Papers, Please

 PC
User Score
8.5

Generally favorable reviews- based on 1617 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1,350 out of 1617
  2. Mixed: 213 out of 1617
  3. Negative: 54 out of 1617

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  1. Aiatin
    Jul 17, 2021
    6
    Educational software has come a long way over the years. Papers, Please should be required gaming for every middle school student. It teaches many important life skills. It teaches the importance of attention to detail. It presents difficult, and often no-win, decisions to make. And most importantly, it lets someone know how dreadful of a career a low-level clerical position can be, whichEducational software has come a long way over the years. Papers, Please should be required gaming for every middle school student. It teaches many important life skills. It teaches the importance of attention to detail. It presents difficult, and often no-win, decisions to make. And most importantly, it lets someone know how dreadful of a career a low-level clerical position can be, which should be enough to instill a drive to succeed into any student.

    Papers, Please's game-play is centered around faces versus the faceless. You, a border entry agent of a vaguely totalitarian state, are a faceless character working for the glory of a faceless nation, and between days at work, you get a spartan budget sheet accented with the current maladies afflicting your faceless family members. Wife, Son, Mother-in-law, and Uncle will probably be indicated as living in your state-assigned dwelling, and till you play enough to know what to do and quickly, also probably be indicated progressively as cold, hungry, sick, and so on. Between these intermissions, you're doing the gig: Looking at the faces of entry applicants, their paperwork in the manner prescribed by your faceless superiors, and hopefully determining correctly if everything is in order. If not, you'll get a citation while the next applicant enters your booth. In addition to the regulations stacking up, so do also complications in the forms of spies, guards, authorities, and revolutionaries all looking to use you to achieve their personal goals. Meanwhile you're fundamentally just wanting to know if you should use the green stamp or the red one. Citation rates, with whom you do and don't cooperate among those who would manipulate you, and which applicants you admit, rebuff, or entrust to the border guards determines the fate of you and yours, and perhaps the whole nation.

    Most of the playtime is in your checkpoint booth, which is presented in three sections: A first-person look at the applicant, a cramped workspace for examining documents, and an exterior camera showing the line of applicant silhouettes, a few guards, and maybe something exciting once in a while. Graphics are deliberately low-fidelity, and usefully so. It limits the amount of variation in appearances that are possible, preventing tiny details from becoming suspicious beyond what's warranted, and serves as a good stand-in for grainy and terrible passport photos. The mechanisms for interrogation, such as inquiring why an applicant's stated duration of stay and duration granted by a permit differ is quick and effective, though a few circumstances aren't as clear about where the player must click to activate the right comparison, and some things that seem comparable simply aren't. Given that the game is presented in the form of a series of days on the job, having a first timer's "training week" option as a non-consequential prelude to the story mode would've saved a new player a lot of familiarization fumbling, and after the initial mechanics shock, the game then falls into a pattern of adding one complication a day, so it seems like starting with one instead of starting with a half dozen would've both fit the game design strategy and smoothed introduction to the game. Instead, you'll just have to trial-and-error the first session or two and work through it like certain 8-bit classics.

    And work it is. I believe this game will be either a big hit or a big miss for a given player depending on how much entertainment that person finds in being challenged by "spot the difference" kinds of puzzles. If that's your flavor, Papers should offer hours, if not limitless, enjoyment. But otherwise, it's quite a chore. It feels like amusing classwork, which is why I see it as a great educational game, or as a paper-thin slice of an actual job, a job that should pay actual money for being done. There seems to be an interesting story of political intrigue and human suffering that the player only sees through the one square meter window of the visa check booth. Profound, and I somewhat want to watch that movie. Instead I'm wondering if a nine-character passport serial is a discrepancy to investigate as all the others I remember were ten, and I operate knowing that what I'm seeing is important outside of my booth but ultimately all I'm here to do is to stamp red or green. And when one of my decision paths led to my agent being arrested, I felt liberated. Perhaps there should be a second part to the game in that case, of breaking rocks in a gulag. It could then rival Desert Bus for retelling the punishment of Sisyphus.

