Papers, Please
speedrun
GOALS:
- The most glorious ending (ending 19, member of EZIC)
- All family members alive and OK in the end
- As fast as possible
DAY 1: Artstotzkans only!
Entrant 1 is always Artstotzkan and can be approved blindly.
The clock begins running, from 6 am, when I call the first entrant in. It runs for 12 hours, until 6 pm. On day 1, this takes 3 minutes of real time.
Entrants 2 and 3 are always foreigners on day 1. I can quickly deny both without even looking at their papers.
The stamp can be placed anywhere on the passport. It can even be on the very edge. As long as there's even a small dot of ink on the passport, even in the corners, your stamp is in effect.
Entrant 5 on day 1 will not require an action other than calling the next entrant in.
The only rule in effect on day 1 is: Artstotzkans only. I don't need to validate dates, genders, photos, or anything. I deliver judgment entirely based on the passport's color. This is very fast.
The day will end when the clock hits 6 pm, and there's no way to make it any faster. On day 1, this takes exactly 3 minutes.
Because this is an easy day, I use the opportunity to rack up credits. I receive 5 credits for every entrant I process correctly.
I need credits to pay my rent, and to keep my family alive. I also will need credits to pay the many penalties I will get the later days.
My personal goal is to process at least 18 entrants today.
Every entrant from 6 onwards were random and different on each run.
18 entrants processed. I take the risk and call in the 19th one.
Okay, a slight mishap there. If the entrant has not exited the office at 6pm, I need to work overtime. The day continues until the MOA determines whether the judgment was correct. This cost me a few seconds, but it's not too significant in the long run compared to other factors appearing later in the run.
Check the video description for detailed information about how I deal with paying food & heat.
DAY 2: Passports must be valid!
On day 2, the information in the passports must be valid.
Entrants 1 and 4 always have valid passports on day 2.
Entrant 2 always has invalid passport on day 2.
I can quickly stamp them correctly without looking at the passport contents.
Entrant 3 has a random passport.
I don't know whether it is valid or not.
But today, I'm on a schedule. I can't bother to look at anyone's passports.
I will just stamp them randomly. If it is correct, it is only because of good luck.
There will be a terrorist attack during entrant 7's processing. The terrorist attack will cut the day short. I wish this event to arrive quickly, so I turbo-judge all unknown entrants without regard for correctness.
And sometimes turbo-judging, as mistaken judgments do, can lead into citations. First two citations cost me five credits each (because I don't get paid for the entrant), but the ones after that incur additional penalties.
Here comes the terrorist attack, right on schedule.
If this didn't happen, the day would last exactly 4 minutes.
My family is starving and cold because I didn't pay for food and heat yesterday. Paying for food and heat today will bring them all to OK though. Additionally, I must pay for medicine for the son, but I still ended up profiting.
I will keep doing this throughout the run.
DAY 3: Entry Ticket required!
Entrants 1, 3 and 5 always have correct papers today.
Entrants 2 and 6 always have incorrect papers today.
And entrant 8 is... Jorji.
Everyone else is randomized.
This day will last exactly 6 minutes, until the clock hits 6pm.
My personal goal is to process 30 entrants before 6pm.
This is the rulebook. I need the rulebook to point out discrepancies. Doing so will trigger discussion with the entrant, and is sometimes required -- either to progress, or not receive a citation.
I have nothing to stamp on.
All entrants after Jorji are randomized.
I study the passport expiration date, the face, the gender, and the city; and finally the date on the entry ticket. Not always in that order. The city name must be correctly spelled and not belong to some other country.
I always add the approval stamp first, and a denial stamp when necessary. The denial stamp always takes precedence over approval stamp, no matter which order they are stamped.
This one was easy to deny. Yurco City is a very obvious misspelling. Kolechia has Yurko City.
After you play this game a while, you can memorize all the (fictional) cities in the different (fictional) countries.
The brain develops mnemonics and rules to associate in the learning and memorization.
For example, Impor has Tsunkeido, Haihan and Enkyo. All of these are names that sound Asian, and are indeed possible to write in Japanese syllables. Impor-Enkyo is a phonetical pair, two things that always go together in my mind. If I see e.g. Impor-Shingleton, there is an obvious conflict, and it strikes the eye.
Similarly, United Federation has Great Rapid, Shingleton, and Korista City. These are all English names, at least partially. United Federation is like USA. If I see a Lorndaz together with Unifed, I know there's a discrepancy.
