The Game Census
Detention cover art

Detention

RedCandleGames · 2017-01-12

SteamPlayStation Store

AdventureIndie

Modes: Single player

Releases: Sep 05, 2019 (iOS), Jan 12, 2017 (PC (Microsoft Windows)), Sep 06, 2019 (Android), Oct 03, 2017 (PlayStation 4), Jan 12, 2017 (Mac), Mar 01, 2018 (Nintendo Switch)

Detention is an atmospheric horror game set in 1960s Taiwan under martial law. Incorporated religious elements based in Taiwanese/Chinese culture and mythology, the game provided players with unique graphics and gaming experience.

3
playing now
96%
positive of 12k reviews
Overwhelmingly Positive
steam rating
500,000–1,000,000
owners (SteamSpy est.)
76/100
critic score (3 outlets, IGDB)
76/100
IGDB user rating (87 ratings)
3.6h
to beat · completionist 3.7h
silver
deck/linux tier (ProtonDB)
$11.99
steam price (US)

3 players in-game as of 2026-08-30 02:00 UTC (census sample)

Detention is a horror adventure video game created and developed by Taiwanese game developer Red Candle Games for Steam. It is a 2D atmospheric horror side-scroller set in 1960s Taiwan under martial law. The game also incorporates religious elements based on Taiwanese culture and mythology. The game was released on 13 January 2017. A demo version was released on Steam Greenlight on 13 June 2016.

Health check

Healthy
  • · 3 players in-game at the last census sample.
  • · 329 reviews in the last 8 weeks (~41/week).
  • · Review velocity up 0% vs the prior 8 weeks.
  • · Current weekly pace is under 5% of the all-time peak week (2,712 reviews).
  • · Top 7% of 11,312 Adventure games in the census by review count.

Health tier since 2026-08-27

Estimated sales: 295k–708k copies

Review-multiple estimate from 11,803 total reviews — how this is computed.

All-time low: $0.99 at Fanatical (2021-10-26) · bundled 9×via IsThereAnyDeal

12-month high $11.99 · on sale 6 of 12 observed days (census price snapshots)

