X
Contraband Police
Released On: Mar 8, 2023
77
7.7
All Platforms
Metascore
Generally Favorable Based on 9 Critic Reviews
77
78% Positive
7 Reviews
7 Reviews
22% Mixed
2 Reviews
2 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Metascore
Generally Favorable Based on 9 Critic Reviews
77
78% Positive
7 Reviews
7 Reviews
22% Mixed
2 Reviews
2 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
May 22, 2023
Contraband Police gives players meaningful choices, both big and small, that make the player feel like they have an impact on the world they find themselves in. Fun and interesting adventures are frequent and well paced, and the game offers a polished core gameplay loop with an action spin that greatly expands on what Papers Please started.
May 15, 2023
To put it simply, Contraband Police is an FPS version of Papers, Please. As a ‘’border patrol sim’’, it offers a great experience and adds some interesting fresh elements to the genre, but is let down by its low replay value.
User Score
Generally Favorable Based on 100 User Ratings
7.7
61% Positive
61 Ratings
61 Ratings
31% Mixed
31 Ratings
31 Ratings
8% Negative
8 Ratings
8 Ratings
User Score
Generally Favorable Based on 100 User Ratings
7.7
61% Positive
61 Ratings
61 Ratings
31% Mixed
31 Ratings
31 Ratings
8% Negative
8 Ratings
8 Ratings
Aug 8, 2025
Genuinely one of the best games I've played in years. The amount of content and stuff you can do in this game is crazy. The gameplay loop is extremely fun. It is a criminally underrated game published by the fantastic company PlayWay that also made Crime Scene Simulator, Thief Simulator 1&2, Prison Simulator, Cooking Simulator, House Flipper 1&2... The absolute undisputed kings of simulator games. This game will keep you hooked for days. I was honestly surprised by how well made it is, and by how many things and details are in it. And again, I'm shocked it isn't very popular and terrible games like fortnite, ****, Minecraft and final fantasy and other slop like that is. It's really all about the marketing and how much money you spend on that. All in all excellent game and I'm so happy I discovered it.
Report
PC Mar 27, 2023
Contraband Police looks like a simple document checking game at the outset. But if you dedicate some time to play it, you will find a decent story and varied gameplay. A good balance of activities prevents the game from feeling boring too quickly, and the story is surprisingly deep. You actually feel like you are a border patrol officer with large responsibilities, managing more than just your welfare. While the game gets harder as time goes on, there’s always something to do that keeps you on your toes.
Mar 7, 2023
Great combination of simulation and action elements. Lackluster visuals spoil the experience a little, but it's still worth giving this game a chance, because exploring its various gameplay mechanics is a lot of fun.
Mar 29, 2023
Crazy Rocks developers, under the auspices of a Polish distributor PlayWay, offer a successful probe into the life of a customs officer in a totalitarian state. It's not bad, and in particular, you can only rarely find such content in games.
Mar 14, 2023
Contraband Police is an enjoyable experience, but it has some annoying bits to deal with and there are definitely better alternatives with similar premises and gameplay.
Apr 4, 2023
Ultimately, Crazy Rocks makes a valiant attempt at evolving the formula but doesn’t quite stick the landing. If you want another game in the same vein as Papers, Please but with a little extra spice and an additional dimension then this is the absolutely game for you.
Nov 16, 2024
The game was installed and launched successfully with minimal loading times (16 seconds). Graphics and performance are stable, with no major glitches. Controls, core features, and audio are functional. The save/load system operates correctly. Updates are current, and no significant bugs were introduced. Resolution support is limited to 1080p. Anti-cheat and data privacy measures are satisfactory. Third-party integrations work well, but platform policy compliance is lacking. Rating: 7/10
Reasoning:The game performs well overall, with stable graphics, functional mechanics, and no major bugs. However, limited resolution support, lack of compliance with platform policies, and incomplete notes on certain features (e.g., anti-cheat and vulnerabilities) slightly impact the overall score. With some improvements in compliance and added features, it could achieve a higher rating.
Report
PC Apr 30, 2023
this game not bad . playable open world . the story allow player to choose Communist or not .the contents partly is fiction , need more realistic . somehow I really wonder if a fortress can't stop the vehicle rush over , it is weird I can use the police car to block the road for whole day . no one escape .
Report
PC May 22, 2023
Disappointment, please! - Let’s make "Papers, please", but with cars. - This or something similar must have gone through the brilliant minds who tried to emulate what the successful indie hit did back in 2013. The creators of Contraband Police were so inspired by their ideal that they forgot to make it look like they have their own ideas. Eastern european setting – check. 80s time line – check. Communist oppressive regime – check. Basically everything was ripped off shamelessly, including the symbol of the ficticious country we are serving. Arstozka or Arcaristan. Even the name sounds the same. Now, what do we do? We do the same old. Checking cars, cargo and people. We make sure everything is in order, while the game keeps distracting us from actually trying to do that. While the original put us into the daily grind at our desk and establishes a sense of familiarity and repetitveness, contraband police seems to want to force us into an action packed open world experience with an exciting story, car chases, gun fights and all sorts of badly programmed nonsense. The driving is awful, the gun fights as well. I stopped caring about the story quickly, cause its just another opressor / resistance sheme and it’s not done well enough to keep my attention. The constant distraction wouldn’t be such a problem if it was actually fun. But it’s not. And I felt bombarded with phone calls, „opportunities“, attacks on the border station, driving prisoners to the labor camp through ambushes, having to maintain ammunition, vehicles and tools that break after a couple of days and all sorts of other things, while having to take care of daily border business, which is also constantly changing. I just want your papers, please.. I felt quickly irritated and annoyed, cause I just wanted to rely on the established rules I learned in Arstozka. But Arcaristan is more like GTA with some occasional paperwork. 4/10 stamps
Report
PC May 2, 2023
You can immediately see that the game is too indie, there are a lot of bugs, the plot is straightforward and boring, the game is too long, the control of the cars is terrible, it bothers you to check documents already for 10 days and it’s not as interesting to check as in the original. If you want to get acquainted with this genre of the game, then it's better to play papers please! This game is already worth playing only for strong fans of the genre or you are interested in the concept itself, but I can say right away that most likely you will quickly abandon this game.
Report
PC Summary You are a border police inspector in a communist country of the early 1980s. Every second driver is a smuggler and the vehicles are stuffed with hidden contraband. Documents, vehicles, cargo.. everything is a subject to detailed control...
Platforms:
- PC
- Xbox Series X
- PlayStation 5
Initial Release Date: Mar 8, 2023
Developer:
Publisher: PlayWay
Genres:
