VIDEO GAME REVIEW | Papers Please

Game - Papers Please

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Title: Papers, Please
Genre: Adventure, Indie
Developer: 3909
Publisher: 3909
Release Date: 8 Aug, 2013

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What is Papers Please?

Congratulations.
The October labour lottery is complete. Your name was pulled.
For immediate placement, report to the Ministry of Admission at Grestin Border Checkpoint.
An apartment will be provided for you and your family in East Grestin. Expect a Class-8 dwelling.
Glory to Arstotzka

The communist state of Arstotzka has just ended a 6-year war with neighbouring Kolechia and reclaimed its rightful half of the border town, Grestin.

Your job as immigration inspector is to control the flow of people entering the Arstotzkan side of Grestin from Kolechia. Among the throngs of immigrants and visitors looking for work are hidden smugglers, spies, and terrorists.

Using only the documents provided by travellers and the Ministry of Admission's primitive inspect, search, and fingerprint systems you must decide who can enter Arstotzka and who will be turned away or arrested.

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My Opinion

You would think that this is the type of game that just doesn't work. It's a simulation of performing the same monotonous, tedious and thankless job... but somehow, it's much more than that. The game manages to put across the atmosphere so well, you get driven in by the story behind the characters that you are checking. Some characters come multiple days and have small tasks they want you to complete. It just adds that extra feature that keeps you wondering each day, who will be here today, and what ridiculous excuses/tasks will they tell me this time. Every now and then, someone tries to jump the border or they manage to get through and shoot some people, and because of this, you wonder each day whether today will be another dreadful day with attacks on the border. It keeps you wondering and questioning if you should let that person cross the border or not. One small move and you could be letting a killer cross the border.

This game is brilliantly executed and is defiantly a fantastic indie game that I would recommend to anyone, it's extremely satisfying when you spot the tiny error in someone documentation and you stamp there passport with a big GET LOST and call your guards over to take them away.

Very few other games have so perfectly encapsulated just how being trapped in this kind of dehumanising role can be, in the best possible way, and both inside and out of the dreaded grey booth. If only there could be an achievement for reaching the exact moment you turn someone away for no particularly good reason, only to quietly tell yourself that, as ever, you were just following orders.

Steam Reviews

'There’s more to Papers Please than just spotting a mismatched date or a missing access pass, though it’s impressive how satisfying even those simple slices of detective work can be. There’s a real tactility to handling the documents handed over by each person who arrives at the booth in the hope of work, a new life, or simply going home; of shuffling them around what passes for your desk to double-check names and details and make sure the name on someone’s work visa matches the one on their passport. The limited space and even more limited colour palette make the job feel oppressive but not actively unpleasant, with the ka-chunk finality of the DENIED or APPROVED stamp providing a shortcut straight into the brain of a terminal jobsworth. It’s your little scrap of power, for crushing the fools who would dare insult Arstotzka’s finest, or gracing an occasional sob story with administrative pity.' (Lambda, Steam review)

'Personal highlight for me was allowing a man through (his paperwork all checked out) that was fleeing with his wife to Arstotzka and was so happy that he was allowed in, stating his wife was next in the queue. Her papers did not check out, my hands were tied, I had to split the couple. Glory to Arstotzka' (Smuckley, Steam review)

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Glory to Arstotzka!

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Have you played Papers Please before?

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Price - £6.99 £2.79(60% Off)
You can pick up the game on Steam HERE

References - Image 1 , Image 2 , Image 3 , Video

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-Nesbitt