    For smart kids with time for non-mindless gaming, or if you dig scrutiny puzzles and/or choose your own adventure games, for you I stamp this green. But if you already work a tedious job, have real life bureaucratic paperwork to deal with using your "free" time, or aren't amused by "gotcha!" game mechanics, consider stepping away from this booth. The glory of Arstotzka might not be for you.    … Expand
  2. aligunes
    Feb 1, 2023
    6
    I couldn't find anything very special. but it's fun to play, nice to pass the time.
  3. ImJTHM
    May 2, 2014
    5
    About as tedious as actually working in an immigration office, Papers, Please offers a unique story that is told in a wonderful way, but somewhere along the line, the programmers forgot that sometimes games are supposed to be FUN and have challenge.

    The gameplay of the game consists entirely of examining documents given to you by immigrants and attempting to figure out if they are lying    About as tedious as actually working in an immigration office, Papers, Please offers a unique story that is told in a wonderful way, but somewhere along the line, the programmers forgot that sometimes games are supposed to be FUN and have challenge.

    The gameplay of the game consists entirely of examining documents given to you by immigrants and attempting to figure out if they are lying about their information, forged, their documents, etc. This means looking at tiny numbers, comparing them to other numbers, comparing the person and their mugshot (which may or may not look the same, but the game considers the same person), and occasionally dealing with situations that dramatically alter the story of the game, which is actually quite good.

    This novelty is fun for the first few levels, when you are just cycling through numbers, comparing weights, heights, hairstyles, etc. However, the game quickly becomes unreasonable in what it asks. You see, this isn't a puzzler. You don't have your own time to figure these out.

    Your character is essentially paid on commission, and for every person that goes through, he gets money. For every character that goes through and shouldn't, or ones that should go through but you turn away, you are issued a citation and fined. This means that you can't buy upgrades and you can't take your money home to your family. Mess up enough times, and your family is put to death by the government.

    This completely asinine ticking clock mechanics makes the game extremely stressful in a not fun way, as you cycle through person after person, trying to match up upwards of 10 sets of rules (needs specific symbol on password, needs three forms of ID if native, two if immigrant, heights match, dates match, diplomats don't require ID, etc), which gets massively tedious incredibly quickly.

    I am a guy who loves a good story, and the story of this game really gripped me. However, the gameplay is shallow, boring, and literally just irritating. You can call it meta or whatever you want, but at the end of the day, this is a tedious game with irritating rules and a great story.    … Expand
  4. Gamer147
    Aug 22, 2013
    5
    I could see the appeal, I enjoyed the unique concept and really tried liking it. But, honestly? I think it's either you like it or you don't. Well done, yet not for me.
  5. eternalsnows
    Sep 6, 2013
    5
    Papers, Please is a very original game, but unfortunately it doesn't reward the time you spend with it. During the first hour or two of playtime it's easy to find yourself immersed in the dystopian fictional world and curious about what will happen next. However, after a while you realize that there is very little variety in terms of the scenarios that present themselves. Assuming youPapers, Please is a very original game, but unfortunately it doesn't reward the time you spend with it. During the first hour or two of playtime it's easy to find yourself immersed in the dystopian fictional world and curious about what will happen next. However, after a while you realize that there is very little variety in terms of the scenarios that present themselves. Assuming you manage to stay on the good side of your superiors, this lack of variety leads to sessions that drag on and on and become extremely tedious.

    After reaching the end of any given playthrough there's little point in playing again. The only changes you'll encounter are when you get to choose a slightly different path by allowing somebody's wife through (or not), confiscating a diplomat's passport (or not), and so on. The differences in outcome are minor at best and certainly not worth 30-60 minutes of drudgery as you click through endless piles of documents.

