85
Papers, Please gives you a simple task that doesn't ask a lot of you. The game outgrows its mechanics though, by appealing to your moral compass and emotions. This indie game will get under your skin, will have you feeling uncomfortable and have you think about yourself, as a person.
90
An incredibly impressive little game, from its understated old-school art style to its ability to make you feel uncomfortable with how much you enjoy catching criminals trying to trick their way into your country.
89
Papers, Please is not only original but fun, too. More papers, please! [Sept 2013]
9
papers please is an addictive fun dystopian masterpiece, its a game that everyone should experience, the game has over 20 endings and each one is fun to get, requires you to survive long enough to get it and some endings even give you achivements :), the story of this game is a masterpiece of making the player do what they want, its a game about morality, you could allow a family with wrong documents in, but then you will get a citation and if you have 3 citations you'll become broke, the gameplay of the game is just as good if not better then the story, you have a lot of documents which you can all view at the same time, the game gets harder and harder with every day passing by, untill the last few days when it gets a lil bit easier but in total from day 10 -25 its really really hard, this game has so many clones yet its the only good game in the genre, so many people copy it without knowing what makes it great, i could name 200000000000000000 copies of this game where the story is "contain an outbreak" where all you really have to do is check 2 or more things and then say yay or nay, meanwhile in papers please you have moral choises, the gameplay is acctually hard cause you have to check like 6 things and if 1 little detail is wrong your ****, you have characters that come back and effect the story, like jorji costava, the ezic guy, and so many more, overall this game is the definition of lighting catched in a bottle
7
Bureaucracy has never been this fun. Though this dystopian simulation isn't groundbreaking since there are plenty of similar options out there.
9
Home work for my game design class but probably i won't forget it anymore..
Papers, Please
Released On:
Aug 8, 2013
Metascore
Generally Favorable
85
User score
Generally Favorable
8.4
My Score
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Metascore
Generally Favorable
85
98% Positive
39 Reviews
39 Reviews
3% Mixed
1 Review
1 Review
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Aug 12, 2013
100
A true game, with a base gameplay that gets more and more complex as we play, with subtle touches and ruleset changes. But it's so much more as well : a deep dive in a terrifying dystopia, brilliantly crafted, that will put your life into perspective and awaken your political consciousness with both violence and humor.
Aug 21, 2013
90
Games have mastered action – the amplified and instant reward – but Papers, Please finds satisfaction in the tedium of bureaucracy, and twins it with genuinely human stories and an underlying, dread-filled tension. It’s rare to play a game about something, about a time, a place and a theme, and for a game to embody those ideas from meaning right down to mechanics.
User score
Generally Favorable
8.4
82% Positive
1807 Ratings
1807 Ratings
15% Mixed
323 Ratings
323 Ratings
3% Negative
61 Ratings
61 Ratings
May 8, 2026
10
Masterpiece. It made a boring and hated job seem fun. The story, quick events, decisions you have to make throughout the game were executed perfectly
Mar 8, 2026
10
Papers, Please turns a bureaucratic task into a surprisingly engaging experience. Checking passports quickly becomes a real moral dilemma. I really appreciated how the game explores themes of power and responsibility. The deliberately repetitive gameplay won’t appeal to everyone but for me, it was one of my best game experience ever ! That minimalism is also what makes it so effective ans memorable.
Aug 12, 2013
90
Papers, Please is a really unique experience. Given the price, it's definitely a must-have if you want to try a game that's funny in a way different from the usual one.
Sep 9, 2013
85
Well-paced, straight-forward game play combines with vivid storytelling to make into a fantastic game. More than a tale of bureaucratic spot the difference, Papers, Please is a game of intrigue and excitement balanced by fear for your family.
Oct 1, 2013
80
A very interesting piece of software that really has something to say. But beware: if you judge it only in terms of gameplay and pure fun, it can result in pretty boring time.
Aug 13, 2013
80
Papers, Please will stress you out. At times it may even make you hate yourself. And while it's weird to call such an experience "enjoyable," the gameplay itself is not a miserable time. It's worthwhile for the same reasons a depressing novel or a bleak movie can be worthwhile.
Sep 9, 2013
60
A novel, stylish game taking advantage of its minimal design more than you would believe, and it succeeds in arousing your emotions, which is the thing other game titles could dream of. [Issue#233]
Nov 6, 2025
10
fun to play and to watch other play afterword. Stressful at times but worth your time.
Jul 19, 2026
7
Bureaucracy has never been this fun. Though this dystopian simulation isn't groundbreaking since there are plenty of similar options out there.
Oct 29, 2025
7
Very different game. The gameplay may seem weird and boring, but is quite fun. Interesting stuff happen every day the spice up the gameplay. Can get repetitive after a while though
Feb 8, 2014
4
I don't understand why this game is getting so many high reviews. It does have an interesting concept behind it, forcing you into situations where you make tough moral decisions. The story premise is also fine. But a game needs more than that to be called great. A great game, quite simply, needs great gameplay. And this one doesn't. You keep doing the same thing over and over and over. This exemplifies what happens when you focus too much on the "artistic" side ****, rather than create a great gaming experience, or better yet, balance both aspects.
Jun 19, 2015
3
Even though the amount of details in this game is quite impressive for an indie developer (you can interact with several tools to play the game), the amazement stops shortly after you play the game for more than a couple of minutes. It's a game on which all you do is pure bureaucratic procedure and it's fun as it sounds, losing the whole point of entertainment in the process. The management portion of the game is minimal, leaving you only with 2 options to balance your expenses. 3/10 for the effort.
SummaryThe communist state of Arstotzka has just ended a 6-year war with neighboring Kolechia and reclaimed its rightful half of the border town, Grestin. Your job as immigration inspector is to control the flow of people entering the Arstotzkan side of Grestin from Kolechia. Among the throngs of immigrants and visitors looking for work are hid... Read More
Platforms:
- PC
- iOS (iPhone/iPad)
- PlayStation Vita
Initial Release Date:Aug 8, 2013
Developer:
Publisher:
