Earlier this week, an official Papers, Please short film adaptation was released for free on Steam and YouTube, roughly half a decade after the original PC game released. Now, the game is half off on Steam, priced at $4.99 until February 28th. The game holds a proud five-star rating on Steam, and for good reason: it’s surprisingly intense, and presents players with the greatest challenge of all — to act on injustice or double-cross those who are less fortunate in order to climb the ranks within their world.
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Based within countries that are still reeling from the results of a war, Papers, Please puts the player in the polished shoes of a government worker who must check the papers of folks who are crossing the border into their country. But all is not as it seems, and with the eyes of the government on your back, you must make hard choices between humanity and the rules as more complex characters file in to your office.
Here’s an official description of the game, provided by publisher 3909:
“The 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 hidden smugglers, spies, and terrorists.
Using only the documents provided by travelers and the Ministry of Admission’s primitive inspect, search, and fingerprint systems you must decide who can enter Arstotzka and who will be turned away or arrested.”
With a very dystopian setting that whiffs as a little too familiar when it comes to real-life post-war history, Papers, Please took gaming by storm when it released, receiving rave reviews, nominations and awards from the Independent Games Festival, the BAFTA Video Game Awards, and countless others. So far, no sequels to the game have been announced, but the new short film serves as an eerily accurate homage to the game.
Papers, Please is out now for PlayStation Vita, PC, Mac, Linux and iOS.
