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Beholder Comprehensive Guide to Choices

Not sure what choices have lasting consequences? Want to make money without exploits to save your family? This guide will go over the entire game and each of the choices in detail.

Comprehensive Guide to Choices

Welcome to my Beholder guide. I’ve had a strong interest in the game for many years and I wanted to write up a comprehensive guide that covers (hopefully) all of your choices that matter and their outcomes. Some descriptions have been taken from the wiki but most of it is from my own playthroughts.

What this guide is not

This guide will not teach you about controls, troubleshooting, or mark spoilers. If you have a problem with the game contact the developers.

This guide will not tell you exactly when quests are triggered or the exact amounts of money that come from all events. Sometimes it will tell you “this character will pay you” but not say how much because it takes a great deal of work to be that precise. I’ve tried to provide enough information in that respect when it matters though.

This guide is not an achievement guide as there is already a complete one.

This is not a step by step guide on how to earn the most money or get the best ending. It simply goes over the outcomes of all of your choices and provides general advice. Feel free to talk to tenants, search apartments, plant contraband, and report people however you like outside the scope of the guide. Just be aware of which characters will be needed for a future quest.

This guide will not go over minor quests. For example, if Patrick asks for money and it doesn’t affect an ending, this guide will not cover it. Similarly, if Anna needs money, you don’t need a guide to tell you what to do.

Feel free to leave corrections/feedback in the comments. Most importantly, I hope you enjoy.

General Tips

Before you profile a character, check the guide for all of their traits because the monetary reward scales with the amount of information you collect.

Only steal from tenants who you don’t plan to report or get killed. If you report someone/they die, there will be a box with all of their belongings outside the apartment assuming no one else is in their apartment.

You can wait before you accept a quest, but most of the family ones have a hidden timer that auto-fails the quest if you take too long. This can cause Martha to die early.

Stealing two items per day being the safe strategy is a commonly cited rule that is incorrect. Every item you steal adds to a threshold. At first you can steal many items without trouble but may get arrested by just stealing one later on, assuming you haven’t been caught yet. Also, if you steal the first item in the stack without consequence, you can steal the rest of it without any risk of being caught. You can pay up twice before you are arrested for a game over or bribe the police with reputation indefinitely. If you have stolen a lot and don’t want the police to confiscate a valuable item, steal something worthless like a letter or empty bottle to reset the threshold.

The New Tomorrow Movement usually pays better than the government route. Unlike in Papers Please, they will not save you if the government decides to arrest you.

Tenants will not report you for entering their apartments or notice you spying.

Every 50 reputation is worth $150 since you can buy the smallest camera and sell it to the merchant at that price. Remember this exchange rate. Cameras are not worth the investment, especially if you use this guide for profiles.

Failing quests in red usually results in serious consequences including arrest (game over) or someone dying. Failing orange quests usually nets you a loss of reputation and/or money. Failing minor government quests probably makes you less likely to pass the end game inspection.

If you don’t pay utility bills right away, they will get more expensive.

Illegal Activities by Tenant

This is a chronological list of all the evidence that can be found on a tenant eventually. It may not spawn or become illegal right away.

Italics means the tenant has state protection and cannot be arrested. If someone is not listed, they do not have any evidence against them that occurs naturally. Nothing stops you from adding to this list by planting contraband of course.

All tenants except Jacob Manishek and Bruno Noel will read books sooner or later so it is not listed.

Anna Stein and Martha Stein cry. If you don’t help Patrick Stein emigrate with his girlfriend, he will own illegal fabric.

Jacob Manishek produces drugs.

Mark Ranek engages in war talk and owns a gun (which only spawns after Fear and Hate is triggered).

Rosa Ranek cries.

The Schimmers own banned books (only spawns after you are told to evict him) and a blue tie. Maria Schimmer can cry if you scare her after you agree to find an absentee certificate AND before you talk to Mark Ranek about it.

Jones Popanedo owns a foreign record, jeans, soda, and salt, cries, and dances (only becomes illegal when Clara Jacque moves in).

Sarah Wattermash has a light bulb and is a wanted criminal.

Clara Jacque dances.

Dora Noel has a foreign record.

Sonora Voiko has a light bulb.

Anjei Rothaar engages in war talk.

Margaret Zauer engages in war talk.

Rowena Petracke has fish. Her strange device will only become illegal if the mobile propaganda unit explodes. However, you can only record it once (either as a profile trait or evidence against her).

Antoine Grubic produces propaganda and has fish.

Albert Meineke has foreign currency, soda, a foreign record, and salt.

Bastian and Clara Walner have fish.

Inga and Gerda Birkenfeld have foreign currency.

Airel Johnson has a gun, a blue tie, and engages in war talk.

Irving Munch has a defecated propaganda poster only if you put them up.

Beginning and Jacob Manishek

In Accession, Bruno Hempf tells you to put up cameras and takes you through the journal. Although the ministry warns you about responsibility, you almost never get fined for illegal activity going on in the apartment. When it does happen, this guide will tell you. The ministry will also never punish you for planting evidence or blackmailing people.

Your first real task in Crime and Punishment is to search Jacob Manishek’s apartment while he is away. Click on the red text on items to find that he likes to gamble and has dangerous tendencies. Until the quest is finished, there will only be one camera slot available in apartment 2.

Jacob Manishek’s other profile traits are:

  • Doesn’t make trouble – find empty bottles
  • Smokes – find tobacco or see him smoking
  • Drinks – see him drinking

To evict him, just find evidence of him making drugs and send a report. Then make sure to take all the items in the box in front of the apartment before repairing apartment 2 and another. Move in both Alloisius Shpak and Jones Popanedo because they will be important for money.

Alloisius Shpak’s profile traits are:

  • Interested in astronomy – find spyglass
  • Plays tennis – find tennis racket
  • Wine steward – find red wine
  • Collects stamps – find stamp album
  • Works out – find dumbbells

Jones Popanedo’s profile traits are:

  • Smokes – see him smoking or find pipe
  • Drinks – see him drinking
  • Collects coins – find coin collection
  • Likes to gamble – find dice and cards
  • Dangerous tendencies – find broken bottle
  • Doesn’t make trouble – find empty bottles

Once the quest concludes, you can buy apples from the merchant to plant on people for blackmail/reporting purposes. It is advisable to buy blue ties before they go illegal to sell them back for a profit.

Klaus Schimmer + Family

That which is hidden will be revealed has you profile Klaus Schimmer after asking people about him. At the same time, Trust and care tells you to look after the family.

Klaus Schimmer’s character traits are:

  • Plays the piano – find sheet music or see him playing
  • Smokes – see him smoking, find pipe, or ask Alloisius
  • Takes photos – ask Maria Schimmer
  • Enjoys modelling – ask Mark Ranek and tell him the truth or find a modelling kit
  • Likes to draw – find paints which only spawn in this quest
  • Wine steward – ask Rosa Ranek
  • Plays chess – ask him about the apartment after introduction or find chess set

Maria Schimmer’s traits:

  • Plays the violin – see her playing the violin (she will always do this if Klaus is arrested and you comfort her before moving out)
  • Drinks – see her drinking
  • Dreamy nature – find romance novel
  • Performs at an amateur theater – find theater mask
  • Corresponds with foreigners – find letter
  • Drinks coffee – find coffee brew

Mark Ranek’s traits:

  • Drinks – see him drinking
  • Smokes – see him smoking or find pipe
  • Plays chess – find chess set
  • Likes to fish – find fishing rod or talk to Rosa
  • Collects stamps – find stamp album

Rosa Ranek’s traits:

  • Writing a novel – find manuscript
  • Likes to cook – talk to Mark, find chef’s hat and recipes, or watch her cook in the basement
  • Enjoys gardening – find gardening book
  • Likes to knit – find pile of yarn

This is the point where family quests start piling up. Martha’s doll is in the wardrobe, you can ask for a pot from Maria, and Klaus has a set of textbooks for Patrick.

Important note: Once this quest is triggered, it will start a domino effect that culminates with the family asking you for large amounts of money, so don’t be in a rush to finish any quests.

Around this time Anna wants you to buy chocolate. Buy sweets and not a chocolate bar.

Martha will be sick and need aspirin. Rosa offers it for a cardigan (which is cheaper than aspirin). Lastly, she will need a doctor and you can find Alloisius if he is around. Otherwise, she will go to the general hospital.

Anna also wants you to fix the TV which only needs an electrical kit from the state shop where you buy cameras.

How to Save Schimmers and Alloisius’s Endings

Upon receiving Ministry order, you have to evict Klaus in any way you want. The government prefers that you arrest him but you can do it in several different ways. Note that 5 and 6 require you to tell Klaus about your order and offer help.

Method 1: Already done

If you’ve already evicted him, the quest will automatically conclude with a ministry call depending on how you did it. They will approve if you arrested him and disapprove for any other method.

Method 2: Blackmail

Blackmailing the Schimmers once and then asking them what happened reveals that they ran out of money to pay rent. This only happens if you talk to them. In other words, you can still report them after blackmailing or do it more than once.

Method 3: Arrest Maria

If you report Maria, and talk to Klaus, he moves out and tries to break her out of prison, resulting in his death.

Method 4: Report him

Just as the title suggests. While he has illegal books, it is far better to steal them as they are worth $7500. This is the only method that gives you the full ministry reward.

Method 5: Make a deal with Jones

Jones has a quest. Accept Great offer and offer fish to the merchant as it will go badly for your wallet if you give it to Rosa. Do NOT sell it directly. The merchant will come back and tell you that the fish isn’t selling well, giving you $1500. Take it to Jones and promise to make it up to him. Paying him or using reputation makes him stop talking to you for good.

Get Klaus’s absentee certificate from Mark. Telling the truth makes him ask you for whiskey, which Alloisius gives you if you ask him how things are going. Otherwise buy it from the merchant. Telling a side story costs you $1000, but you can offer $500 and use reputation or compliment him. Once this is done, tell him about Jones’ deal. The barge will crash and kill everyone on board.

Method 6: Give him tickets

After getting his absentee certificate, Klaus still has no way of leaving the city. Alloisius has cruise tickets that can be obtained during his quest line, which I will elaborate on shortly.

If you threaten Klaus, you need reputation for method 5 and 6 to be possible or else he refuses to talk.

Many deaths can occur during this sequence:

  • If you threaten Klaus too much, he shoots you.
  • If you tell Maria you arrested him and that it’s well deserved, she shoots you.
  • If you give the fish to Rosa and blow off Mark, he shoots you.
  • If you give the fish to Rosa, blame Jones, then talk to him, he shoots you.
  • If you give the fish to the merchant and sell the $1500, Jones shoots you.
  • If you flip Jones off, he shoots you.
  • If you don’t tell Maria the truth and scare her, she commits suicide.

Maria moves out peacefully if you comfort her.

The best way to deal with Jones is to sell his fish directly to the merchant for $3000 and report him for contraband, preferably by planting an apple because it is the cheapest. He will leave the apartment on his own if you don’t accept his deal, use method 5, pay him, or use reputation when he demands money.

Fun fact: Mark Ranek doesn’t leave the building until Rosa is released from food poisoning allegations. That means he can stay all the way into the end game but he has no extra dialogue.

Now to address Lonely Alloisius, which is necessary to give the Schimmers a good end.

Clara Jacque

Read the advertisement in the newspaper and call her. Have a chocolate bar ready for Alloisius or else he never meets her. After their date, he wants to move her in. Accepting gives you $500 while refusing gives you $1000.

Clara’s profile traits are:

  • Drinks – see her drinking
  • Smokes – see her smoking or find tobacco
  • Drinks coffee – find coffee brew
  • Dreamy nature – find romance book
  • Likes fine arts – find reproductions

Afterwards, she wants you to give her any type of wine. Red wine, whiskey, and rum all work. Later Alloisius reveals he’s fed up with her and wants to get rid of her. Refusing causes him to move out and triggers Complaints about Clara from the ministry. You learn that Clara is bothering other tenants and tried to seduce Mark because of his position at the archives.

Agreeing to get rid of her leaves you with a few methods. You can ask her and she demands to know where his jewels are. This option is not available if he already moved out. If you help her steal she moves out and he follows after giving you cruise tickets. You can also use reputation or pay her whether or not Alloiusius is still in the apartment.

Alternatively, you can report her and still get tickets. It is worth mentioning that you can loot or steal her soap and give it to Anna for a purse worth $5000 at the merchant. However, Clara will move in later so it is not necessary to steal it now.

Sarah Wattermash

Ask Rosa for lady recommendations and she brings up her niece. Soon Sarah shows up and you have to tell Alloisius about the lady waiting outside. It turns out they fall in love right away and Alloisius wants you to find information on her.

Her character traits are:

  • Doesn’t make trouble – find empty bottles
  • Likes flowers – ask Maria
  • Is not who she claims to be – ask Rosa
  • Likes to cook – find chef’s hat and recipes or see her cooking

It turns out that she isn’t Rosa’s daughter. Ask the ministry over the phone and report her as an imposter. You discover that she is a serial killer and can immediately report her for $2250. Alternatively, confront her about it. If you refuse her $5000 bribe and drink her tea, you die from poisoning. You can also refuse her bribe and demand the poison, causing her to give you arsenic (the item), or just tell her to leave. Alloisius is heartbroken by her departure and gives you tickets.

If you tell Alloisius about Sarah’s true nature, he refuses to believe you and stops talking. If you report her, he is sad and gives you tickets once again.

Tell him she likes flowers or likes to cook to conclude the quest. He says that they are ready to get married and wants a veil. You can ask Rosa with reputation and trade her black tea. Alternatively, after finishing Anna’s quests, ask her to make a veil for free. Afterwards they have a wedding and Alloisius dies of poison shortly after. The culprit is Sarah, but she feigns innocence if you never confronted her so far. Otherwise she laughs at your naivety. You can report her still and loot the tickets from the box of items for the Schimmers.

To sum it all up:

  • Inviting Clara but refusing to get rid of her causes Alloisius to move out. The ministry forces you to get rid of her and you have to pay up or use reputation. You do not get cruise tickets unless you report her and loot them from the box outside the apartment.
  • Evicting Clara by telling her about jewels is only possible if you agreed to help Alloisius. He will be devastated, give you cruise tickets, and move out.
  • Evicting her in any other way gives you tickets while he stays in the apartment.
  • Inviting Sarah and telling Alloisius she is committing identity fraud makes him stop talking to you.
  • Reporting Sarah or telling her to leave makes him heartbroken and he gives you tickets while staying in the apartment.
  • After the marriage, if you do not immediately report Sarah, she will poison Alloisius for his inheritance. You can report her afterwards and loot the tickets from the box.

Be aware of Alloisius’s role in helping Martha. His treatment costs $20000, but it is $30000 at the general hospital. Alternatively, you can dispose of him on purpose if you can’t finish the quest in time to get extra hours. Either way he has no additional dialogue after Martha’s first treatment so feel free to get rid of him by that point.

