Papers, Please

Papers Please feels a little bit like a game made on a dare: "Is it possible to even make a game about checking data on paperwork?" It has strongly developed themes and an intriguing premise, but not enough of a gameplay core to attract casual players....

A brilliant lesson in human behaviour, with a dollop of history, all wrapped in a puzzle...

It's worthwhile for the same reasons a depressing novel or a bleak movie can be worthwhile. There are lessons to be learned from Papers, Please, if only to remind ourselves how much worse off we could be.

Never mind its bleak tone, minimalist presentation, and seemingly dour concept - Papers, Please turns checking passports into an unexpectedly captivating game.

If you'd told me three weeks ago that I'd one day enjoy deliberating over digital passports and entry permits for hours on end, I'd have labeled you a nut and the concept impossible. Luckily, I've since played Papers, Please, a distinctly Cold War-esque...

Very few other games have so perfectly encapsulated just how being trapped in this kind of dehumanising role can be, in the best possible way, and both inside and out of the dreaded grey booth. If only there could be an achievement for reaching the exact moment you turn someone away for no particularly good reason, only to quietly tell yourself that, as ever, you were just following orders.

Papers, Please feels a lot like an interactive anxiety attack. It's hard to call such a nerve-shredding experience "fun", but it is absorbing, brilliantly written and causes you to question your every instinct and reaction - both in the game and in real life. Such bleakness will be an acquired taste, of course, but the deep note of bitterness in Papers, Please makes for a welcome change.

After racing through a traveler's files, preoccupied with the pressures of the job and paying for my virtual family, I had a forced, four-second gap while one walked away and another approached. This was my opportunity to really stop and think about my role in the act of processing people like so much cattle.