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Detention

Guards detaining an entrant.

Detain button 1160

The button used to detain an entrant.

The authority to detain entrants is given to the inspector under certain conditions, usually when an entrant severely violates the immigration protocol, or under other circumstances. Detaining is possible starting on day 5 in story mode. The detainment animation usually takes around 6 seconds, except when guards have to knock out entrants.

Gameplay[]

When a discrepancy or other reason that warrants detaining an entrant is detected, a blinking detain button appears. Pushing it will trigger a short animated sequence (see below). While the sequence plays out, the in-game clock keeps ticking, so detaining takes time from processing entrants. If playing endless mode and in most cases in story mode, it is possible to just refuse entry even if the entrant could be detained.

Detaining the entrant will never lead to a citation unless you fail to confiscate passports of persons belonging to the Altan district or Arstotzka as required before detaining the entrant, and approving them will always lead to a citation. Certain scripted events also enable you to detain the entrant, but failing to detain the entrant could result in no citation depending on the scripted event.

In story mode, detaining entrants becomes profitable due to a deal Calensk makes with the inspector on day 9. The timed and endurance variants of endless mode also compensate the player for detaining entrants: In the timed mode, a detained entrant adds 5 seconds to the timer (and one point), and in the endurance mode, a detained entrant is worth two points (while a processed entrant otherwise is worth only one point).

Situations for detention[]

The inspector is able to detain a person after identifying a discrepancy involving at least one of the following conditions:

In story mode, there are several scripted occasions where a detain button appears outside these conditions, such as Nathan Cykelek giving two passports in place of one.

Invalid detention reasons[]

The inspector cannot detain people with the following discrepancies in their documents:

Glitch[]

F4A1B48E-D960-4CC6-8264-1FD441E6C847

Tap this part, between the counter and the section below it.

Papers Please Android forced detention bug

Tap this part, right when the sliding animation starts.

There is a glitch for the iOS version, which forcefully detains the entrant. It involves the player to tap at the exact border between the counter, and the space below the counter, above where the detain button would be.

The same can be done in the Android version. When a search or fingerprint option is prompted, the player has to quickly tap on the blank space where the detain button would be before it finishes sliding to forcefully detain the entrant.

Animation when detained[]

Escorting detained entrant

Guards escorting a detained entrant.

When the detain button is pushed, an alarm will sound, the shutter closes, and two guards walk to the booth. Between days 5 and 15, the two guards (Calensk and an unknown guard) stationed in front of the wall will handle detentions. Since day 16, two guards appear from the top of the screen. The left guard will demand the entrant to exit and they escort the entrant off-screen. Until day 16, the guards return to their original position afterwards.

Three entrants, the fourth entrant on day 10, possibly Danic Lorun on day 21, and the first entrant on day 24, refuse to leave the booth when detained. The left guard then demands them to exit the booth and the right guard knocks them in the head with a butt of a rifle and apprehends them.

Detained

An entrant refuses to comply before being knocked out by a Guard with a rifle stock.

The player may call in the next entrant when the detained entrant has left the booth.

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