Money Breakdown + New Tomorrow Movement

By now Patrick needs $15000 to stay in school and Martha needs $20000 or $30000 to stay alive. If you have been following the guide so far, there is more than enough money for you.

To break it down:

  • -$3000 if you sell Jones’ fish directly
  • -$250 per successful report
  • -$7000 from Sarah’s bribe and reporting her
  • -$7500 from selling Klaus’s books
  • -$1000 from helping Klaus (or $3000 from reporting him)
  • -Subtract $3000 if you got the absentee certificate, regardless of what happened to Klaus. Mark reports you later on and the ministry fines you.
  • -Subtract quest costs
  • -Profiling tenants
  • -Selling loot from tenants
  • -Ministry quest rewards

If that is not enough, you have more than enough reputation to convert into cash by selling cameras.

Important note: If you don’t save the Schimmers, you can refuse Patrick’s tuition and give him the cruise tickets later on with no negative effects. Be aware that refusing to pay tuition and having no tickets means you need to pay $20000 later on if you want him to survive.

Once she is given the treatment, Anna wants an apple for her and asks you to buy a heater for $2250 at the merchant. Ironically, she becomes sick again immediately after you buy a heater. She needs another treatment that is illegal, costing up to $15000. I will explain how to obtain it in a later section.

While this is all being sorted out, the New Tomorrow Movement reveals itself with city bombings. You are told to hang up propaganda posters and repair furniture. Note that you can enter apartments by using furniture repair as an excuse. However, tenants will stop you from searching furniture or hanging up cameras if they are in there with you.

Once that is finished, Fulfledle Brukich and Dora Noel are available as tenants.

Fulfledle’s profile traits:

  • Works out – find dumbbells
  • Dangerous tendencies – find broken bottle
  • Smokes – see him smoking or find pipe
  • Drinks – see him drinking
  • Plays soccer – find soccer ball
  • Enjoys archery – find bow and arrows
  • Drinks coffee – find coffee brew

Dora’s profile traits:

  • Insomniac – see her sleeping poorly at night
  • Likes to skate – find skates
  • Drinks – see her drinking
  • Seamstress – find purple blouse
  • Dreamy nature – find romance novel
  • Victim of domestic abuse – talk to her about sleeping problems, use reputation, and get her a sleeping aid

To complete Insomnia, buy a sleeping aid. Alternatively, Sarah Wattermash had one in her belongings. Dora reveals that her ex-husband will come after her and asks for a gun. You have three separate methods for this.

You can steal one from Mark, which only spawns during this quest, if he is still around. You can buy one at the merchant for $6000. Finally, Fulfledle is the key to the third method.

George Danton comes to the apartment with a strange box. If you refuse to help, he says he is disappointed and walks away. Fulfledle moves out on his own.

If you give it to Fulfledle, he and other revolutionaries go after a professor, cause a shooting, and the entire university shuts down. He moves out after. This also means that Patrick will become a miner even if you paid his tuition.

If you bring it to your office, there’s a gun inside. You can give it to Dora and take heat from Fulfledle. If you ride out his threat, he stabs you to death. Otherwise he tells you the new world has no place for you and moves out. Alternatively, report him without talking to him and his quest line ends. Keeping him in the apartment freezes the story while your family needs more money, so don’t linger for too long.

Back to Dora’s story. 5 hours after she gets the gun, her ex-husband arrives as a tenant. You don’t have any meaningful interactions with him and he is scripted to be shot dead by Dora shortly after. She goes to prison and sends you a telegram with $7000 thanking you for everything.

If you refuse her request, she flees from her ex-husband and ends up being murdered by him.

Antoine Grubic + Leo Gvizdek

Once the Fulfledle story is over, there are several tenants available to be moved in. George Danton asks you to move in Antoine Grubic and gives you $3000 just for completion. The Raneks usually move out around this time and you get a $3000 bill for bribing Mark if you did so.

Around this time, Horns and Hoofs asks you to move in Leo Gvizdek because he won the lottery. The other characters are not important yet so don’t move them in because you will need empty apartments.

Antoine’s profile traits:

  • Doesn’t make trouble – find empty bottles
  • Enjoys fine arts – find reproductions
  • Government agent – find note from the government or it automatically gets revealed when the ministry calls you
  • Drinks – see him drinking
  • Smokes – see him smoking or find pipe
  • Enjoys modelling – find modelling kit
  • Plays tennis – find tennis racket

Leo’s profile traits:

  • Smokes – see him smoking or find tobacco
  • Drinks – see him drinking
  • Works out – find dumbbells
  • Likes to fish – find fishing rod
  • Plays soccer – find soccer ball
  • Drinks coffee – find coffee brew

For Under suspicion, report him to the government because they fine you for having a spy in your apartment if you don’t. It turns out he is a double agent and you get money from the government as a bonus. After the ministry confirms his identity, Antoine asks you to find him paint and scissors. Both can be found in your apartment. Then Danton calls to ask for an update.

If you report Antoine as a spy, the New Tomorrow strike goes as planned, you get some money and Martha’s cure, but Anna will be trampled to death. Note that you can’t cure Martha without Anna administering the medicine… If you complain about orders, you get $500 and can choose another option. Finally, keeping it a secret makes Antoine move out.