There are other countries with English-sounding names. For example, Outer Grouse in Antegria and Yurko City in Kolechia. But there are memory cues for those special cases separately.
I brought forth the rulebook again, because it is possible that Jorji is not the only entrant who forgot to bring their passport.
Pointing out the discrepancy is the only way to progress when the entrant does not produce a passport.
The stamp does not need to hit the marked area. As long as any ink hits the passport at all, the stamp is decisive.
This Antegrian applicant's passport indicated Mergerous for city. Mergerous is in Obristan. I missed this discrepancy, and got a citation for it.
Getting a few citations does not matter as long as I hit the speedrun's major goals. This is not a citationless run, nor does it even aim to be. The only things I aim for are survival and time.
Placing the stamp on the passport's text can make the text unreadable. This was a problem a few times throughout this run, but luckily here the birthday field does not even need to be legible.
This applicant has a non-matching photo in their passport.
This one is expired.
It is half past 5pm. I probably have time to handle one more.
Despite the little misclick, I managed to close the office in time. Time to read the news.
Okay, done. Let's go home.
DAY 4: Entry Ticket is yesterday. Entry Permit required!
Starting today, every entrant must state their intent and duration of immigration. And I must compare that with the entry permit.
Artstotzkan immigrants do not require an entry permit. They must produce an ID card instead.
Entrants 3 and 5 always have invalid papers today.
I forgot about this when dealing with entrant 3, though.
Entrant 8 is Jorji, who produces an interesting passport.
I also missed a discrepancy in entrant 7's papers.
I approve Jorji's "passport", so that he will not come again on days 6, 8 and 11.
If the entrant misstates their immigration purpose or length, or they fail to produce required papers, I can point out the discrepancy, and they will often correct themselves. But it is faster to outright deny them.
My personal goal is to process 30 entrants today. This day lasts 7 minutes without interruptions.
There is a discrepancy in the passport ID numbers between these two papers. There is no benefit to interrogating this kind of discrepancies at this point of the game.
Height differences are devious and hard to make sure of, especially if the entrant has hair or a hood. This one was pretty clearly correct though.
Sometimes I failed to hit the stamp on first attempt despite the large target. This cost me my 30-entrant goal, but the speedrun itself is unaffected.
Not that I was going to hit the 30 entrant goal today anyway. Oh well. Maybe tomorrow!
I could hit the "Sleep" button as soon as this screen appears, but I don't remember which days I need to change some of the budget options, and it also more viewer-friendly to show the contents of the screen before clicking away.
DAY 5: Suspicious individuals can now be detained!
The rules in effect are the same as yesterday, but from today onward, if I see a forgery, mismatched birthdays, misspelled cities, and other similar errors, I can point out the discrepancy and then detain the individual.
Entrants 1 and 9 always have invalid papers today.  Entrants 3, 5, and 8 always have correct papers today. But there are a few dilemma to deal with.
Entrant 3 is a wanted criminal. However, there is no rule in my book saying that wanted criminals cannot enter, so I will approve him without getting a citation. This is faster than detaining him.
Entrant 5 hates passing through the country. Papers Please Wiki does not say whether this entrant always has correct papers or not, but in my test runs he has always been OK, so I approve him without checking the papers.
As a micro-optimization, if you give the papers the very moment the entrant speaks their last line, their next line comes immediately thereafter without the 1-second delay. I use this technique whenever I remember it.
Entrants 8 and 9: Antegrian husband and wife.  I choose my actions based primarily on what gets them to talk least, and secondarily on what nets me fewest citations. In this case, these goals happen to concur.
Entrant 10 and onwards are random, again. Here's going for the 30-entrant goal...
This day lasts 7 minutes without interruptions, if I recall correctly. I stopped counting them after this day.
I sometimes make mistakes, yes. But this is not a no-citation run. Given that the game literally forces at least one citation on you, it would be pointless to aim for zero citations in my opinion... I find optimizing for time without regard for citations a far more involving goal.
Paradizna is in Artstotzka, because it's like a Disneyland. Everyone wants to get there.
(Only to find it a horrible, oppressing and corrupt dictatorship. This may be not applicable to Disneyland.)
Some applicants forget to produce a passport. In those cases, you really need to interrogate the discrepancy, because otherwise you have nothing to stamp on. If you want to deal with entrants fast, these cases are evil.
I don't detain anyone today. It takes time, and nobody rewards me for detaining anyone. Denying is faster. I want to rack up those credits.
