books	A single player carrying every book becomes the Monster's only target	Split book duty wing by wing
Panic-curing at range	The antidote only works up close — a ranged cure wastes it	Lure the Monster into a small room, then close in

Core mechanics you must understand in round one

The Monster hunts by sound first and sight second. It patrols a fixed pattern until it hears something — a sprint, a voice, a thrown item — and then uses vision to confirm and lock on. Flashlights and lit rooms give you away at long range, so keep lights off while hunting is active. The full sense model is broken down in How the Monster Detects You.

Breaking a chase means breaking line-of-sight first. Round a corner, then stop. Dive into a hiding spot only after the Monster has lost sight of you — hiding while watched fails. Lockers, under-furniture gaps, curtained alcoves and bookshelves all work; the ranked list is in Best Hiding Spots.

Roles are the real character system. Monsters in the Mansion does not currently ship playable classes — what defines your round is the job you take: runner, decoy, cure carrier or support. Our characters and roles page explains each one, and the Survivor Tier List ranks them by how much they move the cure loop.

A first-night checklist

Copy this list into your squad chat before the round starts:

• Everyone is on push-to-talk, flashlights default off
• Roles assigned: 2–3 runners, 1 decoy, 1 cure carrier, rest support
• Each runner owns one wing of the mansion
• Everyone knows the two nearest exits from their starting room and one hiding spot per objective
• The cure is called before the craft starts — not during

Play a few rounds with this checklist and you will already be ahead of most public lobbies. From there, move on to How to Survive to sharpen your chase play, and Tips & Advanced Play once the basics feel automatic.

What's not confirmed yet

Round timers, the exact number of books required for the antidote, and any numeric detection ranges have not been published by the developer in Early Access. Treat any specific number you see elsewhere with suspicion — this wiki marks unconfirmed values instead of inventing them.