I'm not going to lie, at first I'd cracked the game before having any money on hand, but now that I'm financially stable, not long after the game turning 11, I've finally got it, and have just finished the game under 2 days. So, what is there to say about this game?

It's not a regular document checking simulator game that goes on forever until the game decides that 'this will be enough'. Even though your job may seem jerkwater and worthless - that is only for keeping your family's condition in a good shape - your decisions have an impact on the political state of the country. You can either help the EZIC, the enigmatic terrorist group taking on the government, or just ignore all of their demands and side with Arstotzka. From both of which you can get good endings but in the end, nothing will really change with the people's lives. It is not disclosed that the population is getting more freedom in the EZIC controlled 'New Arstotzka', so the game leaves that to your imagination. As each day comes, the criteria for foreigners increase, forcing you to put more attention into checking the documents, and the game always engrosses that, making the instructions abudantly clear. Sometimes you have to make some moral decisions that don't impact your in-game stats at all, but makes you question your own choices. All these little things give the game some life, and Papers Please flawlessly captured that.

I'm not going to lie, at first I'd cracked the game before having any money on hand, but now that I'm financially stable, not long after the game turning 11, I've finally got it, and have just finished the game under 2 days. So, what is there to say about this game? It's not a regular document checking simulator game that goes on forever until the game decides that 'this will be enough'. Even though your job may seem jerkwater and worthless - that is only for keeping your family's condition in a good shape - your decisions have an impact on the political state of the country. You can either help the EZIC, the enigmatic terrorist group taking on the government, or just ignore all of their demands and side with Arstotzka. From both of which you can get good endings but in the end, nothing will really change with the people's lives. It is not disclosed that the population is getting more freedom in the EZIC controlled 'New Arstotzka', so the game leaves that to your imagination. As each day comes, the criteria for foreigners increase, forcing you to put more attention into checking the documents, and the game always engrosses that, making the instructions abudantly clear. Sometimes you have to make some moral decisions that don't impact your in-game stats at all, but makes you question your own choices. All these little things give the game some life, and Papers Please flawlessly captured that.