If I try to call the next entrant too quickly, the inspector shouts a (dis)motivating phrase instead of "Next!". It is for this reason that I always click the speaker many times in a row. Sometimes the game does not register all clicks though.
I didn't want to risk getting a no-passport case for the last entrant, so I ended the day early. No 30 entrants today, either.
The first two Booth Upgrades are extremely useful, especially the first one.
The third one is so-so, and I actually dislike the fourth one.
DAY 6: Workers must produce a Work Pass!
Entrants 1, 2 and 7 always have valid papers today.
Here I accidentally misclicked and did not actually stamp her passport. This cost me a few seconds.
I cannot hand back an unstamped passport.
Entrant 2 gave me a note with information about entrant 7, that could give me a reason to detain him.
Entrants 3-6 and 8 are random.
However, I'm expecting a terrorist attack today, so I will quickly deliver random stamps again without regard for correctness.
If I denied Jorji on day 4, he would be entrant 5 today. Now I'm getting her instead. This is a significant factor to making this day shorter.
Entrant 7 could have been detained based on the information the girl gave me. However, he always has valid papers, and approving him is faster. And time is all that matters.
Entrant 9 is a terrorist. I must approve his entry, or otherwise I'm stuck 5 minutes, I mean 9 hours, dealing with smelly entrants.
In you go. Have fun!
Or don't, whatever works for you...
Yay for Kolechia!
DAY 7: All Kolechians must be searched!
Today, I must search all Kolechians. This is my least favourite day. Of course, the first entrant is the tutorial or practice one, so I must search her.
Enjoy your pixel-graphics naked ladies, pervs.
Entrant 4 always has invalid papers. Entrant 7 always has contraband, but he offers a bribe if pointed out.
Everyone else is randomized.
Because yesterday I delivered turbo judgments, today is actually a day I must apply two new rules at once: Search Kolechians, and workers must have a work pass (yesterday's new rule).
See why I hate this day?
Anyway, I'm aiming for 30 entrants again. But because of this Kolechian rule I probably won't have chance of making it.
Stamps can be applied through papers and fotos, even through books.
Entrant 7 is always this Kolechian man who has contraband. If I search him and point out the contraband, he offers a bribe. This takes time and is not really worth it, so I just deny him outright.
There is no way to suppress the questions that are being asked from the entrant even when their entry has already been denied. Thus there is a minimal processing time that must be spent on every single entrant.
No way to suppress the "cause no trouble" or "glory to Artstotzka" phrases either.
According to Papers, Please Wiki, the inspector says "Ehua". The entrant says "Ide". Guards say "Gish-tot", and the suicide bomber says "Lekrafezuh". These sounds were synthesized by MacInTalk with some generous postprocessing.
Why is everyone from Kolechia today??
I've had enough.
(And incidentally, the time is nearly 6 pm.)
DAY 8: Some entrants may now be diplomats!
The first entrant is a tutorial: a Kolechian diplomat, whose papers are always valid.
Jorji would have be the third entrant, if he was not admitted on day 4 or 6. Now entrants 2-4 and 6-8 are random.
The EZIC messenger counts as an entrant, even though it involves no immigration decision. I receive 5 credits for processing him, as with all entrants that do not produce citations.
Entrant 9 is Corman Drex, an EZIC operative. I am supposed to give him this paper, but I won't!
Corman's papers are always valid.
Don't worry, we will see him again.
All remaining entrants are random.
I'm going for the 30 entrant goal again.
Whoops. Missed the photo difference. Genuine mistake.
29 entrants processed, with one mistake.
Close. Very close. Oh well...
The second Booth Upgrade is very useful.
DAY 9: Detain Rewards are now enabled.
Entrant 1 is a guard, Calensk. The clock starts ticking towards 6pm when entrant TWO is called in. This means that day 9 is even longer than day 8, unless something unscheduled happens...
I will get paid 5 credits per each two detains. However, the first time around, this payment caps at 5 credits.
The next time I see the guard, if I have detained more than 3 persons, the guard will spend some time talking about his wife, all while the clock is not yet running, and I don't want that. Therefore, I will detain exactly two people.
These detains won't happen today, though.
Entrant 4 just hands me some documents and leaves. It does not involve a decision, but I get paid nonetheless.
Entrant 7 is the person I must give the documents to.
Gameplaywise, it makes no difference which documents I give them. But I play along anyway.
