Papers, Please

Papers, Please
File:Papers Please - Title Logo.png
Developer(s)	3909
Publisher(s)	3909
Designer(s)	Lucas Pope
Platforms	Microsoft Windows, OS X, Linux, iOS, PlayStation Vita
Release date(s)	Windows, OS X Linux iOS PlayStation Vita
Genre(s)	Puzzle, simulation

Papers, Please is a video game created by indie game developer Lucas Pope, developed and published under his pseudonym 3909. It focuses on the emotional toll of working as an immigration officer, deciding whom to let in and whom to exclude from entering the fictional dystopian country of Arstotzka. The game was released on August 8, 2013, for Microsoft Windows and OS X, for Linux on February 12, 2014, and for the iPad on December 12, 2014. A port for the PlayStation Vita was announced in August 2014.

Gameplay

The gameplay of Papers, Please focuses on the work life of an immigration inspector at a border checkpoint for the fictitious country of Arstotzka in the year 1982. The player inspects arrivals' documents and uses an array of tools to determine whether the papers are in order for the purpose of keeping undesirable individuals such as terrorists, wanted criminals, or smugglers out of the country. When discrepancies are discovered, the player may interrogate the applicant about the discrepancy, and possibly demand further information, such as fingerprints or a full body scan in order to clear the discrepancy, find proof required to deny the entrant, or find enough incriminating evidence required to arrest the entrant. There are opportunities for the player to have the applicant detained and the applicant may, at times, attempt to bribe the inspector. The player ultimately must stamp the individual's to accept or deny entry unless the entrant is arrested; only at this point is the player told of any mistakes they may have made by way of a printout. Generally the player can make two mistakes without penalty, but subsequent mistakes will cost the player as a monetary demerit from their day's salaries. The player has a limited amount of real time, representing a full day shift at the checkpoint, to process as many arrivals as possible.

File:Papers please gender discrepancy.jpg

The player's immigration checkpoint workstation shows the current arrival (left center), the various paperwork the player is currently processing (bottom right), and the current state of the checkpoint (top half).

At the end of each in-game day, the player earns money based on how many people have been processed (5 credits for each individual processed) and bribes collected, less any penalties for mistakes, and then must decide on a simple budget to spend that money on rent, food, heat, and other necessities in low-class housing for themselves and their family. The player must also make certain not to earn too much money, lest they be reported and have all the money they had accumulated thus far confiscated by the government. As relations between Arstotzka and nearby countries deteriorate, sometimes due to terrorist attacks, new sets of rules are gradually added, based on the game's story, such as denying entry to citizens of specific countries or demanding new types of documentation. The player may be challenged with moral dilemmas as the game progresses, such as allowing the supposed spouse of an immigrant through despite lacking complete papers at the risk of accepting a terrorist into the country. The game uses a mix of randomly generated entrants and special encounters. Randomly generated entrants are created using templates.

A mysterious organization known as EZIC also appears, with several of its members appearing at the checkpoint, giving the inspector orders to help bring down the government and establish a new one; the player can choose whether to help this organization or not, letting their members through to assassinate certain powerful individuals the organization deems too corrupt to live and even personally killing two high-ranking officials for the organization.

The game has a scripted story mode with twenty possible endings depending on the player's actions, as well as an unlockable, randomized endless-play mode.

Other countries in game include Antegria, United Federation, Obristan, Republia, Impor, and Kolechia. Every country has its own collectible token which are obtained by doing a few things. Collecting most of the tokens require doing things that will generate citations.

Development

Lucas Pope accepting an award for the game at the 2014 Game Developers Conference.

Papers, Please was developed by Lucas Pope, a former developer for Naughty Dog, opting to leave the company after working on their Uncharted series to become an independent developer. Work on the game began in November 2012, using the Haxe programming language and the NME framework, both open-source. Originally planned as a six-month project, the concept became larger than Pope initially anticipated, with the game completed in about nine months.

As an American living in Japan, Pope dealt with immigration in his international travels and thought the experience, which he describes as "tense", could be made into a fun game. Before release, Pope had set up a name submission form for the public, where people could submit their own names to be randomly assigned to scripted characters in the game. Papers, Please was submitted to Steam Greenlight on April 11, 2013, and was greenlit on May 1.

Pope has ported the game to the iPad, and is considering a port to the PlayStation Vita though noted that with the handheld, there are several challenges related to the game's user interface that may have to be revamped. The Vita version was formally announced at the 2014 Gamescom convention in August 2014. With the iOS release, Apple required Pope to censor the full body scanner feature from the game, considering the aspect to be pornographic content. However Apple later commented that the rejection was due to a "misunderstanding" and will allow Pope to resubmit the uncensored game by including a "nudity option".

Reception

Reception
Aggregate scores Aggregator Score GameRankings 81.95% Metacritic 85/100 Review scores Publication Score Edge 9/10 Eurogamer 9/10 GameSpot 8/10 IGN 8.7/10 PC Gamer (UK) 87/100 Polygon 8.0/10
Award Publication Award BAFTA Best Strategy & Simulation

Papers, Please has been praised for the sense of immersion provided by the game mechanics, and the intense emotional reaction. CBC News' Jonathan Ore called Papers, Please a "nerve-racking sleuthing game with relentless pacing and dozens of compelling characters – all from a desk job". Simon Parkin writing for The New Yorker blog declared Papers, Please the top video game of 2013. He wrote: "Grim yet affecting, it’s a game that may change your attitude the next time you’re in line at the airport." Some critics received the story very well; Ben "Yahtzee" Croshaw of The Escapist's series Zero Punctuation lauded the game for being a truly unique entry for 2014 and even made it one of his top five games for that year; he cited the game's morality as his reasoning by explaining that "[Papers, Please] presents constant moral choices but makes it really hard to be a good person... while you could waive the rules to reunite a couple, you do it at the expense of your own family... You have to decide if you want to create a better world or just look after you and yours."

Some critics however reacted against the paperwork gameplay. Stephanie Bendixsen from the ABC's game review show Good Game found the game "tedious", commenting "while I found the issues that arose from the decisions you are forced to make quite interesting, I was just so bored that I just struggled to go from one day to the next. I was torn between wanting to find out more, and just wanting it all to stop."

Papers, Please won both the Seumas McNally Grand Prize, "Excellence in Narrative", and "Excellence in Design" awards at the 2014 Independent Games Festival Awards and nominated for the Nuovo Award. The title also won the "Innovation Award" and "Best Downloadable Game" at the 2014 Game Developers Choice Awards. The game won "Best Simulation Game" and nominated in the categories of "Best Game", "Game Design", and "Game Innovation" at the 2014 BAFTA Video Games Awards. As of March 2014, at the time of the BAFTA awards, Pope stated that the game had sold 500,000 copies.

See also

• The Westport Independent

External links

• Official website