Later, Anna finds a Weird Note with a phone number that leads you to Grubic asking for refuge in your basement. Refusing makes him report you to the ministry, resulting in a hefty fine. Accepting allows him to move in for the time being. Danton comes to your apartment himself to ask about Grubic. If you tell him, he gives you Martha’s cure, $4000, and shoots Grubic dead. He will also remember your help in the late game.

The ministry will demand what happened. Telling the truth gets you arrested, stuttering causes a fine, while using reputation gives you fined for a lesser amount (be mindful of the conversion rate).

On the other hand, lying to Danton gives you $3000 and 500 reputation from the ministry but no cure. The police come to escort Grubic away and that is the end of his story.

Leo Gvizdek’s quest line requires you to find him a tie first. Giving him a blue one has no consequences but is not worth the monetary reward. Then he wants advice about investing his lottery earnings.

  • Investing in the bank results in the Horns and Hoofs company shooting him dead; he has become “jellied meat” as they promised.
  • Investing in foreign currency supposedly gets you arrested, but he just moved out in my run and nothing happened.
  • Helping the relatives allows his sister, Sonora Voiko, to move in. She isn’t important to any quest but you can get blackmail money from her.
  • Investing in Horns and Hoofs requires 500 reputation and earns you $5000. He goes bankrupt as a result and curses you in a telegram.
  • Investing in fruits and berries nets you $10000 once he sends you a telegram saying his investments paid off.

Sonora’s profile traits:

  • Seamstress – find purple blouse
  • Likes to cook – find chef’s hat and recipes or see her cooking downstairs
  • Performs in an amateur theater – find theater mask
  • Drinks coffee – find coffee brew
  • Dreamy nature – find romance novel

By this point you probably need another $20000 for Patrick’s emigration (if you don’t have cruise tickets). Albert Meineke, who will become an available tenant around this time, will be your gold mine.

Here are Patrick’s outcomes:

  • If you did not pay Patrick’s tuition or his university closed because of the shooting, refusing him $20000 or tickets will make him rob a bank, causing in his death. Carl’s last words to him are to bring a big bag for the loot. You have to pay the funeral bill and damages to the bank.
  • If you give him the money and he is not in university, he accidentally travels to another authoritarian state. You can still reunite with him in the ending but he won’t be able to help you.
  • Giving him the tickets no matter what will help him go to a better country and he will help you later.
  • If he is still in university he wants to emigrate with his girlfriend’s family. If you give $20000 to him, he thanks you and makes it to a better country.
  • Refusing causes his girlfriend’s family to get shot at the border. Patrick becomes radicalized and joins the New Tomorrow Movement. He hangs up revolutionary posters in your apartment and you have to cut them off with a tool in your office desk. The ministry demands that you turn your son in.

Brainwashed Patrick

If you refuse, the ministry demands you find another suspect (just plant the fabric on someone you dislike and report them). Accepting causes him to be taken to the ministry and indoctrinated to be a loyal citizen. It doesn’t stop him from reading books though…

This is an essential choice because it robs him of a happy ending. You cannot emigrate with your family because Patrick will report you for treason and get you all killed. If you stay, he signs up for war and goes missing on the front lines.

In addition, if you don’t kill General Airel Johnson or tell him about the assassin, the New Tomorrow Movement will try to assassinate the general at his rally. Patrick happens to be there and dies in the chaos.

Ceasefire + How to Save the Family

Remember when I said Albert was a gold mine? That’s because he has two sets of foreign currency in his apartment (worth $10000 each) that can be stolen and numerous illegal objects that you can blackmail him for. He will also give you Martha’s cure if you do his quest.

Albert’s profile traits are:

  • Not really mute – see him talking on the phone.
  • Smokes – see him smoking or find tobacco
  • Likes to cook – find chef’s hat with recipes or see him cooking
  • Plays chess – find chess set
  • Likes to fish – find fishing rod
  • Corresponds with foreigners – find letter
  • Wine steward – find red wine
  • Foreign spy – demand the whole truth after confronting him about his muteness

Funnily enough, profiling him has absolutely no consequences.

To start his quest, tell him you know he’s not mute after seeing him talk. If you demand the truth with no reputation, he wants you to steal 5 passports for him to gain his trust. Refusing causes him to stop talking to you for his safety. Then he tells you he is a foreign spy after nuclear blueprints for his country. He tells you right away if you use reputation. The threat of mutually assured destruction will force a ceasefire between your country and his, but you need to move in the chief engineer who has them. Bastian Walner. Once again, refusing makes him stop talking to you.

If Clara Jacque is still living with Alloisius, this quest cannot be completed.

Bastian Walner moves in with Clara Walner, who will seem familiar to you. She blames you for landing her in prison no matter how you got rid of her last time (including if you paid her to leave) and reveals that she charmed the police with her beauty. If you haven’t met her yet, she greets you normally. Her profile traits are the same except for an additional one which will be covered later.

