'Paper please!' is a testiment to the capabilities of indie developers out there. Never mind the likes of games such as Bastion, Binding of Isaac, Undertale, Prison Architect and This War of Mine. Each with a point where they stood out the most. From the philosophical Talos Principle to the beautiful Transistor to the fantastic Dust: An Elysian Tail, one aspect all of these games had in common in comparison to 'Paper please!' is that they are all more complex games by design. And yet, 'Paper please!' wowed the world with this simple but effectively complex system of border duty (how they could think to make such a mundane and boring job a fun gameplay concept is anyone's guess). I believe the game is intentionally designed to be rather dull with a sense of oppressiveness to flex its storytelling capabilities (more on that below). Truly, an oxymoron in the sense that it is truly simplistically complex.

What surprised me even more was the curious story occuring around subtly. From seemingly framed criminals to helpless refugees with forged documents to a man wanting to immigrate to stay with his family to people wanting to enter the country for its revolutionary medical scene but lack the appropriate paperwork because it was lost/taken away, all these points to real and serious moral dilemmas that resonates with people in reality. Factor in the fact that you have a family to care for and a duty to serve your country, would you make the "morally right" decision all the time at the cost of your loved ones well-being and risk endangering your country or would you just stick to the system and make your choice based on what you are told/taught to do? What is the "right amount" of balance between making these kind of choices?

You aren't wrong for following rules and regulations after all. And you could also argue against say, allowing a man in without proper paperwork because he could be a criminal or that by allowing him in without proper procedure is to condemn him to further hardship since if he was ever caught he would have to bear consquences. But it is exactly this sort of balancing between rationality and morality that makes us human, that we can have sympathy and empathy for peopl but also to question the extent and how much sacrifice we are willing to take before we sacrifice our conscience in order to get by? The narrative and design of the game reminds me very much of amazing pieces of literature and movies such as The Pianist , Bridge of Spies , Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy , The Book of Daniel by EL Doctorow, Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Brutus's Dilemna by William Shakespear and Prisoner's Dilemma: John von Neumann,Game Theory, and the Puzzle of the Bomb by William Poundstone just to name a few.


Be warned though, this game is not for everyone. I can understand why people would find the gameplay boring at first sight or genuinely boring. So if you don't mind being very meticulous, careful and essentially doing the "same thing" all the time, I strongly commend you to pick up this marvelous piece of interactive media. If you're doubtful, give it a shot. If you're not into it, you could always get a refund provided that you played for less than 2 hours (which is more than enough time to consider whether if you enjoyed the game).


The one thing that strikes closer to home was the dilemma of buying a present for your child on his birthday. The dilemma of using what little savings you have for rainy later (or even worse, at the cost of daily neccessities) over buying a present for your child that would undoubtly shine some light into a bleak existence kills me because of how relatable it is to me during my younger days as a child and to every parent out there barely making ends meet. Few games could evoke such emotions and compelling narrative without actually saying much.