Review momentum

PositiveNegative
1.8k1.8k20182026Week of 2018-01-01: 185 positiveWeek of 2018-01-01: 18 negativeWeek of 2018-02-01: 152 positiveWeek of 2018-02-01: 11 negativeWeek of 2018-03-01: 103 positiveWeek of 2018-03-01: 10 negativeWeek of 2018-04-01: 55 positiveWeek of 2018-04-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2018-05-01: 110 positiveWeek of 2018-05-01: 7 negativeWeek of 2018-06-01: 129 positiveWeek of 2018-06-01: 14 negativeWeek of 2018-07-01: 167 positiveWeek of 2018-07-01: 16 negativeWeek of 2018-08-01: 81 positiveWeek of 2018-08-01: 8 negativeWeek of 2018-09-01: 101 positiveWeek of 2018-09-01: 10 negativeWeek of 2018-10-01: 98 positiveWeek of 2018-10-01: 9 negativeWeek of 2018-11-01: 235 positiveWeek of 2018-11-01: 10 negativeWeek of 2018-12-01: 99 positiveWeek of 2018-12-01: 6 negativeWeek of 2019-01-01: 115 positiveWeek of 2019-01-01: 14 negativeWeek of 2019-02-01: 954 positiveWeek of 2019-02-01: 1,758 negativeWeek of 2019-03-01: 215 positiveWeek of 2019-03-01: 12 negativeWeek of 2019-04-01: 29 positiveWeek of 2019-05-01: 23 positiveWeek of 2019-05-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2019-06-01: 55 positiveWeek of 2019-06-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2019-07-01: 134 positiveWeek of 2019-08-01: 29 positiveWeek of 2019-09-01: 56 positiveWeek of 2019-09-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2019-10-01: 42 positiveWeek of 2019-10-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2019-11-01: 50 positiveWeek of 2019-11-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2019-12-01: 63 positiveWeek of 2019-12-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2020-01-01: 81 positiveWeek of 2020-01-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2020-02-01: 45 positiveWeek of 2020-02-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2020-03-01: 36 positiveWeek of 2020-03-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2020-04-01: 45 positiveWeek of 2020-04-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2020-05-01: 47 positiveWeek of 2020-05-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2020-06-01: 53 positiveWeek of 2020-06-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2020-07-01: 90 positiveWeek of 2020-07-01: 6 negativeWeek of 2020-08-01: 57 positiveWeek of 2020-08-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2020-09-01: 40 positiveWeek of 2020-09-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2020-10-01: 35 positiveWeek of 2020-10-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2020-11-01: 45 positiveWeek of 2020-11-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2020-12-01: 146 positiveWeek of 2020-12-01: 5 negativeWeek of 2021-01-01: 121 positiveWeek of 2021-01-01: 7 negativeWeek of 2021-02-01: 53 positiveWeek of 2021-02-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2021-03-01: 55 positiveWeek of 2021-03-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2021-04-01: 27 positiveWeek of 2021-04-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2021-05-01: 43 positiveWeek of 2021-05-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2021-06-01: 47 positiveWeek of 2021-06-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2021-07-01: 72 positiveWeek of 2021-07-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2021-08-01: 59 positiveWeek of 2021-08-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2021-09-01: 34 positiveWeek of 2021-09-01: 5 negativeWeek of 2021-10-01: 40 positiveWeek of 2021-10-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2021-11-01: 37 positiveWeek of 2021-11-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2021-12-01: 58 positiveWeek of 2021-12-01: 5 negativeWeek of 2022-01-01: 81 positiveWeek of 2022-02-01: 43 positiveWeek of 2022-02-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2022-03-01: 37 positiveWeek of 2022-03-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2022-04-01: 30 positiveWeek of 2022-05-01: 25 positiveWeek of 2022-05-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2022-06-01: 37 positiveWeek of 2022-06-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2022-07-01: 49 positiveWeek of 2022-07-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2022-08-01: 60 positiveWeek of 2022-08-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2022-09-01: 20 positiveWeek of 2022-10-01: 43 positiveWeek of 2022-11-01: 54 positiveWeek of 2022-11-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2022-12-01: 41 positiveWeek of 2022-12-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2023-01-01: 35 positiveWeek of 2023-01-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2023-02-01: 22 positiveWeek of 2023-02-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2023-03-01: 52 positiveWeek of 2023-03-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2023-04-01: 36 positiveWeek of 2023-04-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2023-05-01: 22 positiveWeek of 2023-05-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2023-06-01: 27 positiveWeek of 2023-06-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2023-07-01: 61 positiveWeek of 2023-07-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2023-08-01: 34 positiveWeek of 2023-08-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2023-09-01: 23 positiveWeek of 2023-09-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2023-10-01: 22 positiveWeek of 2023-10-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2023-11-01: 37 positiveWeek of 2023-12-01: 27 positiveWeek of 2024-01-01: 28 positiveWeek of 2024-01-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2024-02-01: 24 positiveWeek of 2024-02-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2024-03-01: 30 positiveWeek of 2024-03-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2024-04-01: 22 positiveWeek of 2024-04-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2024-05-01: 34 positiveWeek of 2024-06-01: 23 positiveWeek of 2024-06-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2024-07-01: 48 positiveWeek of 2024-07-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2024-08-01: 29 positiveWeek of 2024-09-01: 20 positiveWeek of 2024-09-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2024-10-01: 32 positiveWeek of 2024-10-01: 5 negativeWeek of 2024-11-01: 36 positiveWeek of 2024-11-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2024-12-01: 53 positiveWeek of 2024-12-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2025-01-01: 33 positiveWeek of 2025-01-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2025-02-01: 25 positiveWeek of 2025-02-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2025-03-01: 45 positiveWeek of 2025-03-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2025-04-01: 20 positiveWeek of 2025-04-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2025-05-01: 23 positiveWeek of 2025-05-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2025-06-01: 30 positiveWeek of 2025-07-01: 74 positiveWeek of 2025-07-01: 7 negativeWeek of 2025-08-01: 25 positiveWeek of 2025-08-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2025-09-01: 24 positiveWeek of 2025-09-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2025-10-01: 67 positiveWeek of 2025-10-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2025-11-01: 41 positiveWeek of 2025-11-01: 5 negativeWeek of 2025-12-01: 38 positiveWeek of 2026-01-01: 67 positiveWeek of 2026-01-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2026-02-01: 28 positiveWeek of 2026-02-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2026-03-01: 39 positiveWeek of 2026-04-01: 34 positiveWeek of 2026-04-01: 5 negativeWeek of 2026-05-01: 27 positiveWeek of 2026-05-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2026-06-01: 29 positiveWeek of 2026-06-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2026-07-01: 55 positiveWeek of 2026-07-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2026-08-01: 18 positive
Weekly review counts (Steam review histogram). Positive above the line, negative below.