Entrant 9 is Corman Drex, again. Because I didn't give him his paper yesterday, he shows up again today. I chose this, because I like a quick-approval entrant much better than an unpredictable entrant.
Oddly enough, he looks very different from yesterday.
Beginning from entrant 10, I may get a random smuggler. A smuggler will turn into a suicide bomber if admitted. A suicide bombing means go-home-early! Guess what I will do.
Unfortunately, there's no _guarantee_ that I do get a smuggler. There's only a chance for it. Luck is a very big factor here. This is the point where it is decided whether your speedrun is 4 minutes faster or 4 minutes slower, and I have absolutely no means to influence it.
I want a smuggler! You can expect to see me deliver some random judgments. But I can't afford to do too many, because the citations will turn into penalties, and penalties will be prohibitively expensive.
Ohh, look at that. I got a smuggler! On third go! This is quite good luck.
Mr. Smuggler, do your thing.
Yay, he did his thing!
DAY 10: Today you are sufficient.
Entrant 1 will be the boss.
Clock starts when entrant TWO is called in.
Today is the day when I will accumulate my two detains.
Entrant 4 will be one of those, but everyone else is random.
Her entry permit is expired. Pointing out the discrepancy does not enable detaining, so I will just deny her.
Entrant 4 always has some manner of discrepancy in their papers. It does not matter what the discrepancy is, I will just quickly deny them.
And then detain her, when she refuses to leave.
Detain #1 complete.
She has put on some weight.
Detain #2 done! 5 extra credits earned.
Now I will not detain any more people for a while, because the guard wouldn't pay me anyway. In fact, if I did detain more, the guard would spend time talking and I don't want that.
Oh yes. Entrant #7 is an EZIC messenger today. He hands me some further documentation of upcoming tasks.
EZIC task #1 will be a person called Mikhail  Saratov. He must be passed through.
EZIC task #2 will be a person called Stepheni Graire. She must be passed through as well.
There will be no interruptions today, so I will continue working diligently until 6 pm.
Before I began speedrunning this game, I could reliably process about 14 entrants in a day. The number began quickly increasing when I made the decision and started practicing for a speedrun.
Even so, this is really just my eighth go or so.
DAY 11: Forged documents begin appearing.
As a tutorial, the first entrant today has a forged entry permit. I don't need to interrogate him/her. I can just straight deny them.
All other entrants are random.
Today, there may again be a suicide-bomber-smuggler beginning from entrant 10. Let's see what we get this time.
First, however, there's entrant 4, which is the guard. This time clock will run during his talking.
Also, I forgot to verify the seal on the entry permit of entrant 3.
Had I detained more than 3 people, Calensk would still give me just 5 credits, with an excuse about his wife and neighbors spreading the flu. This is faster.
Entrant 6 is the EZIC agent I must let through, even though their papers are invalid.
Getting another citation from a forged entry permit. This was unintentional, much like the earlier one.
Entrants 7 onwards are random.
Beginning at entrant 10, there may be a smuggler. Let's hope there will be one!
Are you a smuggler?
No, you are not. Only Artstotzkans are smugglers today.
Smuggler, please!
I mean, next!
You are Artstotzkan...
But you are not a smuggler. Drats.
How about you?
Smuggler! Yay! Come on in, friend.
If I accept this EZIC gift, I will be in trouble. Burning the money is the right option.
There is also a Booth Upgrade. This one is kind of so-so. I buy it anyway.
DAY 12: Blue Creeper
Time does not run while entrant #1, i.e. Special Investigator M. Vonel, is standing in my room. Clock starts running when I call in entrant TWO.
There's no way to make this encounter any faster. The only thing I can do is to return his papers as quickly as possible when he asks for them, and call entrant #2 as soon as possible.
Entrant nine will be a terrorist today. I will deliver random turbo judgments again, until I get to entrant nine which I must approve as quickly as possible.
Entrant four, however, is Messof, who is looking for engineers. His papers are always valid. Denying him will not make him talk any less, so I will allow him and not get a citation.
Entrants 5-7 are random. I give them random turbo judgments with an unbiased statistical distribution.
Entrant 8 is an engineer. Their papers are always valid, but they may misstate their duration/purpose. I play my luck and just approve without checking.
Finally, entrant 9, who is a terrorist.
I must approve him, to go home early.
Entrants 10 onwards are random. Let's see if I can process one before the bomb.
EZIC raises stakes.
I must burn the gift again, or I will be in deep trouble.
DAY 13: ID supplement required!
