Papers, Please is one of those kind of games that becomes an instant classic that is loved by a shared community and has it's own cult following once it's out.

While the game may seem a bit generic or monotonic per se, it is definitely anything but that. The on going succession that spawned plenty of same genre/base games from other developers (for instance, Not Tonight) and this classic game being revisited by other popular internet celebrities again today, you could dare to say that Papers, Please perhaps could be ranked among the top indie games ever made, and here's, in my opinion, why:


The main focus of this game is to check the documents of endless lines of immigrants or returning citizens of Arstotzka. While the whole premise may sound easy enough, i can guarantee you that it steadily gets harder and harder, where finally you get to the point where you need to check at the very least 4-5 documents per person to make sure that every date, every letter and any other detail is spot on to make the document be as legal as it can possibly be. Any spelling mistakes or things that may make the person look different from his actual photo or description can and must be a reason to check onto those details with even more caution, as every mistake you make, you get a penalty, and for every penalty you can get your salary cut which may lead your family into a worse living state. So to say that this game is at the very least is engaging would be an understatement. The game pulls you in and stops holding your hand very soon after. While the whole game is not quite long, there are many alternative endings as well as an endless mode, so it has quite a bit of replay value, however i wouldn't see myself playing this game over and over again for many hours.


As i have mentioned before, you play as the officer of Arstotzka, who checks the documents of the immigrants at the border of the country. But this on itself is only the surface of the whole story of this game. This game has everything that portrays the years of the Cold war in our world, or the after war timeline in the game's world - tension between the countries, corruption, thoughts and movements of revolution, etc. Towards your time of playing you can really choose two main sides: the side of those who seek the revolution, and the side of your own country, it's government. Towards the whole game you will face your morale by choosing to side with one of them. While being loyal to your government makes the game play easier, siding with those who seek for revolution is much more engaging as you get harder objectives to accomplish. The very end of this game depends on the choices you make throughout the whole game. And that's without mentioning all the possible other side quests and various interesting dialogues that you get in this game.


The developer took an interesting spin with this game and created the game in a pixelated format. Come to think of it, i do believe that around that time this format was becoming more and more popular among various indie game titles. While the game may not look as stunning with this graphical format as compared to other games, it has it's own style and color scheme and you can really appreciate that. It just makes the game stand out when it has it's own style to compete with other games. And of course the main focus of this game is definitely not the graphics, so if you're searching for a game purely for gorgeous graphics, this is not it. Other than that, when combined with this game's sounds, it really makes the game more that unique. Also, because of the choice of this formatting, this game is ridiculously small in it's in size taking up only 34 MB!!


As i have just mentioned, the sounds combined with the choice of graphics really create a unique experience! The sounds are also made in direction to graphics to make it look like it was made back in 1980's or anything around that time. However, the in game music is memorable. If anyone would mention the game to me outside of this review, the first thing that i would instantly remember is the music, it has it's own vibe, however weird that may sound.


None! I have never encountered a game breaking bug or any weird glitches, or anything like that!


To conclude, this game is a must try! Sure, the gameplay and the story may sound a bit weird or boring whilst reading this or any other review, but you have to try it for yourself, as i can assure you that the game is interesting in it's own way. There may not be a lot of action, or very special effects, or anything like that, but it has it's own way of pulling people in to play it, to try it out. The game is fairly cheap as it is an indie game, and i'm sure that you can find it practically for cents outside of Steam, but it does truly has it's own value.

Papers, Please is one of those kind of games that becomes an instant classic that is loved by a shared community and has it's own cult following once it's out. While the game may seem a bit generic or monotonic per se, it is definitely anything but that. The on going succession that spawned plenty of same genre/base games from other developers (for instance, Not Tonight) and this classic game being revisited by other popular internet celebrities again today, you could dare to say that Papers, Please perhaps could be ranked among the top indie games ever made, and here's, in my opinion, why: [h1] The Gameplay [/h1] The main focus of this game is to check the documents of endless lines of immigrants or returning citizens of Arstotzka. While the whole premise may sound easy enough, i can guarantee you that it steadily gets harder and harder, where finally you get to the point where you need to check at the very least 4-5 documents per person to make sure that every date, every letter and any other detail is spot on to make the document be as legal as it can possibly be. Any spelling mistakes or things that may make the person look different from his actual photo or description can and must be a reason to check onto those details with even more caution, as every mistake you make, you get a penalty, and for every penalty you can get your salary cut which may lead your family into a worse living state. So to say that this game is at the very least is engaging would be an understatement. The game pulls you in and stops holding your hand very soon after. While the whole game is not quite long, there are many alternative endings as well as an endless mode, so it has quite a bit of replay value, however i wouldn't see myself playing this game over and over again for many hours. [h1] The Story [/h1] As i have mentioned before, you play as the officer of Arstotzka, who checks the documents of the immigrants at the border of the country. But this on itself is only the surface of the whole story of this game. This game has everything that portrays the years of the Cold war in our world, or the after war timeline in the game's world - tension between the countries, corruption, thoughts and movements of revolution, etc. Towards your time of playing you can really choose two main sides: the side of those who seek the revolution, and the side of your own country, it's government. Towards the whole game you will face your morale by choosing to side with one of them. While being loyal to your government makes the game play easier, siding with those who seek for revolution is much more engaging as you get harder objectives to accomplish. The very end of this game depends on the choices you make throughout the whole game. And that's without mentioning all the possible other side quests and various interesting dialogues that you get in this game. [h1] The Graphics [/h1] The developer took an interesting spin with this game and created the game in a pixelated format. Come to think of it, i do believe that around that time this format was becoming more and more popular among various indie game titles. While the game may not look as stunning with this graphical format as compared to other games, it has it's own style and color scheme and you can really appreciate that. It just makes the game stand out when it has it's own style to compete with other games. And of course the main focus of this game is definitely not the graphics, so if you're searching for a game purely for gorgeous graphics, this is not it. Other than that, when combined with this game's sounds, it really makes the game more that unique. Also, because of the choice of this formatting, this game is ridiculously small in it's in size taking up only 34 MB!! [h1] The Sounds [/h1] As i have just mentioned, the sounds combined with the choice of graphics really create a unique experience! The sounds are also made in direction to graphics to make it look like it was made back in 1980's or anything around that time. However, the in game music is memorable. If anyone would mention the game to me outside of this review, the first thing that i would instantly remember is the music, it has it's own vibe, however weird that may sound. [h1] Various bugs, glitches, etc [/h1] None! I have never encountered a game breaking bug or any weird glitches, or anything like that! [h1] Conclusion [/h1] To conclude, this game is a must try! Sure, the gameplay and the story may sound a bit weird or boring whilst reading this or any other review, but you have to try it for yourself, as i can assure you that the game is interesting in it's own way. There may not be a lot of action, or very special effects, or anything like that, but it has it's own way of pulling people in to play it, to try it out. The game is fairly cheap as it is an indie game, and i'm sure that you can find it practically for cents outside of Steam, but it does truly has it's own value.