Papers, Please is a puzzle game with a thrilling twist. It is set in a fictional dystopian country called Arstotzka, which is modelled on former east european communist states. It was created by a single developer named Lucas Pope, who published the game in 2013 on PC and Mac, with Linux and iOS versions released later on, under the company he created, 3909 LLC.

Development

Lucas Pope was a game designer at Naughty Dog, working on the Uncharted series up until 2010 when he decided to move to Japan in order to be closer to his wife, Keiko-a game designer herself, 's family. Another reason for his move was that he wanted to develop smaller games and move away from the tried and tested formula of the Uncharted games. They worked on a few smaller games there and also had to move to Singapore briefly to help a friend on their game. It's because of all his travels across Asia and the US, that he noticed the inspectors doing their tense job, so he came up with the idea to create a game revolved around checking documents for immigration.
He began working on the game in 2012. He used the Haxe programming language to develop it, and used knowledge gained while making games with his wife to implement semi-random events that would have the NPCs details differ while providing a similar experience. The UI was also purposely clunky in places as to provide the player with a challenge. This was also assured with a careful balance between rules gradually doled out, and the aforementioned randomness.
During the development, he regularly posted on TIGSource, a forum for indie game developers, and posted a public demo; both of these actions garnered positive feedback and provided tips on how the game would progress. He also published the game to the user-voting platform Steam Greenlight but considered it too niche to actually get significant attention. But because some youtubers decided to try out the demo, it got approved in days. Because of all the attention the game got, Lucas stated that it would take approximately six months to complete, but ultimately ended up being nine. He opened submissions for NPC names and received over 30000 but had to cut most of them because they did not fit the setting. Speaking of...

Setting and inspiration

Papers, please is set in the fictional country of Arstotzka, which is very similar to the communist countries of the Cold War. Just as then, there are tensions between it and its neighbours and propaganda abounds. This inspiration came from the struggles of the german people attempting to cross the border between the East and West parts of the country at the time. It also drew inspiration from the Bourne series of films, but also from Argo. Arstotzka is also partially derived from a previous game Lucas had made, The Republia Times in which the player was tasked with running a newspaper in a totalitarian state and had to decide whether to include some stories or falsify them entirely in order to push state propaganda. Lucas has stated that he was "naturally drawn to Orwellian communist bureaucracy", but he avoided drawing too clear a line to it, going so far as not using the word "comrade". This distancing from the Soviet Union or any real world events and political entities, along with a fictional setting allowed for more freedom regarding the games narrative.

Gameplay

The player is placed in the shoes of an immigration officer at a border checkpoint and is tasked with checking documents in order to allow people in or not. The game starts out easy, but with the political tensions rising, more and more documents are needed to enter. Following the state`s directives will have the player rewarded with money at the end of every day with which he will need to feed his family, buy medicine if needed and pay rent. However, moral choices will test the player to let people fleeing oppressive governments of human trafficking, or to let relatives of artotzkan citizens in without documents. If he shall do allow these people in, in contradiction with the state's rules, will have them punished with hits to their income, and eventually arrested. On top of this, a secret resistence will form before their eyes, one that can be aided or hindered. Over time, more invasive tools and stricter documentation needed will be introduced that will challenge the players moral compass at every turn. Also from time to time, news about wanted criminals or terrorists will arrive that will have more attention required to be spotted. Whatever choices they make will shape the ending that could arrive very soon with a sudden arrest or more nuanced consequences impacting both the family and the state.

Reception and impressions

Papers, Please has received high praise both from critics and fans, totalling a Metacritic score of 85/100. It was lauded as an very immersive experience that managed to make a menial desk job impactful and emotional. It does so by balancing quite repetitive and boring gameplay with grave moral choices that makes it very hard for the player to be good. One could try, but doing so will come at the family's expense, or at the risk of letting a lunatic roam free.

My opinion on the game is quite good, because it manages to portray an oppressive communist atmosphere while having you juggle your morality so as to pit the good of the state vs the good of your family. This hits close to home, as I live in a former communist country where those influences still linger in some areas. It is eerily accurate when compared to the stories you'd here from people that have lived during that time. The 8bit artstyle is also very good and evocative of the same sentiment. I highly recommend this gem to people that are curious of such a weird simulator.

Glory to Artotzka!

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