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Prison System - Version 8 vs Version 9
May 8, 2026, 05:05 AM
Cleanup: heading hierarchy, Title Case, table wikilinks
May 23, 2026, 02:27 PM
Removed duplicate in-body wikilinks
11Overview22Getting caught by law enforcement in Neverness to Everness does not end the fun. Instead, it transitions the player into a complete prison gameplay system with its own routines, activities, and objectives. When arrested through the wanted system, the player character is stripped of their normal outfit, changed into a prison robe, and placed behind bars in a dedicated prison facility.44The prison system is one of NTE's most distinctive features. Rather than treating arrest as a fail state or a brief loading screen penalty, the developers built an entire slice of gameplay around incarceration. Players who find themselves locked up can participate in work duties, eat in the dining hall, plot escape tunnels, play mini-games with fellow inmates, and trade items. The experience is designed to feel like a self-contained adventure within the larger open world of Hethereau.66How You End up in Prison88The only way to enter prison is through the wanted system. When law enforcement successfully apprehends the player (whether by catching them on foot, boxing them in with patrol cars, or cornering them after a chase), a cutscene plays showing the arrest and transport to the prison facility. The severity of the sentence depends on the wanted level at the time of capture: minor infractions lead to shorter stays, while high-star rampages result in longer sentences.1010The facility where arrested players are held is officially called the Detention Center. Upon arrival, a cutscene shows the player being processed: their normal clothes are confiscated and replaced with standard-issue prison robes. This visual change persists for the duration of incarceration, serving as a constant reminder that you are behind bars. The Detention Center is a fully explorable interior space with its own layout, including cell blocks, common areas, a dining room, and staff offices.1313Prison Activities1515Life behind bars is far from idle. The prison operates on a daily schedule, and players can participate in a variety of activities during their sentence. Each activity offers its own experience and some provide tangible rewards.1717The wall cleaning activity is one of the standout features of the Detention Center. It plays like a PowerWash Simulator-style mini-game where players aim a cleaning tool at grimy prison walls and scrub away layers of dirt and stains. The mechanic is surprisingly satisfying and is a work duty that contributes toward early release. Combined with the tunnel digging escape route, the Detention Center offers a mix of routine activities and stealth gameplay that gives incarceration a mini-game-like quality rather than feeling like a punishment screen.1919ActivityDescriptionWall WashingA mandatory work assignment given to inmates. Players scrub prison walls as part of the daily routine. Completing work duties contributes to good behavior and may shorten sentences.Dining RoomEat meals in the communal dining hall alongside other prisoners. The dining room is a social space where interactions with NPCs can occur.Tunnel DiggingThe centerpiece escape mechanic. Players can steal a spoon and secretly dig an escape tunnel over the course of their stay. Progress carries over between sessions if re-arrested.Mini-GamesVarious prison-specific mini-games are available for entertainment and rewards. These function similarly to the city's side activities but with a prison twist.TradingExchange items with fellow prisoners. The prison economy operates on its own barter system, and certain items are more valuable behind bars than they are on the outside.Doctor VisitsVisit the prison doctor for health-related interactions. This may tie into specific quest lines or provide minor buffs during incarceration.2121Duration of Stay2222The length of a prison sentence is measured in in-game days and scales with the player's wanted level at the time of arrest. A minor offense at one star might result in a stay of just one or two in-game days, while a maximum-star rampage could keep the player locked up for several days. Time passes normally while in prison, and players can sleep to advance the clock between activity windows.2424The sentence is not purely a waiting game. Active participation in prison activities fills the time and provides rewards. Players who engage with everything available will find that their stay passes more quickly and more productively than simply waiting it out.2626Getting Out: Bail2828Players who want to leave prison early can post bail. Bail costs currency and the amount scales with the remaining sentence length. This offers a straightforward way to return to the open world if you have the funds and no interest in completing the prison content. Bail is available at any point during the sentence.3030Paying the fine is the quickest way to leave the Detention Center. The amount reflects the severity of the offenses that led to the arrest, so a minor traffic violation costs far less than a multi-star crime spree. Players who are short on funds can instead perform assigned work duties to shorten their remaining sentence time. These tasks count toward good behavior and chip away at the days left, giving players an active alternative to simply waiting.3232Escape: Tunnel Digging3434For players who prefer a more dramatic exit, the tunnel digging system provides an escape route. After stealing a spoon (or similar digging implement), players can work on an escape tunnel