Papers, Please

Glory to Arstotzka

With limitation comes innovation, this is how Indi games have boomed this generation, and with "Papers, please" we see an inventive fresh take placing you in the seat of an immigration border inspector.

Set in the dystopian communist state of Arstotzka, after a six year war with the neighboring state of Kolechia just ending, and the borders just opened, your role is to work as border inspector controlling the flow of people entering Arstotzka.

Fortune has finally smiled on you as you finally will be able to provide for your family after winning the Oct '82 lottery, but this's no common lottery as you live in the communist state of Arstotzka, what the lottery grants you is a job in the government sector giving you a chance to provide for your wife, son, mother in law and uncle.

Every day you start your job with a great amount of pressure making you think "how much money will I bring home tonight, will my family eat or sleep hungry tonight? Will they sleep in under a working heat system or will they sleep in the cold? As you start your day you will be presented with your rule book and daily policy update that will instruct on how to do your work properly and updating almost on a daily basis with every new permanent policy.

If you ever held a desk job interacting with customers you'll probably be able to relate to the game as they have captured that feeling of holding such a desk job whether it’s from the feeling you get as a new employee to a new job meeting new people and learning step by step how things work and getting familiar with your tools, colleagues and how to do the job. 

Being a border inspector your work consist of granting or denying entry into the state of Arstotzka using two stamps, this is the main gameplay idea in nut shell moreover is knowing who should be granted entry and who should be denied. With the help of your rule book and daily update of policies you inspect the documentation of all travelers looking for discrepancies; if found the traveler shall be denied. 

Your salary is calculated upon the work done; how many people were processed how many were denied and how many mistakes have you done as you will be penalized after a number of mistakes. By the end of every work day you get paid and have to face an impending dilemma of a short paycheck compared to a larger need. how will you divide your pay, is according to your families need per person; will little jimmy sleep hungry or sick tonight or is it your mother in law that shall bear the hunger. It’s up to you, No easy decisions are made here making it truly impacting your state of mind.

What makes the game mechanic more interesting is the moral dilemma it bombards you with, will you take a bribe to help your family survive another day by granting entry to a drug dealer to furthermore increase your income; or help a loving wife without the proper entry documentation unite with her husband and in the process getting penalized with a decrease in your income.

The aspect of progression in “Papers, please” is well refined and not just in terms of narrative, the game rewards you with items that you can hang on your wall making the booth feel more and more like your own office as you grow attached to it. The work polices also builds up with the game progression as well some recurring characters making you memories some of them if not all, what this aspect does is make you feel even more as part of the border and this dystopian world.

The game does something few other games in the industry does, which is establishing a mechanic, building on that mechanic so well making you feel you're playing a sequel to the game.

As you progress in the thirty day work period the plot widens with many paths to delve in and choices to make with moral impact affecting you, your family members and your country at large. I have found the moral impact at time so effectively applied I found myself thinking of what choice I should take meanwhile effecting the quality of my job as an inspector, this shows how well-crafted this games is and how much thought was put in stringing many aspects making it a great and well imagined product.

Something worth noting also is the saving system which is represented as a time line, giving you the flexibility of returning to any day of the month and picking up from there, this is worth noting since the game has 20 endings depending on your choices and paths taken, making it easy for you to see all endings

Bottom line

If you’re looking for a game with an innovative idea, engaging, involving experience, a well written narrative, fresh and on top of it on a budget price, I cannot urge you enough to at least try this game as its wonderful experience created with great care craftsmanship.

SCORE: 90/100

Developer: 3909

Publisher: 3909

System reviewed on: PC

Release date: 08 Aug 2013

Price: 9.99$