Papers, Please – Document Approving Simulator

I like experimental games. They are keeping the gaming industry fresh and they bring some new ideas. I added Papers, Please to my list recently. What is this game all about? The short answer would be “a game where you decide whether or not to let people into your country.” This sounds pretty boring, but let me give you the long answer as well.

You are responsible for letting people into the fake communist state of Arstotzka. If they have a reason for entering the country, you let them in. And you get paid for it. If they have the wrong passport, wrong data or even if they are missing some important papers, you deny them. But be careful. Even though some people have all the papers, they might be terrorists with bomb strapped to their backs. You can ask them questions to check what they say with what the document says. You can even scan them for contraband.

You are not just sitting there all day long making people angry. You have to make money to keep your family fed, healthy and warm. The more people you let in, the more money you earn. But if you make more than two mistakes you will be penalized. So you have to be quick and check for all details. The game starts slowly but gets progressively harder after each day.

This is not a review. It is not fair to review a game in beta. So if you are interested and would you like to try it for yourself, you can. It is free for now. Just head to dukope.com and download beta of this game.