during specific time windows when guards are not watching. The tunnel progresses incrementally with each session, and its completion allows the player to break out of prison entirely.3636Escape progress is persistent. If a player posts bail or serves their sentence before finishing the tunnel, the progress remains for the next time they are incarcerated. This means that repeat offenders gradually build toward a jailbreak across multiple prison stays. Successfully escaping prison is one of the more satisfying sandbox accomplishments in NTE.3838Tips4040Prison is worth experiencing at least once. The activities inside provide unique rewards not available elsewhere.If you plan to escape via tunnel, commit minor crimes repeatedly to get short sentences. Each stay advances the tunnel a little further.Trading with inmates can yield items that are useful once you return to the open world.Bail is always an option if you need to get back to a time-sensitive event or quest in Hethereau.The side activities and mini-games inside prison are distinct from city versions, so completionists should try them all.4242New in the Latest Beta4444The prison system is a substantial new addition in the current closed beta test. In the prior beta of Neverness to Everness there was no jail at all, so a run-in with the cops simply ended the chase without ever putting the player behind bars. The current build replaces that quiet failure state with a full incarceration loop, a dedicated facility, and a mini-game-driven jailbreak. Because it is only available in the latest beta, any older guide that says prison does not exist is out of date.4646How Players End up in Prison4848Being sent to prison is always preceded by the Crime and Wanted System escalating far enough for law enforcement to successfully grab the player. Several specific activities reliably put the cops on the player's tail:5050Stealing from a convenience store. Each convenience store in the city contains a dedicated theft mini-game. The goal is to lift an item off the shelf without the staff spotting the player. Getting caught mid-theft flags the character as a criminal and triggers a police response.5252Forcing civilians out of their cars with violence. Yanking a driver out of a moving or parked car with force is registered as a violent carjacking and immediately puts the police on the player's tail. This is the fastest way to earn heat in the open world.5454Assaulting civilians. Attacking pedestrians or other non-hostile NPCs raises the wanted level the same way other violent actions do. Stacking multiple violent incidents back to back pushes the wanted rating into tiers where capture becomes much more likely.5656Once the wanted rating is high enough and the player is actually apprehended (on foot, boxed in with patrol cars, or cornered after a chase), a cutscene plays and the player is hauled off to the Detention Center.5858Ways to Leave Prison6060Once locked up, the player has three explicit paths back to the open world. Which one makes sense depends on how much money is on hand, how much in-game time the player is willing to burn, and how interested the player is in the jailbreak mini-game.6262PathRequirementOutcomePay the FineEnough in-pocket currency to cover the fine. The amount scales with the severity of the offenses and the Crime and Wanted System level at arrest.Player walks out of the Detention Center immediately and returns to the city. Fastest route, but the most expensive.Serve the SentenceSeven in-game days behind bars.Player is released automatically once the full sentence has elapsed. Free of charge, but the slowest option. Good for players who want to work through the prison activities instead of paying to skip them.Jailbreak Mini-GameEngage the jailbreak mechanic inside the Detention Center.Jailbreak has several possible endings rather than a single pass/fail resolution. Outcomes branch based on how the player pulls off the break, making it the most replayable way to leave.6464Jailbreak Endings6565The jailbreak is not a single success-or-fail event. It is built as a branching mini-mechanic with several distinct endings that the player can attempt to trigger. Which ending the player gets depends on the choices made during the attempt, so running the jailbreak more than once can produce a different resolution each time. This makes jailbreak the most content-rich path out of prison and the one most worth experiencing even if the player has enough currency to just pay the fine.6767Because the outcome is not fixed, treat the first jailbreak as an exploration run rather than a guaranteed escape. Failed or partial attempts still count as experiencing the content, and the persistence of tunnel progress between sessions means that even a botched break can leave the player in a better position next time.6969Relationship to Wanted Level7171Because prison is gated behind capture, the cleanest way to avoid it entirely is to keep the wanted level low. Random events out in the open world feed directly into this loop. While driving or exploring, the player will get notifications about gangs attacking civilians or stealing cars in the surrounding area. Completing one of these events (stopping a mugging, recovering a stolen vehicle, or otherwise defeating a gang's attempt) awards a currency that the player can spend to reduce their wanted rating the next time they get in trouble with the cops.7373In practice, that means players who do a little bit of hero work as they cruise around the city build up a buffer of wanted-reduction currency. When the player later does commit a crime (deliberately or accidentally), that buffer can knock the wanted