Detention

About Detention

Detention is an atmospheric horror adventure by Red Candle Games, a studio from Taiwan, released on PC in January 2017 and later on PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, iOS and Android. It is set in a fictional version of 1960s Taiwan under martial law, and it draws on Taoism, Buddhism and Chinese and Taiwanese folklore, elements rarely seen in horror games.

Two students find themselves trapped at Greenwood High School, deep in the mountains, during a storm. The school they knew has changed in unsettling ways, and evil creatures now roam its halls. To get out, they have to explore the campus, examine ominous objects and work through puzzles.

It plays as a side-scroller with point-and-click controls. You move along corridors, classrooms and courtyards, pick up and use items, and hide from the creatures that patrol the school.

Not every ghost works the same way. Some leave you alone once you've set down a food offering. With others you hide behind talismans or look away, and a few you can only run from.

The fear is quiet and heavy rather than loud. The art is muted and grey, broken by flashes of red; rain and a soundtrack mixing electronic music with traditional Asian instruments fill the silence. What frightens most is the slow surfacing of what happened at the school and why.

It suits players who like story-driven horror, puzzles and cultural settings away from the usual haunted mansion.

How to play Detention

1. Click where you want your character to walk and on objects to look at them.
2. Collect items in your inventory and use them on the world to solve puzzles and open the way.
3. When a ghost comes near, hold your breath to stay unseen; the breath only lasts a short time.
4. Place food offerings to distract the ghosts so you can get past.
5. Read notes and look at the school's objects to piece together its past.

Tips

• Examine everything: small objects often hold the answer to a later puzzle.
• Time your breath: hold it only while a ghost is close, since it runs out.
• Three hits from a ghost end the run, so avoid them rather than rush past.
• Play with headphones; the sound tells you when something is near.

Questions