1 Hour Review: Papers, Please!

During the Steam sale, I picked up a game that I had seen talked about a lot. It’s called Papers, Please.

First look at the game, I thought it was just going to be a silly game, where you just had to do things as quickly as possible, and then go from there, and get faster each day.

I was wrong. Very. Very wrong.

The aesthetics of the game are quite reminiscent of the early Doom games, with rather low quality people being shown coming in and out of the border patrol office that your unnamed character has been forced into for the foreseeable future. But, that’s also an interesting quirk and notable feature of the game. It brings back the nostalgia for gamers that had begun during the era of gaming, as it did for me.

However, the game is different than just “Oh, gee, here’s people. Stamp a passport. Go.”

As you continue on your journey into the game, different things are thrown at you, and different rules are set each day for whom you should let into your fictional country of Arstotzka. Neighbouring countries could set political sanctions upon you, so in retaliation, Artstotzka would deny all people of that place. There are break-ins at political buildings, so you would have to analyze each document as quickly, but as thoroughly as possible to make sure that the seals are correct, and the information matches. Terrorist attacks would cut your day short, but that doesn’t matter to your country’s government. You are only paid for how many people walk in, and out of your booth.

But then, there is something that made me have to turn the game off for a while and really think about. Which, even though it is a video game, something such as this doesn’t typically happen, unless the story, or even just the acts that I am committing in the game are something that could affect me.

The game plays on your morality. During the game, there are several different times when you are faced with a dilemma that makes you consider things. Someone would need to get into the country because they need medical attention, there is a secret organization that is seeking to overthrow your government, so you can choose either to let the agents that they have informed you of in, or you can deny, or even detain them at your borders. There is another person whose wife is in line directly behind him. He has the correct papers. She does not. But, if she returns to her country, she will be killed.

I do realize that this is a video game, and I do realize that the things that I do throughout the duration of this game have no real-world effect on anything, but each time, I need to stop and consider the one thing that really makes me both enjoy, and be bothered, by this game: What if that were me? What if I was in that type of a scenario, and I were to need to immigrate to another country? Or if that were me on the other side of the desk, being the one to either allow someone into my country, or deny them?

Overall, the game is quite good. I haven’t played an entire campaign to the end yet, but from what I have read (and will verify at a later time) is that there are 20 possible endings, so it should make for a fun time.

Rating: 4/5