Starting today, foreigners must present an ID supplement in addition to the documents previously required.
Today, again, there may be a smuggler beginning at entrant 9. Because the smugglers are randomly generated, and there's no guarantee you ever get one, I process most entrants normally, unless they are too laborsome to process.
Entrant 3 is the guard. He complains that I haven't detained anyone. Sorry man, I've got a schedule to keep. Your bonuses are secondary.
I forgot about the forged seals, again...
Entrant 6 has invalid papers, but approving him is faster. 
If I denied him, there would be some discussion, that costs time.
Entrant 7 is always an engineer, and their papers are always valid. However, they may misstate their duration/purpose. I don't bother validating it, and just turbo-approve anyway.
In this case, they did misstate the duration, and I got a citation.
Entrant 9 onwards can be a smuggler.
Only a person whose weight differs from what is written in their documentation can be a smuggler.
Drats. Artstotzkan, yet not a smuggler.
Another non-smuggler Artstotzkan.
What's the matter with you people!
Doesn't everyone of you want to blow up for greater good?
Since everyone except diplomats must now present a document of their weight, technically anyone could now be a smuggler, not just Artstotzkans.
All it takes is just one person with a weight discrepancy.
Man, really. This is what kills a run.
And there's absolutely nothing I can do. Of course, I could turbo-approve people until I get the smuggler, but there's a chance it would just net me a huge pile of expensive citations and still not a single smuggler.
I missed one discrepancy here.
But yeah, I didn't get a smuggler today. Too bad.
DAY 14: Wanted-list. This is when you practice detaining!
Today there will be plenty of entrants who have something worth detaining for.
However, it is also a day when I'm expecting another smuggler, so I can't actually go and waste time detaining anyone.
Entrants 1 and 6 are always on the list of wanted criminals.
This girl is smuggling something, or she just has put on some weight. Unfortunately she's not entrant 10 yet, so she cannot be a suicide bomber. I will just deny her.
Entrant 4 is always an engineer. Their papers are always in condition, but they may misstate their visit purpose/duration. I will turbo-approve the papers nonetheless.
Entrant 6 is a wanted criminal.
Entrant 7 demonstrates another unique type of criminal activity. I think it is still faster to deny than to detain.
Entrant 9 is Stepheni Graire, the second EZIC operative I must allow through despite her invalid papers.
Any entrant beginning from #10 may be a smuggler. Smugglers are welcome.
She wasn't a smuggler. Maybe the next one.
Oh yeah! Now we're talking.
And ANOTHER? Where were you yesterday??!
You were supposed to come yesterday!!
The fourth and last booth upgrade actually is annoying. But because the game will keep offering it until I take it, I will buy it anyway.
I also took the opportunity to move into a class-7 apartment, because I had more credits than I knew what to do with.
DAY 15: I could make a Zero Wing reference today.
Today is another smuggler day.
I still get money for processing entrants 2 and 3, even though neither involves a passport.
One can wonder how did he slip that big bomb through that little slit in the counter...
And this is why I hate booth upgrade 4.
It is all to easy to accidentally activate the discrepancy mode.
Entrant 5 is an engineer. Same rules as before: Papers are valid, but they may misstate their visit duration/purpose. And I turbo-approve them anyway.
Except when I lose my train of thought.
Entrants 8 onwards are random. Entrants beginning at number 10 may also be smugglers.
10: Not a smuggler :(
11: Not a smuggler :(
12: Not a smuggler :(
13: On wanted-list, so not a smuggler.
People always have exactly zero or one discrepancies, in addition to possible mistakes in what they say. This one is wanted, so she can't also be a smuggler.
14: Not a smuggler :(
15: Not a smuggler :(
You see why this game is so frustrating to speedrun?
16 is not a smuggler either.
I want a smuggler. I'm starting to deliver random judgments to speed up the processing, in hopes I still run into the smuggler today.
Hey, look at that. It worked!
I got a smuggler, finally.
It took 9 entrants (entrant 18) to get one.
DAY 16: Trespassers will be shot, detained and fined!
Entrant 1 is the guard, Calensk, in time-stop mode.
Today they gave me the key to a gun locker. And guess what, today is the tutorial day for using the gun. This means we are expecting a terrorist attack. It also means that I will be passing random turbo judgments to all entrants today.
Entrant 4 always has invalid papers, and should be denied. However, she shuts up faster if I just approve her.
