Papers, Please

Papers, Please

Systems:

• Windows PC
• Mac OSX
• Linux
• PlayStation Vita
• Releases:
  • Original Release: 2013
  • Linux Release: 2014

Publisher:

• Lucas Pope

Developer:

• Lucas Pope

ESRB Rating:

• Not available

In the puzzle game Papers, Please you play a person who has been randomly selected for boarder patrol for the fake, dystopian nation of Arstotzka. Every day you walk to work and look over people's passports, ensuring that their paperwork is in order before they come into the country; you are paid a meager amount for every person you let through. As the days go by the paperwork becomes more and more complicated, and you are offered bribes and threatened by terrorists. The game forces you to balance your job, your morality, and your family's welfare every time you ask the question, "Papers, please."

Claustrophobia

The entire game takes place in a small guard booth that the player cannot leave. It is the main mechanic of the game.

Death of Family/Friends

As the game progresses, your family will get sick and you have to pick who gets medicine. Those who do not get medicine die. The player never sees their family in person, they are just markers on the main game menu.

Dehumanization

The game forces the player to treat certain people as sub-standard via racial profiling; there are certain "countries" in the game that are at odds with Arstotzka, and as such are treated poorly. The player can choose whether or not to participate in this, but will be penalized if they do not.

The player can force people at the border to do anything. In particular, the player is required to use invasive scanning techniques to scan for contraband and check that the person's genitalia match the gender on their passport.

Disease

As the game progresses, your family will get sick and you have to pick who gets medicine. Those who do not get medicine die. The player never sees their family in person, they are just markers on the main game menu.

Explosions

At several points in the game there will be terrorist attacks at the border. The person committing the attack will blow them selves up with an explosion noise and fire.

Existential Despair

The game presents to the player an extremely grim outlook on life. Either the player can be moral and allow good people through but get penalized, the player can be strict and amoral and turn away people who need to get into the country (for example for a much-needed surgery) but never get penalized, or the player can take bribes and turn people away for nothing to make more money. The overall attitude of the game is that whatever the player does they will be penalized in some way, thus the struggle to survive becomes futile.

Gender Dysphoria

The game assumes that every person has a binary gender.

A game mechanic is looking at the people trying to cross the border and assigning them a binary gender based on how they look. If the gender on the person's passport does not match what they present as, the player can question them and turn them away for having a "wrong" passport. If the gender is "wrong" but the player does not question it, the player will be penalized.

Once the player receives the "scanning" ability in the game, the player can scan the bodies of people whose gender is "wrong" on their passport as per the game mechanic above. The scanner shows the player a naked picture of the person and the player must scrutinize their genitalia. If the genitalia does not match what is on the person's passport the person must be turned away or the player is penalized.

Guns

The guards around the border checkpoint all have guns. If the player chooses to detain a person, the guards will threaten that person with their guns.

Nudity

The player eventually receives the "scanning" ability that allows them to scan people at the border. This produces a naked picture of the person with visible genitalia.

Offensive Language

If the player turns someone away, the person sometimes will swear at the player.

Racism

The game forces the player to treat certain people as sub-standard via racial profiling; there are certain "countries" in the game that are at odds with Arstotzka, and as such are treated poorly--generally in the form of assuming everyone from a certain country is a "terrorist" and selecting them for "random searches" where their privacy will be violated via a full-body, nude scan. The player can choose whether or not to participate in this, but will be penalized if they do not.

Transphobia

A game mechanic is looking at the people trying to cross the border and assigning them a binary gender based on how they look. If the gender on the person's passport does not match what they present as, the player can question them and turn them away for having a "wrong" passport. If the gender is "wrong" but the player does not question it, the player will be penalized.

As part of the above game mechanic, the player also has a "scanning" ability that allows them to take a fully nude picture of the person they are questioning. If the person's genitalia does not match what it says on their passport, the player must turn them away or be penalized.

Verbal Abuse

Throughout the game if the player chooses to reject people they will verbally abuse the player. This may or may not be common in the game depending on how the player treats people trying to enter the country.

Violence Against Children

The player can choose to allow their son to die of illness. The player is forced to make decisions between family members when buying medicine.

Weapons

The guards around the border checkpoint all have guns. If the player chooses to detain a person, the guards will threaten that person with their guns.

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