Papers, Please

Papers, Please
Developer(s)	3909
Publisher(s)	3909
Designer(s)	Lucas Pope
Programmer(s)	Lucas Pope
Artist(s)	Lucas Pope
Composer(s)	Lucas Pope
Engine	Unity
Platform(s)	Microsoft Windows, OS X, Linux, iOS, PlayStation Vita
Release	Windows, OS X WW: August 8, 2013 Linux WW: February 12, 2014 iOS WW: December 12, 2014 PlayStation Vita WW: December 12, 2017
Genre(s)	Puzzle, simulation
Mode(s)	Single-player

Papers, Please is a video game made by Lucas Pope, an indie game developer, published under his secret name 3909. It is about an immigration officer who decided who to let in and who to refuse entry to the fictional country of Arstotzka. The game was released on August 8, 2013 for Microsoft Windows and for OS X. It was released for Linux on February 12, 2014. It was released for iPad on December 12, 2014. A PlayStation Vita version was announced in August 2014, but has not come out yet.

Gameplay

The gameplay for Papers, Please revolves around an immigrations inspector's life and job. The player can allow people to enter Arstotzka or refuse them. The player can use different tools to check if the immigration papers are out of date, real or fake. The player must try to keep unwanted people out of Arstotzka, like terrorists, criminals and those with incorrect papers. The player must correctly allow and not allow people in to the country within a set amount of time. Each mistake a player makes is 5 credits off their earned money at the end of the day. The money earned at the end of the day is based on how many people have been correctly finished. The player must pay for the officer's family, food and heating. The player can choose to not pay for any of them, which results in something happening to the family.

The game has 20 possible endings.

Development

Lucas Pope created this game, He used to work for Naughty Dog. After working on the Uncharted games, he left to become an indie developer. He started work on it in November 2012, but it took longer than Pope thought, and was finished in nine months. It was put on green light on April 11, 2013 and was greenlit on May 1.

Reception

Reception
Aggregate scores Aggregator Score GameRankings 81.95% Metacritic 85/100 Review scores Publication Score Edge 9/10 Eurogamer 9/10 GameSpot 8/10 IGN 8.7/10 PC Gamer (UK) 87/100 Polygon 8.0/10
Award Publication Award BAFTA Best Strategy & Simulation

Papers, Please has been thanked for its sense of immersion. CBC News' Jonathan Ore called Papers, Please a "nerve-racking sleuthing game with relentless pacing and dozens of compelling characters – all from a desk job".

Some critics however reacted badly to the paperwork gameplay. Stephanie Bendixsen from the ABC game review show Good Game found the game "tedious", commenting "while I found the issues that arose from the decisions you are forced to make quite interesting, I was just so bored that I just struggled to go from one day to the next. I was torn between wanting to find out more, and just wanting it all to stop."