Entrant 6, Messof, always has correct papers, and should be approved. However, he shuts up faster if I DENY him.
The terrorist attack comes during entrant 8's processal. I can relax when entrant 8 is called in.
DAY 17: Nobody is going to interrupt you today.
Sergiu is entrant number 1. Time does not run while he's in the booth, and he likes to talk a LOT. Nice fellow, but totally oblivious to speedrun principles.
Today I'm not under any sort of hurry, and Calensk has promised to pay me luxuriously for any people I detain. This is the day when I will use that privilege to my maximal advantage, for no particular reason.
Today I'm not aiming for a number of entrants record. Rather, I will investigate anything that could possibly lead into a detaining, such as this entrant's mismatching portraits.
An EZIC messenger stops by and gives me a cryptic clue hinting me of their next operative that I should approve regardless of his/her invalid papers.
Entrant 7 is always a member of press, who does not possess required papers.
Entrant 9 is the EZIC operative that counts as task 3/5 towards the EZIC ending.
I must approve her entry.
He may be smuggling something. Today is however not a suicide bomber day, so even if he has something, he would not interrupt the day. I can therefore go ahead and investigate it, and possibly detain him.
Just this once I remembered to check the seals!
It was too late to photograph her. Denying was faster, and I can still close the day in time.
EZIC sends me 20 credits for reward on completing task 3/5. They did the same for the previous tasks.
Accepting this small gift will not get me into trouble.
DAY 18: Every denial must be accompanied with a reason!
Starting today, a new rule is in effect: Every time I stamp a "DENY" stamp, I must also provide a "REASON" stamp which tells why the entrant was denied.
Today is the tutorial day for the reason stamp, so the game will continue to send me waves of entrants with invalid papers. However, today I am also expecting a terrorist attack.
Because every denial now needs to be accompanied with a reason, a mere "DENY" stamp is always wrong from this day forward. This means that from this day onward, my turbo judgments will ALWAYS be "APPROVE". Approval has a 50% chance of being right, compared to 0% of denial.
Err... This entrant did not produce a passport at all. Welp.
I made a mistake here. I should not have used the REASON stamp to avoid a citation here. Denying with a reason on the tutorial day produces this lengthy discussion which wastes time.
The terrorist attack of today will commence when entrant 8 is called in.
Noo.... Stahp talking please!
Go away! Shoo!
This is entrant 8.
I can relax now.
Remember the green guard, Sergiu?
He will appear in my booth on many following days, spending time talking about stuff, all while I'm impatiently waiting for the clock to begin ticking.
But here's the thing, I don't NEED to have all that.
I am purposely holding my fire JUST long enough for the terrorist to kill Sergiu.
No more Sergiu, no more long minutes of chat.
Calensk also sent me 5 credits. Did I only detain 2 or 3 people? Hmm...
I don't buy the present for the son. It's not that I don't have money, but the son would draw me a drawing and it would clutter my booth. I'd rather not have that.
DAY 19: No IMPOR!
Sergiu would have been the first entrant today, but since he suffers from critical existence failure, I can go ahead with my daily schedule right away without delay.
Today's new rule is that people from Impor are prohibited from entering the country.
In addition, yesterday's new rule that every denial must be accompanied with a denial reason is still in effect.
When I point out a discrepancy in weight, height, name, or photo, I have two options: I can either fingerprint/search them, or just outright deny them. Fingerprinting/searching can lead into either clearing the discrepancy or allowing detaining.
Today I'm not in hurry, so I will look for detain opportunities again.
If there is a discrepancy in the visit duration/purpose, the entrant will always correct themselves. If they are missing a paper, they may either provide the missing paper or give a denial reason.
If there is a discrepancy in birthdays, passport numbers, countries, or seals, I can detain them immediately for forgery.
I momentarily forgot about the need for the denial reason stamps.
I tend to forget about these exceptions.
Days 7 and 19 are bad. Day 25 will be, too.
Ten credits is not enough.
I would have done it for 20, maybe even 15.
That's it for today. Let's see what tomorrow entails.
DAY 20: Lessons in toxicology
Today the boss pays another visit to my checkpoint.
If I didn't have his previous plaque on the wall, or I had the Arskickers poster on the wall, he would be angry and he would fine me 20 credits, if I recall correctly.
The first plaque recognized me for sufficience. The new plaque just recognizes me for presence.
Better than nothing.
Time starts running when entrant TWO is called in.
The EZIC messenger handed me a poison film. What should I do with it? Well, poison the very next entrant of course.
