Papers Please is among the most intriguing and memorable games I have ever played. As I write this review, I find it difficult to express through text how it all comes together to create an experience that is unlike any other game in recent memory. I feel that Papers Please is greater than the sum of its parts, and its incredible presentation and challenging gameplay work together to create an unforgettable experience. In case I’m not being clear; I really like this game.
Its October 1982 and your name was pulled from the hat in a labor lottery, which makes you the newest employee of the Ministry of Admissions in the communist state of Arstotzka. You are immediately assigned to the newly-acquired Grestin Border Checkpoint, which was a significant fixture in a 6-year war with your neighbouring state, Kolechia. For your first day on the job, your task is relatively simple. You are instructed to only allow Arstotzka citizens through the border, denying all others from neighbouring states. Sounds easy right? Well don’t get cocky because things in Papers Please get complicated really quickly.
With each passing day, the story drives you forward in interesting and unpredictable ways. As events transpire, you will be instructed by your superiors to diligently review new forms of documents and execute new procedures to deal with border threats. As these new documents and procedures are rolled out, the complexity of the game skyrockets and you find yourself frantically reviewing documents while trying to service as many people as possible. As this happens, the interface will start to get very cluttered and disorderly, but that’s part of the design. You’ll definitely wish you weren’t in a tiny little booth as the added desk space would certainly make your life easier. While I appreciate the sense of disorder this creates, as the entry requirements in Arstotzka get increasingly complex, you will find the clutter irritating and clumsy.
Further adding to the stress of the gameplay is the fact that you have a family to feed, so you have to work fast and process as many people as you can so that you can put food on the table. If you struggle to make ends meet, your family will start to suffer the consequences. This sense of urgency counteracts your desire to be as thorough and accurate as possible, as the faster you go, the more mistakes you inevitably make. As you make mistakes, your pay at the end of the day is penalized and your ability to support your family is given a mighty blow. The story is constantly winding and weaving, and you are often not convinced your family will survive another day cold and hungry. The game is always throwing obstacles in your path. I know that I am being very vague with regards to the story events, but I am doing that intentionally. The story is great, but once you play it through once, you have more or less experienced what the story mode has to offer. While there are multiple endings and a few forks in the road that can lead you in interesting directions, generally speaking you are following a linear path. The story is fantastic, and with that in mind I wish to take absolutely no chance in spoiling it. You must experience it yourself.
While the story is compelling and the gameplay intense, the real beauty of Papers Please is in the details. The music, art, and presentation all come together to make the world come alive with drama and suspense. The characters are believable, and their attempts to deceive you are clever. Nothing is ever as it seems, and you begin to realize that your work is both risky and essential to the security of your state. As the days go on, you are faced with moral predicaments that begin to weigh on your consciousness. You almost begin to feel bad for that young woman you reject, and for that mother trying to visit her son. You start to get the sense of the politics at play, and form your own opinions about who you should trust. All of this is possible thanks to the incredible attention to detail in Papers Please.