    The game's presentation is bare bones, but I think the audio and visual style works well and accomplishes what it sets out to do. The interface is decent, although the small space you have to work with means getting papers lost under other ones and lots of annoyance as you go digging for whatever it is you're looking for. The system for finding discrepancies is a fairly opaque at first, which will lead to frustration as you wonder how to properly execute your instructions. Even later on this can be an issue at times as the demands you're placed under become more and more complex.

    I think Papers, Please is an interesting experiment and worth at least playing around with for a few hours. I'd definitely wait for it to go on sale though. I just don't think most people will find enough enjoyment here to justify paying full price.    … Expand
  6. Deschain89
    Aug 22, 2013
    5
    I have poured more than 10 hours on this game, and even if I like it, I cannot bring myself to give it more than an average score. Don't get me wrong, was this 1995, this game would have been a fond memory, and being a product of it's time, it would have been a personal favorite.

    But here is the catch, it's not 1995, the standards for released games are much higher than it were. No    I have poured more than 10 hours on this game, and even if I like it, I cannot bring myself to give it more than an average score. Don't get me wrong, was this 1995, this game would have been a fond memory, and being a product of it's time, it would have been a personal favorite.

    But here is the catch, it's not 1995, the standards for released games are much higher than it were. No longer can a game like this shine when it has the likes of Red Dead Redemption, Europa Universalis IV, and Bioshock to compete against. It's addictive, it relies on oneself to solve the oh so mighty question of whether this dear old Kolechian lady is trying to get away with cheating the system, and it's really fun because of it.

    But it's no masterpiece, it's no 9/10. It can't be, not anymore. It's time could have been 20 years ago. And before you dismiss my review, I get the whole retro look, the Indie scene, and all that, I just don't use it as a get out of jail card.

    Ten hours into the game, and I'm done, I will never look back on it. It's not a jewel, it's a fake renaissance painting, and everyone is falling for it.    … Expand
  7. Bsrkr
    Nov 19, 2013
    5
    I want to start off and say I struggled with this game. I played it for about 50 minutes then figured out what to do. It's really fun for the hour or so. But it gets repetitive. If you like tedious things get it. 5/10
  8. t4th002th
    Jan 15, 2014
    5
    hmmmm, someone can tell me whats so incredible awesome about this game? played it for half an hour and never touched it again. when i read the critics it seems to me that every indie-game becomes a 50percent+ bonus just because its "indie", which is maybe fair faced the work a little indie team has to do compared with big companies, but is not objective at all. although in respect to otherhmmmm, someone can tell me whats so incredible awesome about this game? played it for half an hour and never touched it again. when i read the critics it seems to me that every indie-game becomes a 50percent+ bonus just because its "indie", which is maybe fair faced the work a little indie team has to do compared with big companies, but is not objective at all. although in respect to other indie titles i would give this a 5. there are other indie titles with dystopian theme and riddles outthere which are way better.… Expand
  9. PublicNuisance
    Nov 17, 2020
    5
    I wanted to like Papers Please. I liked it’s theme and attention to detail but it went too far. It crossed from having to be attentive to straight up sadism. It quickly became a chore of having to watch out for too many different variables and the punishments stacking up. One could say this is realistic to life in a totalitarian country but in the end games are still supposed to be fun. II wanted to like Papers Please. I liked it’s theme and attention to detail but it went too far. It crossed from having to be attentive to straight up sadism. It quickly became a chore of having to watch out for too many different variables and the punishments stacking up. One could say this is realistic to life in a totalitarian country but in the end games are still supposed to be fun. I liked how you have to pick what to spend what money you have and deal with the consequences. I enjoyed having to check regional maps for cities of issue. I found the buttons to interrogate and to check correlated data a bit clunky which is a bad thing when you’re on the clock. I think the game had a surprising amount of story and different endings based on various criteria.

    I played Papers Please on Linux. It never crashed on me. It does require version 2.29 or higher of glibc so not every distro will run it. The game crashed on Trisquel due to this but ran on Manjaro. There is no manual save options, it saves at the beginning of each day. Alt-Tab works. There are no graphics options.

