Papers, Please paints a stereotypical picture of what border control looks like-barbed wire fences, long lines, Soviet–esque decorations, a job lottery, communism. For another, the game might have been somewhat less enjoyable if the player were forced to take children away from their parents or maintain concentration camps for detained entrants. For one, Arstotzka, created in the image of a run–down, communist country, is a far cry from the American polity. To draw a connection from Papers, Please to the current state of American border control would be to over–exaggerate the game’s political application. After all, it might feel somewhat awkward to play a game involving turning people away at a border for the entertainment of the masses.

From the beginning, video games like these place entertainers in a weird position that only video games can.

There isn’t really a way of making an apolitical game that is centered around border control in a communist country reminiscent of the Eastern Bloc. (◡‿◡✿),” popular streamer PewDiePie’s gameplay video for Papers, Please reads. “Please note that these videos are purely made for fun and not to make any political statements. At several crucial points, you have to decide whether or not to aid a secret society looking to fix the corrupt Arstotzkan government. Papers, Please is not mindless rote work there are moments of moral dilemma during which you might accept a citation to permit a wife to enter with her husband or choose whether or not to accept bribes for entry. Ultimately, there are 20 possible endings to the game, reached through pivotal decisions.

All throughout, you must make enough money to make rent and support your family, and avoid receiving citations for wrongly admitting or denying possible entrants. More and more rules are phased in, from entry passes and work permits to passport confiscation and certifications of health. The core of the game revolves around inspecting passports to see if they are forged or expired, and ultimately approving or denying entry. Papers, Please involves unexpectedly engaging gameplay. The entire premise of Lucas Pope's video game Papers, Please is simple, if somewhat bizarre: a border officer, selected through a job lottery in a fictional communist country called Arstotzka, shuffles through entrants’ paperwork to determine whether or not they can pass.a

Papers please game over