Detention ("Back to School"返校) is a point and click horror game made by Red Candle Games. The story takes place in Taiwan during the "White Terror" era in Taiwanese history where the ruling Kuomingtang (Nationalist Party) imposed strict martial law because of communist mainland China. This is an interesting time period to use as it is rarely depicted in popular culture. The main character Ray gets waken up by another student Wei, they must get out of their school.

Gameplay is your average point and click adventure game, collecting items, solving puzzles, just like point and click flash games I used to play when I was younger. Puzzles were sometimes difficult, but most of the time they were understandable.

Plot and atmosphere were the main selling point of Detention. Atmosphere was eerie, creepy, nerve wracking. The monsters that appear in the game are that from traditional Chinese culture and fairy tales. To get past monsters, you need to hold your breath and hope they don't notice you. This can be seen as parallel to what Taiwanese citizens have to go through when around government officials. It was scary walking past/being around both, holding breathe represents not talking taboo subjects/wrongthink around Kuomingtang members.

The plot was not given canonically but was revealed one by one in cutscenes, atmosphere, collectables etc. The plot was very interesting and good to give as little spoilers as possible. Play the game for yourself and you will see why.

Replay value is limited to an alternate good ending and achievements so replaying is not really fun when you know the story already. Speaking of achievements, the achievements are easily obtainable and can be collected in 1 or 2 playthroughs.

Overall, Detention is very symbolic, atmospheric, horrifying in a good way, shocking, and a job well done for portraying the White Terror era of Taiwan and traditional Chinese/Taiwanese culture to western audiences.

One last thing is about Red Candle Games' latest release "Devotion". On release it was a huge success, but there was an unintended easter egg about Xi Jinping Winnie-the-Pooh. Because most of the fan base is in mainland China, they quickly gave Devotion negative reviews. When Red Candle Games patched it out and gave a public statement it was unintentional, people were still mad. Then Devotion was removed and the review bomb got to Detention. I personally condemn review bombing of genuinely good games and everyone who's intelligent would agree.

Now with the issue of Red Candle Games having not come out and, would only re-release Devotion if people would forgive them and give them a second chance. That most likely would never happen, so the most likely way for Red Candle Games to re-release Devotion is when Xi Jingping passes away, the CCP loses all power, or when Xi realises censoring Winnie-the-Pooh makes him the biggest snowflake who has ever lived and uncensors Winnie-the-Pooh.

Even though Red Candle Games is almost dead at this point, the new Detention movie based on the game is released, people have enjoyed it, and I will be looking forward to view the movie once the English sub/dub gets released.

Detention ("Back to School"返校) is a point and click horror game made by Red Candle Games. The story takes place in Taiwan during the "White Terror" era in Taiwanese history where the ruling Kuomingtang (Nationalist Party) imposed strict martial law because of communist mainland China. This is an interesting time period to use as it is rarely depicted in popular culture. The main character Ray gets waken up by another student Wei, they must get out of their school. Gameplay is your average point and click adventure game, collecting items, solving puzzles, just like point and click flash games I used to play when I was younger. Puzzles were sometimes difficult, but most of the time they were understandable. Plot and atmosphere were the main selling point of Detention. Atmosphere was eerie, creepy, nerve wracking. The monsters that appear in the game are that from traditional Chinese culture and fairy tales. To get past monsters, you need to hold your breath and hope they don't notice you. This can be seen as parallel to what Taiwanese citizens have to go through when around government officials. It was scary walking past/being around both, holding breathe represents not talking taboo subjects/wrongthink around Kuomingtang members. The plot was not given canonically but was revealed one by one in cutscenes, atmosphere, collectables etc. The plot was very interesting and good to give as little spoilers as possible. Play the game for yourself and you will see why. Replay value is limited to an alternate good ending and achievements so replaying is not really fun when you know the story already. Speaking of achievements, the achievements are easily obtainable and can be collected in 1 or 2 playthroughs. Overall, Detention is very symbolic, atmospheric, horrifying in a good way, shocking, and a job well done for portraying the White Terror era of Taiwan and traditional Chinese/Taiwanese culture to western audiences. One last thing is about Red Candle Games' latest release "Devotion". On release it was a huge success, but there was an unintended easter egg about Xi Jinping Winnie-the-Pooh. Because most of the fan base is in mainland China, they quickly gave Devotion negative reviews. When Red Candle Games patched it out and gave a public statement it was unintentional, people were still mad. Then Devotion was removed and the review bomb got to Detention. I personally condemn review bombing of genuinely good games and everyone who's intelligent would agree. Now with the issue of Red Candle Games having not come out and, would only re-release Devotion if people would forgive them and give them a second chance. That most likely would never happen, so the most likely way for Red Candle Games to re-release Devotion is when Xi Jingping passes away, the CCP loses all power, or when Xi realises censoring Winnie-the-Pooh makes him the biggest snowflake who has ever lived and uncensors Winnie-the-Pooh. Even though Red Candle Games is almost dead at this point, the new Detention movie based on the game is released, people have enjoyed it, and I will be looking forward to view the movie once the English sub/dub gets released.