This is a fairly long guide! If you just want a brief overview, check the TL;DRs at the end of each section.

Timed Mode is one of the gamemodes unlocked upon completing the Papers, Please campaign, along with Endurance and Perfection. There are four options within this mode, each with a different assortment of documents from various stages in the campaign, from entry permits alone up to access permits, vaccine certificates, grants of asylum and more. My focus will be on the fourth and final option (with all the day 30 documents), but I will touch on specific strategies for the earlier options too.

In this guide I'm assuming, as you ought to have completed the campaign, that you know your way around the game fairly well and are ready to take on the challenge of climbing the leaderboards in Timed Mode. I won’t be discussing the basics in detail – such as what to look out for when locating discrepancies – rather, how you can use these skills to process entrants both efficiently and accurately.

I've personally completed the campaign several times and have played and enjoyed Timed Mode extensively, constantly trying to better my scores. With this guide I hope to teach you the shortcuts large and small which I’ve discovered along the way.

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NOTE: I’m not going to be sharing cheats like screenshotting the game and pausing, and none of my own scores were achieved in this way. These are genuine time-saving methods for playing the game in the way it’s meant to be played.


• Prior knowledge is assumed.
• Guide will focus on fourth option (day 30 documents).
• No cheats!

It may not seem like a great first tip, but having all the tools at your disposal laid out exactly where you need them is crucial. Below is the layout I will set up every time I start a new game, before I've even called in the first entrant (except this time I did, just to demonstrate the Transcript!)

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This paper is only necessary for when the entrant first enters the booth and you quickly compare their face with the criminal mugshots. After that you can can cover it over with other documents - but more on that later. Position the bulletin so that the corners of the first picture are up against the borders of the desk.

Though it can initially be covered in documents, clicking anywhere on the book will bring it to the forefront of your desk for easy use. You should familiarise yourself with all the rules so that even when you can't read half of the lines (as above), you know what each one represents.

It's good to avoid covering the transcript with documents so that the purpose and duration of stay can be quickly compared with the Access Permit without having to pull it out from the desk every time.

In order to position the transcript so that only this key information is visible (as above), push it vertically off-screen so that the fourth rectangle from the top (pictured) is half-visible, and horizontally so that the dots on the right (pictured) are just one pixel off-screen. Once the game starts you can check if you positioned it correctly and adjust accordingly.




• Organise before the game starts and get into a routine.
• Keep the transcript out at all times.

Depending on which assortment of documents you play with, you may be able to outright deny somebody immediately, or a little more processing may be required.

NEVER DETAIN, SCAN OR FINGERPRINT. You are not granted bonus time or points, you simply waste time on an entrant you could have sent away with a denial.

And if you're playing on option 1 or 2 where there's no reason for denial stamp, don't bother interrogating a discrepancy. Just deny the passport and hand it back.



Minor discrepancies are either incorrect statements (duration or purpose of stay) or missing papers.
Major discrepancies include any incorrect information on documentation or being a wanted criminal.

There can only ever be one minor and one major discrepancy per entrant.

In the first two options of documents in Timed Mode, spotting a major or minor discrepancy is grounds for instant denial (unless the Passport is missing - either they will hand it to you or you will be given a temporary visa slip to stamp).

In the final two options, any minor discrepancy must be interrogated and cleared, and any major discrepancy must also be interrogated, always accompanied by a Reason for Denial stamp (you can also deny if they fail to hand over a missing document even after being prompted).


• Never detain, scan or fingerprint.
• Maximum of one minor and one major discrepancy per entrant.
• If no reason for denial stamp, deny minor and major discrepancies.
• If reason for denial stamp is in force, minor discrepancies must be interrogated.

No matter which documents you're playing with, there will be a 'general procedure' for the majority of applicants. With day 30 documents, this is as follows:

Passport
Access Permit
Certificate of Vaccination

In this section I'll be running through what I find to be the most efficient method of processing these particular documents, and these skills can be applied to other situations involving Work Passes, Grants of Asylum and more.

The following steps will take a while to get used to, and by all means change the process around to better suit yourself. You may start by working even slower than you did before, but with practice this method should get you processing much faster.

By this time, your desk should be organised and you should be ready for the first entrant.



Criminal is detected before moving all their documents away.

Before you're handed any documents, save time by briefly comparing the entrant's face to your Criminal Bulletin. This will allow you to instantly deny the entrant (provided you give a reason for denial if required). From my experience, I believe multiple criminals can appear in the same run, and even the same criminal twice over (but I'm really not sure on that - just keep an eye out!).



How quickly can you spot the major and minor discrepancy here?

Quickly drag the documents to your desk. In the image above, you'll notice that I've avoided obscuring the important Transcript information with the Access Permit, and the Rule Book is still just visible - if it's needed it can be clicked to bring it to the foreground. I recommend laying them out like this to make the next few steps easier.