Players online

1712026-08-06 22:00 — 7 players2026-08-07 06:00 — 6 players2026-08-07 14:00 — 17 players2026-08-07 22:00 — 7 players2026-08-08 06:00 — 6 players2026-08-08 14:00 — 14 players2026-08-08 22:00 — 6 players2026-08-09 06:00 — 17 players2026-08-09 14:00 — 16 players2026-08-09 22:00 — 7 players2026-08-10 06:00 — 2 players2026-08-10 14:00 — 12 players2026-08-10 22:00 — 6 players2026-08-11 06:00 — 8 players2026-08-11 14:00 — 9 players2026-08-12 22:00 — 2 players2026-08-14 05:00 — 13 players2026-08-15 13:00 — 15 players2026-08-16 21:00 — 5 players2026-08-18 05:00 — 6 players2026-08-19 12:00 — 9 players2026-08-20 20:00 — 1 players2026-08-22 03:00 — 3 players2026-08-23 11:00 — 11 players2026-08-24 19:00 — 7 players2026-08-26 03:00 — 4 players2026-08-27 10:00 — 4 players2026-08-28 18:00 — 10 players2026-08-30 02:00 — 3 players
Concurrent players, hourly average, last 30 days (census samples).

Price history

$11.99$0.992017-01-132026-07-092017-01-13 — best price $10.792017-09-17 — best price $8.032017-11-22 — best price $5.992018-02-15 — best price $5.992018-06-22 — best price $5.992018-10-29 — best price $4.792018-12-20 — best price $4.792019-02-18 — best price $6.002019-07-10 — best price $11.992019-10-28 — best price $4.792019-11-26 — best price $4.792020-01-23 — best price $3.592020-03-09 — best price $10.792020-04-14 — best price $10.792020-06-25 — best price $3.592020-11-25 — best price $4.792021-05-30 — best price $1.002021-06-24 — best price $1.002021-07-22 — best price $5.992021-11-01 — best price $11.992021-12-22 — best price $3.592022-05-17 — best price $1.002022-08-04 — best price $4.792022-11-22 — best price $3.592023-03-16 — best price $4.792023-11-21 — best price $3.592024-03-15 — best price $3.592024-10-28 — best price $3.592024-12-19 — best price $3.592025-06-26 — best price $2.992025-10-27 — best price $2.992026-01-16 — best price $2.992026-06-25 — best price $2.392026-07-09 — best price $11.99
Lowest recorded price across tracked stores, per day (census snapshots).

Attention

240842026-05-29 — 146 pageviews2026-06-01 — 137 pageviews2026-06-04 — 136 pageviews2026-06-07 — 135 pageviews2026-06-10 — 86 pageviews2026-06-13 — 129 pageviews2026-06-16 — 113 pageviews2026-06-19 — 99 pageviews2026-06-22 — 94 pageviews2026-06-25 — 98 pageviews2026-06-28 — 108 pageviews2026-07-01 — 129 pageviews2026-07-04 — 134 pageviews2026-07-07 — 136 pageviews2026-07-10 — 130 pageviews2026-07-13 — 120 pageviews2026-07-16 — 114 pageviews2026-07-19 — 110 pageviews2026-07-22 — 138 pageviews2026-07-25 — 101 pageviews2026-07-28 — 188 pageviews2026-07-31 — 134 pageviews2026-08-03 — 137 pageviews2026-08-06 — 111 pageviews2026-08-09 — 146 pageviews2026-08-12 — 139 pageviews2026-08-15 — 104 pageviews2026-08-18 — 110 pageviews2026-08-21 — 117 pageviews2026-08-24 — 84 pageviews2026-08-26 — 127 pageviews
Daily Wikipedia pageviews (attention proxy, census-recorded).

Completion

8
achievements tracked
61.2%
earned "Foreign land"
29.4%
median achievement earned by

Global achievement rates from Steam.

Details

WindowsmacOSLinuxSingle-playerSteam AchievementsSteam Trading CardsSteam CloudRemote Play on PhoneRemote Play on TabletFamily Sharing1 DLC

5 supported languages: English, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, Japanese, Korean

Console footprint

PlatformPlayers trackedCompletionTrophies/achievements
Steam (Steam)5,58725%8
PS4 (PlayStation)57454%8
PS4 (PlayStation)49855%8
Switch (Nintendo)520%0
Switch (Nintendo)80%0

Players tracked by Exophase (achievement/trophy trackers) — a sample of the player base, not total sales.

Player tags

DarkDramaIndieHorrorPuzzleSurrealThrillerAdventureStory RichAtmospheric

Census log

Computed from census-recorded observations only — dates are observation dates.

Players also track

Don't Knock TwiceHouse of CaravanMasochisiaRusty Lake HotelRusty Lake: RootsForce of NatureSemblanceDream Alone

Similarity via IGDB.

Official site ↗Wikipedia ↗