'Papers, Please' Short Film Adaptation Will Debut This Weekend

Papers, Please: A Dystopian Document Thriller is a puzzle video game created by indie game developer Lucas Pope was released back in August of 2013. Players took on the role of an Immigration Officer in the fictional dysoptian country of Arstotzka. Players were required to follow a series of puzzles centered around immigrants looking to enter the country and players were punished for making mistakes along the way. The game could have been easier had it not been for the multiple moral choices that could be made throughout the story. A Papers, Please short film adaptation was announced back in May and will finally be making its debut this weekend on YouTube.

The film will follow the basic premise of the game, following a protagonist (Igor Savochkin) who is a passport inspector in a totalitarian, and fictitious, Eastern Bloc country. The progression follows his struggles with the inhumanity of performing his job and the compassion he has for the people he processes.

Emphasis on the "short" part of "short film" because the Papers, Please adaptation will be about 10 minutes long with a sole purpose of capturing the grim nature of the series with a cut-to-the-chase approach regarding a closes communist state and heavy story lines.

So mark your calendars, because the short film is set to make its official debut on February 24th on YouTube, and then on Steam a few days later!

Papers, Please the game is available for PC and the PlayStation Vita. For more about the puzzle game, here's the official description via the title's Steam listing where it received rave reviews:

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.