Recently, in an effort to procrastinate beyond all human precedent, I downloaded a game entitled “Papers, Please.”
The game is an 8-bit style puzzle game made by indie developer Lucas Pope through his company 3909. The game takes place in 1982 in, judging by the names, some kind of eastern European area. Just a side note, it’s very weird to see DOB: 1950 on the paperwork and see a 30 year old standing in front of you.
Game play is through the eyes of an immigration officer who controls the border between Arztotska and Kolechia, on behalf of Arztotska. Your job is to check all paperwork of would be immigrants and passers by and make sure that everything checks out. Throughout the game you are given many different choices from whether to detain people to whether you should participate in a rebel uprising. The game has 20 total endings.
I don’t want to ruin anything, but the game is a dystopian thriller and it points out the flaws of an increasingly authoritarian government — something we might take into account in America today.
I have only finished 5 of the endings so far, but the game is addicting and very fun if you like puzzles or categorization. There are also multiple storylines to follow during game play. The game is $9.99 on it’s website or on Steam, so if you have some extra holiday cash and want to check out a new game, I say go for it.
The only drawbacks to this game is that it can be very monotonous if you are not someone who likes puzzles, counting, etc. There are points of action, but overall it is fairly bland, which I like, but others may not. It is also 8 bit style which is incredibly nostalgic, but can be an issue for some who prefer detailed graphics. I didn’t find the graphics to be an issue at all.
