Papers, Please

This game has a special draw for me, as I'm an actual consular officer in real life...I never thought I would pay money to play a game vaguely based on my actual job, but here we are. The game does a good job of capturing both mundane interviews and more complex cases. And some of the applicants are startlingly reminiscent of people I encounter on the actual job - the guy who can't get his paperwork straight but REALLY wants to go. The people who are not trying to commit fraud but give you near-useless non-answers. The people who do the same but ARE trying to commit fraud. The devs did a great job of ramping up the amount of information you need to routinely be looking, which is sometimes true to life in how it sometimes unnecessarily complicates certain routine issuance cases. Game is well-designed and charming, and definitely worth a good look at this price point.

On the surface resembling a time management minigame, "Papers, Please" goes much deeper. Biting commentary on bureaucracy is only the first layer to unpeel. Already tangled in red tape, always new regulations keep things interesting. Take them by the letter, check for expired documents, forged seals, or whether those extra kilos are due to contraband, or just a beer gut. But soon, deeper questions come up. Yourself part of the totalitarian regime, how do you react to families torn apart, boiling rebellion—people's lives depending on your stamps? Here, the game shows its true colours as way more than a satire on communism. You're thinking not just about regulations and stamps, but the fates your decisions seal. Maybe the best way to keep your family safe is to be obedient and hope your loyalty is rewarded. But what if your conscience reminds you that this security is built on the suffering of others? Do you make use of your position to help bring about change, then? Don't risk enough, and your half-hearted efforts may be exposed. Risk too much and raise suspicion—you're of no use to anyone in a labour camp. 20 different outcomes and the ability to replay from any point in the story help you explore those what-ifs. In addition, 3 free-play modes allow you to process randomly generated immigrants without a storyline. "Papers, Please" is brilliantly thought-out and written, gripping, and stylistically pleasing. Also: find the Flash game "The Republia Times"!

Papers, Please may sound and even look unimpressive and weird; however this game is deceptively fun and immersing. Upon "winning" a job posting on the newly opened border checkpoint your role is easy - stamp passports and either let people in or not. You receive some meager salary per each processed applicant. However, as in real life, things get complicated fast and you need to apply new methods to verify the papers. More checks means more time per person, which means less persons a day and less money in your pocket. You have a family to feed and the rent won't pay itself... so what do you do? Be dutiful and do your job properly, or risk the wrath of your superiors by being lenient? As time goes by in your new workplace you will face many people with different stories and whether you intended or not the setting will suck you in and force you to make these choices, which may be hard. It will even make you wonder what would you do if you really were a customs clerk. The game mechanics are simple yet remain challenging throughout the game so that you will have to remain alert and concentrated. Whenever you slip, whether intentionally or not, the inevitable reprimanding fax from the ministry will appear to remind you that you too are being watched. In short - addictive, immersive, challenging and fun, 5 stars for me, hope you all will enjoy the experience

I got this after seeing a couple of vids online and decided to try it out myself. It's interesting how it escalates from your first day on the job up to the tenth day and on. Since at first it'll seem like a game where you have to get used to a certain routine so minor details won't get past you and you'll get more money if you're fast enough, the further you get the more intrigue comes straight at your booth with some optional objectives that can reflect well or poorly upon you. From dealing with co-workers trying to cut a deal for some extra cash, organized crime which you decide to either act on it or not bother with it up to full-scale terrorist acts (Just keep an idea on that weight). And at the same time you're still enforced to keep up so you can get paid to provide for your family which also requires special attention, lest you want to end like I did in my first run. So far I only managed one ending out of 20 and that playthru got cut short after 2 hours since I screwed up. To close it up, this is a surprisingly thoughtful gem of a game, it's best suited for people who have patience and who are very detail oriented. And all the extra endings to the story mode is guaranteed to keep you coming for a while so you can try and figure out to do things in a different fashion.