    Game Engine: Unknown
    Game Version Played: 1.2.69
    Save System: Auto
    Disk Space Used: 80 MB
    GPU Usage: 5-17 %
    CPU Usage: 1-2 %
    RAM Usage: 1.6-1.7 GB

    I can see how this could have been a game I enjoyed but it was too much thrown at you. It seemed like a Dark Souls or Super Meat Boy of the simulator genre. Something you can’t relax to but need to stay on edge for. This may be fun for some but not for me.

    My Score: 5.5/10

    My System:

    AMD Ryzen 5 2600X | 16GB DDR4-3000 CL15 | Gigabyte R9 270 2GB | Mesa 20.2.1 | Samsung 970 Evo Plus 500GB | Manjaro 20.2 | Mate 1.24.1 | Kernel 5.9-3-MANJARO    … Expand
  10. Wweald
    Aug 29, 2021
    5
    It's a cool concept but just not my type of game I guess, I didn't hate or love the gameplay. I was underwhelmed with the story, maybe that's because I ignored EZIC. But I don't feel like replaying to see what it would have been like if I didn't. Some of the subplot decisions you can make were cool, going against your job to help others and stuff.
  11. kezzyhko
    Jul 26, 2020
    5
    ‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍
  12. adhamhany
    Feb 8, 2014
    4
    I don't understand why this game is getting so many high reviews. It does have an interesting concept behind it, forcing you into situations where you make tough moral decisions. The story premise is also fine.

    But a game needs more than that to be called great. A great game, quite simply, needs great gameplay. And this one doesn't. You keep doing the same thing over and over and over.    I don't understand why this game is getting so many high reviews. It does have an interesting concept behind it, forcing you into situations where you make tough moral decisions. The story premise is also fine.

    But a game needs more than that to be called great. A great game, quite simply, needs great gameplay. And this one doesn't. You keep doing the same thing over and over and over.

    This exemplifies what happens when you focus too much on the "artistic" side of a game, rather than create a great gaming experience, or better yet, balance both aspects.    … Expand
  13. Atr0s
    Jun 19, 2015
    3
    Even though the amount of details in this game is quite impressive for an indie developer (you can interact with several tools to play the game), the amazement stops shortly after you play the game for more than a couple of minutes. It's a game on which all you do is pure bureaucratic procedure and it's fun as it sounds, losing the whole point of entertainment in the process. TheEven though the amount of details in this game is quite impressive for an indie developer (you can interact with several tools to play the game), the amazement stops shortly after you play the game for more than a couple of minutes. It's a game on which all you do is pure bureaucratic procedure and it's fun as it sounds, losing the whole point of entertainment in the process. The management portion of the game is minimal, leaving you only with 2 options to balance your expenses.