Bastian’s profile traits:

  • Plays chess – find chess set
  • Drinks coffee – find coffee brew
  • Keen on astronomy – find spyglass
  • Writing a novel – find manuscript
  • Enjoys modelling – find modelling kit

He is a nervous man who suspects Clara of cheating on him and wants your help. If you refuse, he is annoyed and ultimately shoots her, getting himself arrested. Albert immediately moves out. If you report him before giving blueprints to Albert, Albert also moves out.

To catch Clara cheating, either confront Bastian’s boss and use reputation or click on the green bubble above their bed after Clara finishes sleeping with him. This part tends to bug out. It isn’t uncommon for Bastian to come back early or for Clara and his boss to never sleep, so be patient.

After getting evidence, you can confront Clara and take her bribe or refuse it (which doesn’t impact what you can say to Bastian). Then talk to Bastian.

Telling him the truth means he gives you the blueprints for safe keeping and gets over Clara, who moves out. He wants them back later. You can either pay him, use your reputation to lie, or give them back (which means you can’t help Albert). Regardless, he leaves the apartment.

If you lie about Clara, he gives you the blueprints but gets fired shortly after. Faced with the loss of his job and Clara (who ditches him), he hangs himself.

Albert will be eternally grateful for the blueprints and gives you clean passports to travel abroad which are worth $5000. Don’t sell them unless you don’t plan to emigrate.

Let’s go over your money situation again:

  • $8000 from Dora
  • $10000 from Leo
  • $20000 from Albert’s foreign currency
  • $5000 from Albert’s liebespirit, which you can sell if you cured Martha already
  • Subtract whatever costs you’ve incurred from various quests
  • Add whatever you’ve earned from profiling tenants and selling belongings of arrested/dead tenants
  • Revenue from selling cameras purchased with reputation

That is more than enough to send Patrick abroad and cure Martha. Congratulations on saving your family! The hardest part of the game is over.

Picking Sides

Although you’ve made more money than you know what to do with, the game is not over. The government has sent mobile propaganda units all across the streets to boost patriotism, a war general is coming to town, and Danton is calling you more often than before. Let’s go over each.

First, you should move in Anjei Rothaar, Margaret Zauer, and Rowena Petracke because they will be important to future quests.

Danton wants you to change the frequency to a New Tomorrow outlet instead. If you accept, you can directly bribe the mechanic to do it or use your reputation to send him away. He wants rum in the latter case. Afterwards, you need a screwdriver to reprogram the machine. The leader’s birthday is on Dec 21, which is hinted at throughout the game. You can also ask Patrick for some funny dialogue. If you call the ministry to ask, they fine you for your lack of patriotism. Once this is done, Danton gives you $3000 while the ministry fines you $3000, but Danton will remember your help later.

You can also set the frequency to the fairy tales channel. If you get cold feet about helping the rebels, let the quest timer run out. In the first case, the government simply warns you for negligence while Danton says he’s disappointed. In the second case, the government says nothing while Danton is disappointed again.

If you refuse to help him, the car blows up. Danton swears innocence while the ministry demands a culprit. If you reveal the revolutionaries’ proposal, the ministry has you arrested for hiding information. Otherwise they want you to find a culprit and the quest is a bit messy.

Talk to the three tenants I mentioned. Margaret is gleeful because she thinks patriotism should be drilled in schools and not by machines. Rowena can be confronted after you find the strange device in her apartment but denies being the culprit. Anjei can be confronted after you find his Molotov cocktail and admits it was him. If you threaten him with arrest, he decides it’s better to go to jail for murder instead of arson and makes you his first victim.

The quest is strange in that a verbal confession does not count as evidence. You need to physically plant the strange device in the ruins of the car on Anjei (or anyone really) to report him.

Here are the profile traits for all three, although you might want to hold off on profiling the ones you won’t arrest for a future quest:

Margaret

  • Likes to cook – find chef’s hat and recipes or see her cooking
  • Plays chess – find chess set
  • Enjoys gardening – find gardening book
  • Drinks coffee – find coffee brew
  • Plays violin – find music sheets or see her playing
  • Smokes – find pipe or see her smoking
  • Could blow up propaganda – talk to her about the explosion in the aforementioned quest

Rowena

  • Smokes a pipe – see her smoking or find pipe
  • Makes weird mechanisms at home – find unfinished device*
  • Performs in an amateur theater – find theater mask
  • Enjoys modelling – find modelling kit
  • Takes photos – find camera
  • Could blow up propaganda – confront her about the strange device in the aforementioned quest

*Will only count as a profile trait if the machine hasn’t been blown up yet. Will count as evidence otherwise.

Anjei

  • Wants to go to war to kill people – talk to him about war
  • Dangerous tendencies – find broken bottle
  • Plays violin – see him playing or find it
  • Plays soccer – find soccer ball
  • Possesses a Molotov cocktail – find it
  • Works out – find dumbbells
  • Enjoys archery – find bow and arrows
  • Could blow up propaganda – confront him about the cocktail during the aforementioned quest

Note that Margaret will kill you if you tell her you ruined books and joke about it.

