The transitioning from Papers 3 to ReadCube or forcedly Papers 4 was the worst downgrade of the quality of the Papers 1-3 software. Many useful functionalities such as sharing papers via email, searching and rank the papers, open papers with a PDF readers of choice (instead of by default) are completely gone. Papers, Please is a peculiar indie video game in which you have to stop some people from crossing the your country's border, using your hand stamp. Your mission as customs agent is to check passports and visas for everyone who comes to the border, and decide if they can get into the country or not.
Papers, Please is an indie game still in its rickety alpha stage which sees the player take on the role of an immigration officer in a dystopian Eastern Bloc country in the grim, grey 1980s. With travel restrictions having just been lifted (stop yawning at the back, this game is pretty fun. Don't make me call the Secret Police on you) vigilance is required to make sure only the right people get in.
As a concept it's pretty simple. You click on the loudhailer above the little customs booth to issue a Soup Nazi-esque 'NEXT!' and when the person at the front of the customs queue appears at the booth you inspect their papers, through dragging and dropping them into a viewing window. Passport details have to match up with visa details, official seals must be present and work permits need to be inspected. There's a couple of big satsifying stamps for approving and denying entry. It's a work simulator, yes, but it's a pretty cool experience. And I guess it would be a major break from the norm if your day job was fire-fighting or something equally awesome.
On each day you face a parade of mostly miserable faces and, while this game is still in development, it seems clear that one of the goals is to get as many of them either through the gates into your little state or sent back from whence they came before the shift ends. The queue of people despondently dissolves at the end of the day as the aspiring immigrants, returning citizens, travelling workers and folks just hoping to pass through knock off and lay plans to return tomorrow.
The first time I denied someone access to the Republic of Arstotzka I felt a bit good about it. I'm not denying it. After a few more red stamps I started to feel a bit shit for these people who I don't even know and don't even exist. I believe that in the final build of the game you'll be able to have people arrested as well as turning them away, and that might make me feel really shit for them. Or then again they might be proper full on evil-doers. Ahh, conflicting emotions, there you are.
The graphics tick a lot of Amiga nostalgia boxes, and fit really well with the subject matter. The music is choppy; it only lasts a few seconds in the title sequence and is intermittent in the points breakdown screen between workdays. Yes, that's right - there's a scoring system! It appears that eventually there's going to be a mechanic for keeping your family happy, or indeed alive. Status indicators for your wife, son, mother in law and uncle are present in the screen that breaks down the day's wages.
The alpha build I played resets to day one after five days of work. Imagine if all jobs were like this! An eternity of probation periods and having to meet co-workers again and again. Twilight Zone, man. Heavy.
With Papers, Please as it stands so far Lucas Pope has laid out an interesting set of foundations for a game that could define, and by define I mean create, the 'document thriller' genre. I'll be awaiting the finished article with bated breath and a freshly taken passport photo. No smiling, no hair in front of the face, no glasses, no additional persons in the picture with you, et cetera.
Download the alpha build of the game here (from Lucas Pope's website).
Spotlight
In time for Dyslexia Week 2020.
Denial of service.
Late to the (birthday) Party.
Glory to Artstozka!
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In time for Dyslexia Week 2020.
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Denial of service.
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Late to the (birthday) Party.
The Papers, Please short film is out now
Glory to Artstozka!
Papers, Please Vita release rubber stamped
Approved.
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Here's the first full trailer for the Papers, Please film
Glorious.
There's a Papers, Please short film
And it looks great.
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This waah of mine.
Apple required Papers, Please to censor its nudity
UPDATE: Apple says this was a mistake, will reinstate controversial content.
Papers, Please headed to iPad on 12th December
Rubber stamped for release.
Papers, Please is emigrating to Vita
Papers Please Mac Download Free
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Reclusive Rockstar accepts BAFTA Fellowship with speech
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Independent Games Festival 2014 finalists announced
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Cause no trouble.
'It looks as if he's having electronic urination against that pillar'
Charlie Brooker tries - and fails - to teach Jon Snow to play video games.
Video | Watch us play Papers, Please from 5pm BST
Glory to Arstotzka!
Dystopian document thriller Papers, Please launches next week on Steam
Papers Please Mac Free Download
Glory to Arstotzka!