    3/10 for the effort.    … Expand
  14. emanb29
    Dec 7, 2013
    3
    Good game, but gets repetitive very quickly. It's difficulty curve is much too steep, progressing from "I can do this blindfolded" to "crap I lost again" in around 3 levels.
  15. Garethw87
    Dec 26, 2013
    3
    I'm giving this game a 3, simply because the theme of the game is very interesting. However, despite all the hype and attention, there is nothing here. In a quick overview. You have a screen that resembles a counter and a shutter. Somebody appears (the graphical style is akin to old 8-bit 16-bit) and presents a document. You then have to match up that document with whichever order youI'm giving this game a 3, simply because the theme of the game is very interesting. However, despite all the hype and attention, there is nothing here. In a quick overview. You have a screen that resembles a counter and a shutter. Somebody appears (the graphical style is akin to old 8-bit 16-bit) and presents a document. You then have to match up that document with whichever order you have receieved for that day, i.e. No foreign passports today so every foreign passport you deny entry and they walk off. That is all the game is. Obviously the scenarios change and maybe it will be "foreigners allowed today but only from X,Y region" You are just matching up lines of text from your handbook, daily orders to which ever you are presented with. Once the day finishes you get money. You have a few family members, just text on the screen, and you have to buy food, rent, heating, medicine. They can die and so can you, which results in game over. I picked this game up on Steam Sale for about £3.00 I still regret buying it.… Expand
  16. bryan_05
    Mar 21, 2014
    3
    If you don't like paperwork in real life I can't imagine you'd like this game. Basically you're comparing some documents to a set of rules which you have been supplied. Find a discrepancy and point it out. Miss a discrepancy and lose some points. I don't understand the hype behind this game.
  17. nastyjes
    Jan 10, 2023
    3
    Extremely overrated .
  18. CasperRosewater
    Nov 25, 2013
    2
    I'm admittedly hard to please; I purchase four or five games for every one that I truly enjoy and can stay with to get all the way through.I give the developers of 'Papers, Please' credit for trying something unusual and different; that's exactly what gaming needs and precisely what I want and hoped for in this game. I truly wanted to like it. But this game but it is utterly boring. MaybeI'm admittedly hard to please; I purchase four or five games for every one that I truly enjoy and can stay with to get all the way through.I give the developers of 'Papers, Please' credit for trying something unusual and different; that's exactly what gaming needs and precisely what I want and hoped for in this game. I truly wanted to like it. But this game but it is utterly boring. Maybe it gets better further and deeper into the game. I dunno, I couldn't get past 20 minutes and I restarted two or three times and always abandoned at the approximate same place there was nothing happening.Nice try though. Two starts for being unique, otherwise zero.… Expand
  19. credford
    Apr 19, 2014
    2
    I wanted to like this game. However, as a Software Engineer, the core gameplay just feels like doing extra work when I get home with a **** IDE. Even the humanizing story elements weren't enough to keep me playing. It's just not fun.
  20. GapeHorn
    Jan 6, 2022
    2
    its a good waste of time. it is not a good game. Very skippable. Skip this game.
  21. vova22379
    Aug 3, 2022
    2
    ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
  22. YoBoyYo
    Jun 2, 2022
    1
    Seeing all the positive reviews for this game, I was excited to try it. Little did I know that this would be one of the worst games I have ever played, and the only bad indie game I have ever played... Where to start?

    GRAPHICS: The graphics are TERRIBLE. They were inexcusable even when they came out 10 years ago. This is very relevant as the game's core gameplay relies on the player    Seeing all the positive reviews for this game, I was excited to try it. Little did I know that this would be one of the worst games I have ever played, and the only bad indie game I have ever played... Where to start?

    GRAPHICS: The graphics are TERRIBLE. They were inexcusable even when they came out 10 years ago. This is very relevant as the game's core gameplay relies on the player being able to distinguish if a character is female or male, if their low-quality image matches the even more low-quality image on the passport, or if their finger prints matches the one on file. If the player cannot tell, they will get reprimanded or penalized. This is made worst by the fact that the player is always on a time limit...

    GAMEPLAY: The gameplay is quite simply not fun. The concept had potential, but the developper clearly failed in making checking documents for errors fun. The whole process is very boring, lacks variety, and has time constraints that are too tight for its gameplay. The player is also never rewarded for getting anything right, while getting harshly penalized for any slight mistake. Maybe some minigames or more frequent rewards could have helped? The ironic thing is that I've worked this kind of job before in real life and it was way more fun than this. You know its bad when a real job is more fun than a video game lol.

    CHARACTERS: Its impossible to remember any of the characters. The player has a family and is supposed to care about them, but we never see them or get know to know anything about them. Heck, they don't even have names! As such, the player is not compelled to care about them, and instead feels encouraged to kill them off so they use up less money. When it comes to characters seen at the border crossing, the graphics are so bad that it can be easy to mix up the procedurally-generated characters with the plot-relevant or secondary characters. None of them are memorable dialogue-wise as there is very little dialogue at all and all of them speak the same way. As such, what always happens is that a character show up, says a few sentences, and then a few minutes later after they've left, you've already forgotten about them or what they wanted. Because its so easy to forget, the player often misses opportunities, which is frustrating. The only exception I've found is one character that keeps returning to your station every odd day or so, submitting obviously false documents, and who is present from the start. Although, I still don't remember his name. The antagonists of this story -representatives of the Arstostka government - suffer from these same problems. They do not stand out visually or personnality-wise, and you rarely see them or learn about them. They should have gotten at least a theme song. The player should have learned about the atrocities they commit in general or on other characters throughout the story to build tension.