Around this time the ministry also wants you to move in Airel Johnson and later Inga Birkenfield. Danton will call you and ask you for proof on whether Johnson was the same man who massacred a village. Find his war medal (which only spawns after this quest) to call him back.

Johnson’s traits:

  • Smokes – see him smoking or find pipe
  • Participated in the Battle of Aglow – find war medal
  • Works out – find dumbbells
  • Likes to travel – find world map
  • Collects stamps – find stamp album
  • Takes photos – find camera
  • Plays chess – find chess set

Once it is confirmed, Danton wants you to help kill him. Here’s a list of all the ways it can go:

  • Agree to kill him and give him a bomb from a revolutionary who looks like Fulfledle hanging out around the left side of the building. The ministry will fine you for letting a bomb slip through the mail.
  • Agree to kill him and use reputation to lure him to the revolutionary, who stabs him to death. The government is disappointed with your negligence but does not fine you.
  • Agree to kill him and use reputation to feed him arsenic or rat poison. The government accepts that he must have ingested the wrong substance due to his gluttony and gives you $1500 to cover your bills.
  • Refuse to kill him and don’t tell anyone. He moves out and Patrick will attend his rally if he is brainwashed. The New Tomorrow Movement tries to kill him there and Patrick dies in the chaos. If Patrick has emigrated or isn’t brainwashed, nothing happens. The ministry reimburses you $4500 for keeping the general safe.
  • Refuse to kill him and tell the ministry. Johnson moves out while Danton comes for your head. You can simply avoid talking to him for the rest of the game. If you talk to him, he automatically shoots you. The ministry does not give you a reward because the game assumes you’ll get killed by Danton anyway. Turns out that cane was really a shotgun.
  • Refuse to kill him and warn him. Johnson meets the revolutionary with a gun and shoots him dead, moving out right after. The ministry reimburses you $4500 for keeping the general safe.

After the Birkenfields move in, a bomb is detected in your building. Defuse it by selecting red, green, black, then blue. The ministry thanks you and tells you that an inspection is coming. You also get a call from unknown terrorists who want Inga dead for manufacturing loyalty gas. This is the same gas that can turn Patrick into a mindless slave and it is heavily implied that Gerda was one of the first test subjects. The terrorists want you to kill Inga.

First, their profile traits:
Inga

  • Likes fine arts – find reproductions
  • Keen on astronomy – find spyglass
  • Plays chess – find chess set
  • Performs in an amateur theater – find theater mask
  • Writing a novel – find manuscript
  • Collects coins – find coin album

Gerda

  • Plays tennis – find tennis racket
  • Likes to ice skate – find skates
  • Smokes a pipe – see her smoking or find pipe
  • Dangerous tendencies – find broken bottle

Here’s a list of Inga’s endings:

  • Agree to kill her by giving her rat poison or arsenic.
  • Agree to kill her and convince Gerda she is an enemy to the state with reputation, with foreign currency as your evidence. In both of these cases, the ministry doesn’t punish you. The terrorists give you $5000 for your troubles.
  • Tell her people want to kill her and help her. She needs fresh passports, and you can give her the ones from Albert. The ministry is furious that Inga has left the country because of her valuable research and fines you for letting it happen. You also need to use reputation to convince the terrorists that you didn’t help her or else they blow up your office.
  • Evict her with reputation for being a danger to you. She moves to another building, the ministry neither warns you nor fines you, and the terrorists let you off the hook if you don’t insult them. She is someone else’s problem now.

Strangely enough, Inga has no reaction to Gerda being arrested, and Gerda has no reaction to her mother dying from poison. With her and Johnson out of the way, there’s not much left of the storyline.

The Test + Emigration

I am not 100% sure on which actions influence the ministry so I decided to just list anything that could count towards Change is coming.

To fail the test:

  • Let quest timers for minor tasks run out (like hanging propaganda posters or fixing furniture).
  • Evict Klaus without reporting him.
  • Get fined for bribing Mark to find Klaus’s documents.
  • Don’t report Grubic to the ministry.
  • Either refuse to help Grubic or sell him out and stutter to the ministry.
  • Ask the ministry what the leader’s birthday is.
  • Reconfigure the mobile propaganda machine.
  • Kill Johnson, preferably through a bomb or by luring him out.
  • Help Inga escape.
  • Don’t give money to Bruno Hempf.
  • Have contraband in your apartment.
  • Have fines for stealing.

To succeed:

  • Pay Bruno $60000 to wipe out all your infractions.
  • Pay Bruno $40000 to tip the scales a bit (you can still fail).
  • Report Klaus directly and don’t help him get papers back.
  • Report Grubic to the ministry and let him stay in your apartment without selling him out.
  • Don’t touch the propaganda machine.
  • Don’t kill Johnson.
  • Don’t kill or help Inga (evicting her seems to have no effect but you can just leave her in the apartment).
  • Finish minor quests in time.