At this stage, you may notice a few obvious discrepancies at a glance - things like an non-matching photo or an obviously forged seal. Having a quick glance like this can help you to spot something very quickly before you delve into the individual details, but don't take too long.



The image above features a discrepancy between ID numbers.

Start by looking at the name on the Vaccine Certificate, then move to the right checking the other two documents. Now that your eyes are on the Access Permit, check the ID number on the permit, then move back to the left checking the other two documents (simply follow the arrows above).

Tips for this stage...
• Incorrect ID numbers are always completely different - this makes them easy to spot.
• Be careful with incorrect names - there is often only a single letter of difference between the names on two different documents.



The image above features a certificate without a polio vaccination.

Now that you've made sure the names and ID numbers match up, all that matters now on the Certificate of Vaccination is the date and the presence of a polio vaccination. Once you've checked these for discrepancies, you can move the Certificate to the tray on the left to free up space for the other two documents.

Tips for this stage...
• The entrant must be vaccinated for polio - ignore anything else. This is easy to spot.
• Any expired vaccinations are always from the 70s - if the year starts with an 8 then it's valid.



The image above features a discrepancy between weights - notice how the Certificate of Vaccination has now been moved to the tray.

As you move on to the later documents, you are more likely to rush and make mistakes as there is a lot to check. With the Access Permit, I generally start from the bottom (expiry date) and move up to the top (seal). You must check each line in turn, except for the nationality (this is irrelevant), ID number and name (you've already cleared these), and including the often-overlooked seal.

Tips for this stage...
• Any expiry date before 1983 is always a discrepancy - anything during 1983 is valid. Don't bother checking the day and month (this tip also applies to the Passport).
• Physical appearances can be difficult - make sure you recognise tougher ones like bobbed hair.
• Height is often deceptive - if you're unsure, point out a discrepancy and continue looking at the document while the machine does the work.
• Compare the purpose and duration of stay with the Transcript - you'll often need to make conversions like 8 weeks = 2 months.
• There are only two valid seals for the Access Permit - know what they look like.



The image above features an incorrect issuing city - this will always catch you out!

The Passport packs a lot of potential discrepancies into a tight space - be careful once again. You ought to have already noticed if the photograph is wrong, but now is the time to spot it if you didn't. The sex is easy to miss, so make sure that's correct too. The issuing city will almost definitely be the bane of your existence in Timed Mode - it might be a good idea to memorise the issuing cities for each country to avoid repeated mistakes.

Tips for this stage...
• If you see a seemingly feminine name and there's a man standing in the booth (or vice versa), immediately check the sex on the Passport - you might grab a quick denial.
• Issuing cities can be completely wrong, but they can also feature small typos like "Orvecb Vonor" (which should be "Orvech Vonor").


• Follow the same routine and get quicker while maintaining accuracy.
• Issuing cities are a pain. Learn them.
• Just go and read the tips for each stage, they're useful.

Of course, not every entrant hands you this exact sequence of documents, and so you must be able to adapt accordingly. The most common variants, however, are the inclusion of a Work Pass, or the replacement of the Access Permit with an ID Card for Arstotzkan citizens. We'll look at these first, as well as the other potential options. Keep in mind that each of the following documents still requires an accompanying Passport and Certificate of Vaccination.



The image above features an expiry date that predates the duration of stay.

This fourth document to check may seem daunting, but it can be easily resolved. Incorporate the checking of the name on the Work Pass into Step 3 of the general procedure, then quickly make sure that the entrant's duration of stay will not extend past the expiry date of the Work Pass (I'm assuming you know how to do this). Also check the seal - there are four valid seals, but forged seals usually (not always!) have the hammer facing in the opposite direction. With that, the Work Pass can be moved back to the tray on the left and you can start checking the Certificate of Vaccination.

Potential discrepancies...
Name / Expiry Date / Seal



The image above features a mispelled district.

Getting handed this card is a blessing - if you immediately find a discrepancy there's no annoying dialogue to wait for and it's easier to clear than an Access Permit. Even so, different checks are needed which you may accidentally skip over, so take care. Just as before, carry out Step 3 of the general procedure to check the name, and make sure to compare the date of birth with that of the Passport. Most likely to catch you out is the district - when incorrect, it will only be a small typo, such as "Gannistora" (which should be "Gennistora"). They will never be completely different to what they should be (as issuing cities sometimes are), but you should familiarise yourself with Arstotzka's districts to avoid mistakes here.

Potential discrepancies...
Name / Photo / Date of Birth / Height / Weight / District



The image above features a discrepancy between ID numbers.