    PLOT: The plot is very difficult to follow and not engaging. This is partly on purpose, as you are supposed to be a border guard with no real insight into the secret EZIC organisation. But, the game is just not clear enough about what is going on. There was one day, for example, that a member from this organisation told me to kill someone in red in the line, but a random terrorist attack interrupted the workday before this red person got to me. The next day they were gone and I never heard from EZIC again. What happened?? Another day, I was asked to let someone specific through, but they never came! Furthermore, there is nothing original about this plot. You guess everything from the start: you have your evil government, and a secret rebel organisation that wants to topple it. There is nothing more to it than that unfortunately.

    LORE: This game features fictional countries but never goes into the history or culture of any of them. There is no lore. Is Arstostka at war right now? Does Obristan actually have better living standards? What are even Arstoska's relationships with these other countries like? We will never know, and the absence of any lore is the biggest missed opportunity of this entire game.

    MUSIC: This OST has only 3 songs: the main theme, the death theme, and the victory theme. I hope you like the main theme, because that's all you'll hear the entire game playing over and over again for 5 hours.

    IN SHORT, this is a bad game. The positive reviews are truly baffling to me. It seems most of them believe this game is being innovative by purposefully giving you a **** experience - to mirror the experience of working a bad job, or in a soviet country. Unfortunately, they are simply pretending the game's flaws were intended or good somehow. This setting could have been "oppressive" and still fun, but it was just not executed well. It was never necessary to have bad graphics, no music, boring gameplay, unmemorable characters or a predictable plot in order to have an authentic soviet experience either.    … Expand
  23. MigRib
    Apr 16, 2014
    0
    Could someone (please) remind the hipsters that the 80s are long gone? This is not a Spectrum 48k game, it shouldn't look like one. This kind of thing keeps on showing up with wonderful reviews, written by people who use admire so much "the classics" even though they (probably) weren't even born when the bloody classics were new... It's just rubbish, treat it as such.
  24. riley794
    Jan 21, 2016
    0
    I heard it was fun but it looked terrible so I waited till a good Steam sale to pick it up. Still feel like I got ripped off. This game is worth nothing. Please if you think this game is fun I have an even better game for you to play called cleaning my house. Probably the worst game I have ever played! If you are having fun playing this game there is something missing from you lifeI heard it was fun but it looked terrible so I waited till a good Steam sale to pick it up. Still feel like I got ripped off. This game is worth nothing. Please if you think this game is fun I have an even better game for you to play called cleaning my house. Probably the worst game I have ever played! If you are having fun playing this game there is something missing from you life called a job!… Expand
  25. Dcruize
    Sep 29, 2013
    0
    Based on the positive reviews and score this game has received on Metacritic, I gave PP a try. I was utterly disappointed. The gameplay is entirely based around being presented with information and then having to verify that the information matches criteria specified at the start of each day. A typical early scenario would involve being handed an ID card and a work permit. You would haveBased on the positive reviews and score this game has received on Metacritic, I gave PP a try. I was utterly disappointed. The gameplay is entirely based around being presented with information and then having to verify that the information matches criteria specified at the start of each day. A typical early scenario would involve being handed an ID card and a work permit. You would have to check the following information; same ID/name on both papers, dates are correct, photo on ID matches the person handing it to you. After that, check the immigration rules for the day make sure people are allowed to enter from that country. And that is it all you do is pattern match. If that sounds like fun, give it a try. If your brain isn't wired to find pattern-matching fun, avoid like the plague.… Expand
  26. ConorHat
    Apr 12, 2014
    0
    I have a hard time understanding why gamers want stuff like this? I grew up using an IBM 486, and the graphics then were better than this, that was in the 80's. Honestly, pattern recognition and some basic choices of whether to be a traitor or not, and that sums it all up. 85/100 for this? It's time for me to find a new hobby I think.
  27. farmvilleif1
    Dec 13, 2013
    0
    No mundo dos games, também existem aqueles jogos que são uma verdadeira porcaria. Blé, que jogo ruim. Mecanicas repetitivas, jogo previsível, chato e sem graça
  28. raashnavj
    Sep 13, 2016
    0
    Work... Seriously someone made a game that is worse that work. How this got positive reviews beats me...

