Papers, Please

Papers Please title screen.
If you’re looking to shuffle papers in an oppressive atmosphere, then Papers, Please is the game for you. (Unless you hate your office job and do that on a daily basis, in which case this might not have much to offer you).

As someone who loves following rules, I found a certain calm in the mechanics of Papers, Please. Someone gives you their papers, you check them over, identify discrepancies, and either let them into the country, detain them, or send them on their way. I was also acutely aware of how problematic it was that I was enjoying this job, given that every few minutes you’re dashing the hopes of another desperate person seeking safety. It’s rewarding only in a logistical sense, as long as you don’t think too hard about it.

You should play this if…

You can stay fairly disconnected from the task you’re doing as you progress through the game – otherwise it’s very emotionally heavy. Papers, Please made it into the database because it touches on some trans issues, but not in a good way. If the gender a person is presenting as does not match the one on their passport, they can be detained or put through an invasive scan. It only happens a few times, but it’s a few times too many, and I found it pretty confronting. So, a huge trigger warning for trans people. It’s a shame to see that in a game that is otherwise innovative and unique, but it’s a flaw that can’t be ignored.