I was SUPPOSED to poison entrant number nine, Khaled Istom. This would have been EZIC task #4/5.
However, poisoning an entrant ends the day quickly, so I took the very first opportunity possible to poison _anyone_.
There are five EZIC tasks. You must complete at least four, to get ending 19.
I chose to skip this one, for obvious reasons.
The guard sends me a bonus of 15 credits, for detaining 6 or 7 people.
DAY 21: Some entrants may be seeking asylum!
Today schedule:
Entrant 2 is seeking asylym today. Her papers are valid.
Entrant 4's papers are valid, but he seeks a denial stamp and offers a bribe to get it.
Entrant 6's papers are missing, but he also offers a bribe.
Other entrants are randomized.
Today's schedule, continued:
When entrant 8 is called in, there will be a terrorist attack.
This means that I will turbo approve every randomized entrant, and for everyone else, I will pass whatever judgment gets them shut up fastest.
Entrant 4 wants a denial, even though he produces valid papers. I will give him what he wants, because that way he will speak fewest lines.
Entrant 6 has missing papers, but he offers a digital watch as a collateral. He returns a few days later. If I keep the watch, several entrants later on will try to purchase it from me. I chose actions that result in least talking today and during the following days overall.
I forgot to add a denial reason stamp though.
A terrorist attack is scheduled to happen during entrant 8.
Adopting the niece is one of this run's goals.
I also upgrade the house while I am at it.
DAY 22: More asylum seekers.
If Sergiu was still alive, he would pop in my booth today and talk and talk and talk. While the clock does not run.
Today I'm hoping for a smuggler, again.
This means that if there's an applicant with too hairy paper work, I just take a citation and move on. In general I try to process them correctly though.
Entrant 4 is the sports guy. He wants his poster back. He can have it. Also, his papers are always valid today.
Entrant 7 is Jorji. He is smuggling drugs. He is not a suicide bomber though, so there's no good reason to approve his entry.
Entrants 10 and following may be smugglers, who turn into suicide bombers when permitted entry, cutting the day short. I am hoping to get one.
I got one! At first opportunity! Very good luck.
Again, two in a row...
Game. Why are you doing this.
DAY 23: Pay no attention to the man in red.
Today there will be another terrorist attack, which means that I will deliver turbo approvals to everyone.
The second entrant is an EZIC messenger, who delivers me a key to a locker containing a sniper gun. I am supposed to shoot the man in red during the terrorist attack.
All of you who are crooks (and most are), today is your lucky day. Everyone gets approved today.
I approve everyone, because it has about 40―50 % chance of being the right call. Denial has a 0 % chance of being right when not accompanied by the Reason stamp.
The terrorist attack will commence during entrant 8.
DAY 24: Confiscate passports of Altan residents!
Today I am supposed to confiscate passports of Artstotzkan citizens living in the Altan district. However, passport confiscation triggers long dialog, which I don't want, because I'm expecting a smuggler again, so I will ignore this rule.
When I run into mismatching names or photos or height, I can fingerprint the entrant to verify their identity. But I can also immediately deny them with this reason, which is faster.
When I run into mismatching weight or gender, I can strip-search the entrant to verify their identity. But I can also immediately deny them with this reason, which is faster.
Entrant four is a EZIC messenger who pops in to lament that their plan to have me assassinate the man in red failed.
Had I followed through the task, I would have received a bad ending: Arrest for murder of an innocent.
Jorji is a wanted criminal now.
However, I will just let him go with a denial stamp because it is faster. And he's not a suicide bomber anyway.
Beginning from entrant 9 there may be smugglers. Emphasis on the word "may", again...
Ohh... A weight discrepancy! Wonderful...
Maybe. Is this a smuggler? I don't know, to be honest.
The citation said "possible smuggler admitted", so signs are good.
Drats. She turned away.
Not a suicide bomber then.
Still no suicide bombers...
12 entrants and no suicide bomber amongst them. Luck is not very even in this game.
DAY 25: No UNITED FEDERATION!
Because Sergiu was killed, the clock starts ticking right now and not a minute later.
Today there will be no interruptions.
It is a normal 12-hour (7-minute) day.
Entrants from United Federation are prohibited entering today. Entrant 2 is always from Unifed today.
I could detain people today, but it's just not worth it.
Entrant 5 gives me a love note in hope this helps her get approved.
That would work, except that she won't shut up if I approve her. Better deny her.