    It starts harmless enough, you compare a few numbers and rules and stamp it approved or denied. Then it adds in checking for another document, and then another, and then another. All for almost no pay, your family will get sick. I guess if you play it a few times you will    Work... Seriously someone made a game that is worse that work. How this got positive reviews beats me...

    It starts harmless enough, you compare a few numbers and rules and stamp it approved or denied.
    Then it adds in checking for another document,
    and then another,
    and then another.
    All for almost no pay, your family will get sick.

    I guess if you play it a few times you will memorize the handbook which will make things go faster. But seriously people? Have we come this far that 'entertainment' is pretending to do a job that absolutely sucks and then giving it great reviews? People now-a-days have issues.    … Expand
  29. Broyax
    Jan 8, 2017
    0
    Moué, un "jeu" vite fait, bricolé dans une cave et codé avec les pieds sur un Amstrad en 16 couleurs EGA, un petit délire gratuit d'un branque qui a trop forcé sur l'apéro... euh attends... gratuit ? ah nan le gars, il le vend, il veut de l'argent en échange ! on marche sur la tête.

    Pourtant, un simulateur de douanier, de délit de faciès et de contrôle d'immigration, c'est parfois    Moué, un "jeu" vite fait, bricolé dans une cave et codé avec les pieds sur un Amstrad en 16 couleurs EGA, un petit délire gratuit d'un branque qui a trop forcé sur l'apéro... euh attends... gratuit ? ah nan le gars, il le vend, il veut de l'argent en échange ! on marche sur la tête.

    Pourtant, un simulateur de douanier, de délit de faciès et de contrôle d'immigration, c'est parfois marrant. J'aime bien débusquer les **** truqueurs de merde parce que j'suis douanier mais faut pas me prendre pour un con ! j'ai l'oeil et c'est comme ça que je gagne ma vie derrière le rideau de fer.

    Très répétitif, très limité, ce non-jeu ne mérite pas le moindre kopeck mais on peut comprendre l'engouement anarcho-gauchiste qu'il a provoqué : abolissez les frontières, libre circulation des biens et des personnes, vivre ensemble et heal the world !    … Expand
  30. mander0
    Mar 1, 2021
    0
    Glory to Arstotzka. Comrade must rate 10/1O for glorious country. NO EZIC allowed
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Awards & Rankings

29
#29 Best PC Game of 2013
28
#28 Most Discussed PC Game of 2013
56
#56 Most Shared PC Game of 2013

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
85

Generally favorable reviews - based on 40 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 39 out of 40
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 40
  3. Negative: 0 out of 40
  1. Gamer.nl
    Jan 2, 2014
    85
    Papers, Please gives you a simple task that doesn't ask a lot of you. The game outgrows its mechanics though, by appealing to your moral compass and emotions. This indie game will get under your skin, will have you feeling uncomfortable and have you think about yourself, as a person.
    Read full review
  2. GameFront
    Oct 14, 2013
    90
    An incredibly impressive little game, from its understated old-school art style to its ability to make you feel uncomfortable with how much you enjoy catching criminals trying to trick their way into your country.
    Read full review
  3. Pelit (Finland)
    Oct 5, 2013
    89
    Papers, Please is not only original but fun, too. More papers, please! [Sept 2013]
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