This document often throws me off because it's fairly uncommon but has a lot of important checks. Initially you can ignore the Fingerprint option that immediately drops down - the paper will obscure other documents as it appears from the bottom of the screen, and if you find a discrepancy you won't have to use it at all. However, if you are approaching the end of your checks and haven't found any discrepancies, you must confirm the fingerprints as this could be the only major discrepancy present. Keep in mind that once you do press the button, discrepancies that otherwise would have achieved a valid denial are no longer allowed (like aliases, height and weight), as the fingerprints prove that it's the same person. There's many factors to keep an eye on, as shown below - take extra care over this document and give yourself a little extra time.

Potential discrepancies...
Name / ID Number / Photo / Expiry Date / Seal / Date of Birth / Height / Weight / Fingerprints



The image above features a forged diplomatic seal - a tough one to spot.

Possibly even more of a godsend than the ID Card, provided you aren't screwed over by the seal. It's not particularly feasible for you to memorise both valid diplomatic seals for each country, so either have a quick check in the Rule Book (at the cost of valuable time), or just determine if you think it looks stupid and ignore it if it doesn't. I rarely get caught out by the seal, so you should be alright. Otherwise, check the name and ID number in the same way as Step 3 of the general procedure. Also make sure that "Arstotzka" is written in the box at the bottom - this is a surprisingly common discrepancy with these documents.

Potential discrepancies...
Name / ID Number / Seal / Access to Arstotzka

Getting better just comes with practice - a cliche, I know. But there are small ways in which you can improve your strategy besides simply getting better at spotting discrepancies quickly. The following tricks are labelled with the 'options' (i.e. assortment of documents) for which they are relevant.


All Options

The hotkeys you unlock throughout the campaign (TAB for stamps, Space for interrogating discrepancies) as well as the tabs on the side of the Rule Book make processing much faster than using the mouse, making them great for Timed Mode. Make sure your fingers are already hovering over these two keys, ready to press.

In terms of the mouse, you need to be quick but accurate when dragging documents around and finding discrepancies - a single misclick while interrogating can get you into a mess, which costs precious time, as does constantly having to shuffle documents around to make them all visible.


All Options

At the start of the game you can immediately accept an entrant without checking any documents to process them much more quickly. Obviously at this stage the risk is minimal, since if you're wrong you can just restart - the only setup required is the desk organisation. If you want a really good time you could repeat this for the second and even third applicant, but you'd have to get very lucky. I would only recommend using this tactic when you're struggling to beat your high score and there's very little room for improvement left - when you're just starting off it will only waste your time.

Keep in mind that you must use the accept stamp for the latter two options in Timed Mode as a denial would also require a reason for denial. Otherwise either stamp is fine.


All Options

If you click on the tray at a certain time as an entrant is entering the booth they will drop their documents to you a fraction of a second faster. Every little helps...

Make sure this strategy doesn't distract from checking for criminals!


All Options (especially 3 and 4)

Although it only saves about a second, this trick is always useful when Auto-Accepting the first entrant and finds limited use during the rest of the run. It's also pretty satisfying.

If you've already stamped a passport and are waiting for the dialogue about duration and purpose of stay to finish, hand back all the documents except one - it doesn't matter which you keep. As soon as the entrant's final line comes through - the one about the duration of stay - quickly hand over the last document and the line "Cause no trouble" (or similar) will go through instantly, without facing the usual short delay between lines of dialogue.

This trick is useless if the response is "Immigrating" or you're dealing with a citizen, asylum seeker or diplomat, as the dialogue will finish before you hand back the documents anyway - just give them over straight away.


Options 3, 4

If the ability to skip dialogue delay isn't available, there is still a way in which you can speed up the process of handing back documents when the reason for denial stamp is in force.

If you've located a discrepancy and interrogated the entrant, the dialogue which ensues prevents you from handing back documents immediately. To limit the time wasted, drag all the entrant's documents over to the tray on the left (it doesn't matter where - if you drop them on the person they will just fall down on to the tray anyway) so that they're all ready to go once the option becomes available to hand them over. This saves you having to spend time grabbing documents from all over your desk.

If the discrepancy was an expiry date, the lack of a polio vaccine or an incorrect weight, documents can be handed back immediately, since you don't have to wait for a "detain" or "fingerprint" option to drop down first.

I hope these tips will help you improve at Timed Mode (or even Papers, Please in general) and that you can use and adapt my recommended methods to better proccess entrants in the future.

As stated previously, I have tried to avoid teaching you things you have probably picked up over the course of the Story Mode; however, if you feel that I missed out something that is important to Timed Mode specifically or didn't explain something very well, please leave me a comment and I'll either incorporate your suggestion into my guide or answer any questions you might have.

I'd particularly like to hear if you have found any of your own ways to save time here and there or if you have a 'general procedure' that may work better than mine.