APPROVING, DENYING, INSPECTION MODE

Learn how to approve, deny, or detain entrants in Papers, Please. Master document checks and stamp usage to keep your border running smoothly and your paychecks coming.

Alright, so you've got people lining up at your border in Papers, Please, and you need to decide what to do with them. Basically, there are three paths for every entrant: you can let them in (Approve), send them away (Deny), or, in some cases, hold them for further questioning (Detain). Getting this right is key to earning your daily bread!

To make a call, you'll need your Stamps. Look to the right side of your document view, and you'll see an arrow pointing left. Click that to slide out your Stamps. Then, just click either the 'Approve' or 'Deny' stamp while the entrant's passport is under it. Boom, decision made!

Quick heads-up: if you accidentally hit 'Approve,' don't sweat it. You can slap a 'Deny' stamp right over it, and the Deny stamp will win. This is a one-way street, though – you can't override a Deny with an Approve. So, be a little careful with those approvals!

If someone's paperwork is perfectly in order, you can just Approve them right away. Easy money!

Now, if things aren't quite right – maybe a document is missing, or there's an error on the paperwork like an invalid issuing city on the passport or an expired entry permit – that person needs to be denied. For the first 17 days, you can just Deny them without explaining why. But starting on Day 18, things get stricter. You'll have to point out the specific error using a 'Reason for Denial' stamp in addition to your regular Deny stamp.

To point out an error, you'll use the 'X' button on the right side of your screen. Once you get the booth upgrade, you can also use the Spacebar. This lets you click and drag a line to connect two pieces of information, highlighting the discrepancy. You can link up info on the documents themselves, rules in your rulebooks, issuing cities on the regional map, lines from the audio transcript, even the entrant themselves if their photo, height, or gender is wrong! If a document is missing, you can even point at the Inspector's desk to show that.

Sometimes, people will realize they messed up and try to fix it. If they forgot a document, they might present it. If their reason for entry doesn't quite match up with their permit, they might correct their stated reason. Even if they fix one thing, their entry might still be invalid for a *different* reason, so always double-check everything!