Around this time the Dreimans will move in and you will learn that Georg is the inspector from Papers Please. As such, he can help you emigrate as long as you have money. Here’s how people can help you:

  • The Schimmers help you if you sent them on a cruise.
  • Patrick helps you if he emigrated to a better place (not North Borea). If he’s in the house, Carl grumbles “my son is no help.”
  • Danton helps you if you helped him at least once (giving the mystery box to Fulfledle, selling out Grubic, reconfiguring the mobile propaganda unit, and killing Johnson). The more you helped him, the lower your costs.
  • Albert helps you if you gave him the nuclear blueprints.
  • Inga helps you if you gave her Albert’s passports to escape.
  • Cruise tickets combined with passports reduces costs by only $10000.

I don’t know the exact amounts that are being reduced, but the highest price you can pay is $145000 while the lowest may be around $65000. Leaving without money is an instant death scenario. Remember that you cannot emigrate with brainwashed Patrick because he will report you for treason and get all of you executed. You also can’t emigrate alone.

To earn big money, give Jeanne Oehrn, the advocate for women’s rights outside the building, $5000 in the name of freedom. You get 2500 reputation back. If you remember the exchange rate, you’ll realize you made a net profit of $2500 for doing nothing. She reveals that her ex-husband’s champion fighter was named the Wise Chief.

After you start To go or not to go?, you can ask the merchant about how to make big money. Bet on Wise Chief if you gave Jeanne money and it will win every time. Otherwise it seems to be a 50/50 chance. You make a net profit of $45000. It goes without saying that if you want to emigrate there’s no need to pay Bruno Hempf.

Endgame Quests + Money

If you’re curious about what the endgame looks like, this section covers it. The ministry wants you to send 5 profiles. Irving Munch is the last tenant who can enter your apartment.

Here are the Dreimans’ profile traits:
Georg

  • Smokes – see him smoking or find pipe
  • Works out – find dumbbells
  • Likes to fish – find fishing rod
  • Likes to travel – find world map

Kristia-Maria

  • Likes to travel – find world map
  • Seamstress – find purple blouse
  • Here’s Irving’s:
  • Plays chess – find chess set
  • Smokes – see him smoking or find pipe
  • Collects stamps – find stamp album
  • Likes to fish – find fishing rod
  • Likes to travel – find world map
  • Drinks – see him drinking
  • Likes to draw – find paint in his apartment
  • Sucks at drawing propaganda posters – find new propaganda poster (only spawns after Ministry order)

If you don’t have enough tenants, just send multiple profiles of the same person with one trait per profile.

Once Irving moves in you can talk to him about news and praise him for getting a good sale in the market for free reputation. The ministry wants you to hang up new propaganda posters which draw the ire of Irving and he paints over them in protest. Of course, the ministry demands you find the culprit.

You can either use reputation to complain about vandals or discover the vandalized poster in Irving’s apartment and use it as evidence. If you pick the latter but threaten him too much, he shoots you. Otherwise he will confess and says he can fix his mistake.

If you refuse, he wants to smoke one last time before going to prison and stops talking to you. If you accept, he tries to paint over it and asks you for your opinion. Saying it is good gives you more free reputation, while insulting him makes him feel hurt. You can find a copy of the poster in his apartment now.

If you don’t want to send an old man to jail just emigrate beforehand or plant the vandalized poster on someone you dislike. Alternatively, take the fine.

To make enough money, search your apartment. Chances are there will be some guns lying around if your family is alive. Don’t question it, just sell them for $2000 each and everything else that you find. Convert all of your reputation to money by buying cameras. You can also report your remaining tenants (except Georg) and loot their boxes afterwards or do some last minute blackmailing. Chances are if you’ve been following this guide you probably have enough.

Once you earn the required amount, talk to Georg and the game ends.

Endings

The New Tomorrow Movement will take over if you helped them more than the ministry. The ministry will lock them all up if you supported the government.

The war will continue if you didn’t help Albert or kill Inga. If you helped Albert, there will be a ceasefire. If you killed Inga without helping Albert, people will hear about her experiments and overthrow both governments, creating anarchy.

Carl Stein has three main endings. If you didn’t emigrate, he lives in his office with whoever is still alive besides Patrick, who has an undisclosed bad ending if he was not brainwashed (even if you sent him abroad). If he was brainwashed, he will sign up to be a soldier and go missing on the front lines.

If you emigrated, he lives in a utopian state with whoever is still alive in his family.

If you paid Bruno Hempf $60000 or was loyal to the ministry through everything, they decide he should be cloned as the ideal employee. He dies in the process.

As for other endings/deaths:

  • You can peel away the sticker on a newspaper and call the number, earning you an Easter egg ending.
  • Failing to complete quests, not having enough money to pay a bill, reporting Martha, insulting the ministry, telling the ministry you were asked to reprogram the mobile propaganda unit, or failing the inspection gets you arrested.
  • Emigrating alone, with brainwashed Patrick, or without money gets you killed at the border.
  • Tenants can kill you if you upset them. Patrick shoots you if you report Anna, and Anna shoots you if you report Patrick.
  • Anna dies in game if both her children are dead or if you sell out Grubic over the phone.
  • Martha dies in game if you don’t cure her in time.
  • Patrick dies in game if you don’t pay him to emigrate from the mines or if he is brainwashed and neither Johnson nor his assassin are dead.

I hope this guide was useful.

Written by arandomperson

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