Entrant 7 is depressed.
I could give her the love note to cheer her up. If only she could cheer up while keeping her mouth shut. Sorry, I'm keeping the note.
Today I am playing along with the confiscation rules, because I am not under a time pressure.
The inspector's boss specifically asked to approve Shae's entry, even though her diplomatic paper is invalid.
There were a few instances where I forgot about the United Federation exception, but luckily their passports had other kind of discrepancies as well.
DAY 26: Polio Vaccination Certificate is required!
There will be a terrorist attack today when entrant 8 is processed.
This means turbo-approval day.
Entrant 3 is Sergiu's girlfriend. Unfortunately Sergiu was killed earlier. Sorry miss, there's nothing I could do. Circumstances beyond my control.
Denying Elisa's papers results in fewer dialog lines than approving her. Incidentally I also avoid a citation.
Entrant 4 is always missing his vaccination papers.
Entrant 7 is always from Altan and his passport should be confiscated.
Nevertheless, I will turbo-approve everyone because I want that terrorist attack to come soon.
DAY 27: ID supplement is gone! Entry permit is gone! Access permit is required!
Today there will be no interruptions.
If Sergiu was still alive, he would make his last appearance today. Thankfully he is not, so I can get straight to business.
This EZIC messenger just gave me the instructions to EZIC task #5/5, which will comprise of entrants 7 and 9 today.
Entrant number 7 is an diplomat, whose passport the EZIC wants. This is part 1 of EZIC task #5/5.
Entrant number 9 is an EZIC operative who will assume the identity of the diplomat whose passport was confiscated. Giving them the confiscated passport is part 2 of the EZIC task #5/5.
All remaining entrants are random. There may be smugglers, but none of them are suicide bombers today.
This is quite mechanical work at this point.
DAY 28: Confiscate all Artstotzkan passports!
EZIC rewards me with 20 credits again for dealing properly with Gordon Kallo.
Today's new rule is to confiscate all Artstotzkan passports, no matter which district. However, today I'm expecting another terrorist attack, so I will just turbo-approve everyone again. Welcome, all manners of hoodlums from all around the world!
Entrant 3 always has a missing permit.
Entrant 4 always has a missing vaccination certification.
Entrant 1 always is Artstotzkan, and so is entrant 5.
The terrorist attack comes during entrant 7's processing.
I totally forgot that this terrorist attack is very fast. I didn't manage to fire at the motorist in time because I was busy playing with papers.
DAY 29: Day before calm.
Today's first entrant is Blue Creeper, i.e. Special Investigator M. Vonel.
Clock starts when entrant TWO is called in.
Jorji's papers are all fine today.
There is no way to avoid this citation.
Jorji forces his passport into my confiscation drawer, no matter what I do.
Entrant 8, the Vengeful Father, does not involve an immigration decision. Rather, he briefs the inspector of his personal request for a tomorrow's task.
That was a long and tiresome day.
Only a few days left.
Today I will upgrade to class 5 housing, so the game will stop pestering me about it.
This would net me the "Worker's Best" Steam achievement, if I was connected to Steam.
DAY 30: Calm before storm.
Today the boss pays me third and final visit.
I better have both plaques on the wall, and nothing else. Clock starts running when entrant TWO is called in.
This entrant is number 2. Entrant 3 will be Simon Wens. He is on the list of wanted criminals, but the Vengeful Father from yesterday wants to exact personal retribution. I am to approve his entry, but confiscate his passport first.
Despite the father's wishes, I will just deny Simon's entry, after some fashion of fumbling with the buttons. Aside from the fumbling, this is the fastest overall option. Because I do not confiscate the passport, I receive a citation. This is intentional.
Entrant 7 is the Vengeful Father, again. I chose my actions based on what gets him talk the fewest lines.
Entrant 9 is always missing their entry permit. All remaining entrants are randomized.
Plenty of sloppy mistakes today, but I don't really care. None of it matters for the end time, as long as I have enough money to pay my bills.
DAY 31: Full Speed Ahead!
Today there will be another day-terminating event, so I will turbo-approve everyone.
Entrant 2 is an EZIC messenger who tells me what is going to happen today.
Entrant 5 is Jorji who gives me a wad of money.
I cut the screen short (you can do that, I just didn't want to do it on any previous day), but all my family members were alive and OK; and I had 155 credits remaining and I was in a level 5 housing.
Played by Joel Yliluoma
in 2014-07-30
Thank you for watching!