rating back down and keep them out of the Detention Center. Some car-theft events specifically require delivering the recovered vehicle to the security office to complete.7575Police AI Note7777Beta players have noted that the current police AI still needs a lot of work. The practical effect is that the pathway into prison is easier to trigger than intended: the cops can aggressively latch onto the player for behavior that may not feel like it justifies a full arrest, and their pursuit patterns read as rougher than the rest of the open-world systems. Because the studio has flagged this as one of the beta's rough edges, the rules governing who gets caught and when may be retuned before launch. Players running into oddly quick arrests in the current build should know that this is a known area of ongoing polish rather than a permanent design choice.7979Five Detailed Escape Routes8181Beyond the general jailbreak loop, the Detention Center supports five distinct escape routes, each with its own setup steps, item requirements, and time gating. Players who cycle through all five unlock the longest reward chain in the prison, and successive arrests progressively make new routes possible without losing collected items between sentences.8383Route 1: Hidden Tunnel Behind the Poster8585The classic movie-style escape. Each day, attend lunch period and steal a spoon from the cafeteria. Collect any small items you see in the cells (soap, playing cards, painkillers, magazines, prison uniforms) since they all matter for later. When curfew starts, dig a hole behind the poster in your cell. The dig progresses across two or three in-game days. On the final day, time your movement to dodge the patrol cameras and slip out. Failing the camera section forces you to redo the entire previous day's setup before the next attempt.8787Route 2: Watchtower Climb8989After your first escape, the guards patch the poster hole. To open the second route, agree to clean the watchtower when prompted by a guard. Over the next few days, gather bed sheets from cells around your block (one prison uniform is hidden in the cell under the stairs), grab any other loose items, and lift the watchtower key from the back office without being spotted. The next day, request to clean around the watchtower and take the option to enter its top floor. Climb the rail and drop down outside the perimeter to escape.9191Route 3: Faking Death with Paralysis9393Once the watchtower is locked off, the next route runs through the infirmary. During curfew, talk to the inmate Living Fossil and accept their request for an Asahi anime figure. Then approach the inmate Spider, who can procure the figure overnight. The next day collect the figure from Spider, hand it to Living Fossil, and receive a paralysis drug in return. After that, fail an encounter at recess (or tell a guard you feel unwell) so you are sent to the infirmary. Inject yourself with the paralysis drug at the prep table to fake your death and escape during transport.9595Route 4: Corrosive Acid in the Cafeteria9797After the paralysis route, deliberately fail another courtyard encounter to be sent back to the infirmary. Ask the inmate Tornado in the infirmary to distract the doctor for you. While the doctor is distracted, take the corrosive acid from the infirmary fridge. Walk to the cafeteria, then through a normally-locked side door that is accessible only with the acid. Pour the acid on the metal bars in the courtyard beyond. The acid takes one in-game day to eat through the bars, so rest overnight, then return and walk out through the corroded gap.9999Route 5: Spider's Stealth Blackout101101The final route uses an inmate you protect during a courtyard fight. The first time you intervene to stop another inmate from being beaten, the player is sent back to their cell. The protected inmate visits the cell to thank you and mentions that his own cell is on the third floor. Visit him there and give him a stockpile of spoons (every spoon you grabbed earlier matters here). He uses the spoons to short out the prison's electrical system. Once the lights go out, hide along the walls and stay out of the spotlights as you make your way down to the dock to break out.103103Daily Painkiller Trade Chain and Prison Outfit105105The orange prison outfit is not for sale anywhere in the city. It can only be earned by trading painkillers obtained from a daily NPC chain inside the Detention Center. Many of the loose items in cells (soap, playing cards, the Felon Weekly magazine) feed this chain. The drops do not respawn within a single sentence, which is what makes the outfit a time-gated long-term goal rather than something you can finish in one stay.107107NPCTrade ItemRewardCrocodileSoapPainkillersGordPlaying CardsPainkillersSquidballFelon Weekly magazinePainkillersSpiderPainkillersPrison Outfit and other goods109109Trade enough painkillers to Spider over multiple sentences and they unlock the orange prison outfit, which permanently displays on the player as a cosmetic. Because each sentence only resets a portion of the loose-item drops, repeat offenders progress faster than players who treat prison as a one-time experience.110110What Carries Between Sentences112112Item progress, escape preparation, and the Spider trade chain are persistent across sentences. Spoons, bedsheets, the watchtower key, the Asahi figure, and any painkillers traded with Spider remain in inventory or progress trackers when you re-enter the Detention Center. This is what lets the longer escape routes (paralysis drug, corrosive acid, blackout) become reachable across multiple stays even though no single sentence has time to reach them.
