It's a real shame, because the game would be great on modern consoles like the Nintendo Switch. It's this kind of attention to detail and refusal to make things too monotonous that really shows how well Papers, Please succeeds at job simulation.Īlthough several copycats have popped up over the years, a true sequel to Papers, Please hasn't happened yet. The game's story mode even has twenty different endings, depending on how well (or poorly) players perform their duties at the immigration checkpoint. Players can't get too comfortable at the immigration booth, because the game keeps adding to the list of rules that decree which citizens can pass though and which ones get rejected. Papers, Please also succeeds by constantly adding tasks and new rules to keep things feeling fresh. If the wrong citizen passes through the border, it might not just spell doom for the player - it could be putting the entire country (and, more importantly, the player's family) in jeopardy. It's like playing as one of the NPCs in a Splinter Cell game, only Sam Fisher won't swoop in to save the day. It's up to players to figure all of this out. Immigrants may have hidden weapons, they may be working for the clandestine revolutionary organization EZIC, or they may just seem suspicious but actually be completely innocent.

While simply looking over immigration papers may not seem like the most thrilling concept, Papers, Please raises the stakes. How Papers, Please Keeps Job Simulation Engaging But Papers, Please avoids the kind of monotony that sometimes bogs down job simulators by incorporating international thriller elements that would feel right at home in a Tom Clancy video game. The concept appears simple at first: check immigration papers, collect payment for the job, and use that money to pay for things like rent and food.

With a retro aesthetic that harkens back to LucasArts or Sierra PC games, there's a lot to love about Papers, Please. Related: Best LucasArts Adventure Games (& How To Play Them In 2020) This kind of international thriller element is perhaps why Papers, Please was a hit in the first place, and why it's since spawned a short film. It's 1982 in Papers, Please, and the Cold War-like tensions are palpable throughout the entire game. Before the game begins, Arstotzka and the neighboring country of Kolechia have just ended a war that spanned six years. Papers, Please puts players at the immigration booth of a fictional country called Arstotzka. With a deceptively simple premise, Papers, Please is job simulation done right. Created by Lucas Pope, the game has since been released on the PlayStation Vita in 2017. Originally releasing in 2014 for mobile and PC, Papers, Please is an indie job simulator that became a major hit.

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