From Japanese developer 3909 LLC, in Papers, Please you get a job as a border-crossing immigration officer. And from there… you check some passports!

First launched in 2013, it really helped put creative indie game concepts on the map and it remains one of the most enduring indie success stories. Let’s check its papers, please, dammit!

Get Your Passports Ready For Papers, Please

Right, so this is a dystopian type romp at a migration checkpoint, with your very moral fibre tested as you allow citizens in and out of Arstotzka.

That’s a fictional Eastern bloc type of country.

As a game, it’s not really like anything else you’ll have played before. The themes are similar to something like Disco Elysium (2019), but the goal is totally different.

Basically, you start your new job and then begin checking passports at border control.

You receive orders daily on who can, and can’t, enter the country. You’ve got to make the right choices!

And to make matters worse, you get paid by the number of correct decisions you make. So at the end of each day, you need to then feed your family and pay for medical bills etc. Here’s a glimpse into the world of Papers, Please!

It’s an unusual game, for sure, and one you’ll need a solid strategy. Don’t just march into it thinking you’ll nail it over time.

In fact, it’s recommended you print off an itinerary to help you make decisions!

Some passports have falsified information, are out of date, and there are daily updates to your checklist. Plus, personal finance management at the end of each shift!

Passport control is difficult, man! You need to verify all sorts of tricky details in a very short space of time. So Papers, Please is a tough game. But one you can get better at, and enjoy more, the longer you play it.

It’s very innovative, too, and a perfect example of why we love indie games.

Here’s the type of creative leap AAA developers just wouldn’t make. And so we have a one-man indie studio (the game was made by Lucas Pope) delivering a brilliant concept that’s proven a hit across the industry.

It’s won many awards, including at the Independent Games Festival, Game Developers Choice Awards, and BAFTA Video Games Awards.

Papers, Please also regularly gets ranked as one of the best indie games ever.

So… you want to check some passports!? You can get this thing on Steam, Android, and iOS right now.