It's a heartstring-tugging social commentary on morality and the effects of war disguised as a brilliantly simple detective game where you have to find little discrepancies in a mess of papers.

I don't know if I can say much that will do this game justice.

Beautifully simple, beautifully tragic. 10/10.

I probably give this game more credit than I should but I think it’s just too charming to say a bad thing about, it turns the most mundane, tedious task into probably the most fun game of spot the difference I’ve ever played, it’s got an intriguing story, plenty of different endings, a fun gameplay loop and characters that stand out despite not seeming like the type of game that would need them. Now my judge of the characters is probably warped due to having watched several different creators play this game and give their own spin on the different recurring faces, but I find that when I play it I can easily see all the foundation for those interpretations is within the game itself, so I can’t say it doesn’t have charm. And that’s the best word for this game. Charm.

i think lucas pope does a really good job making experiences. is papers please always fun? no. that being said, does papers please make me feel like im a harried border guard who is doing his damndest in an almost-dystopic nation? yes.

one of my few gripes with the game would be the invalid sex option in the game, as while i admire the commentary, i feel the characters are far too potato-faced to really discern the gender properly. another would be the timer. i understand the purpose, that it's important to the structure of the game, and frankly it did add to the experience, but part of me sort of wishes there was a mode where one could try to 100% perfect each and every character. im sitting at a chair on my computer working as a border guard, part of me wants to just study each document closely. once again, i understand this defeats the point of the game, im only asking for something akin to a side mode, or maybe even a practice mode. finally, I think the game runs just a bit long. 31 days is a whole month, sure, but i think 2-3 weeks could've made the later days far less taxing. again, part of the experience, sure, but i would often get bored and put the game down for a bit, then come back and forget what characters told me days before.

all in all, stressful game that provided the proper experience. a game I can confidently say needs to be a video game to work. loved it. glory to the new arstotzka.

Я не выкупил. Ну то есть, да необычная атмосфера и геймплей основанный на монотонности(который так понравился автору что он утащил это потом еще и в обра динн), но ничего выдающегося? Как будто оверхайп из-за тяжелой истории восточной европы с диктаторскими режимами. В любом случае игра оверолл в дискурсе важная, даже если лично я не нашел в ней по итогу чего-то прям стоящего, возможно из-за того, что не знаю что было на релизе (я ненавижу летсплеерский ютуб оверхайпящий не заслуживающие этого игры)

I find the gameplay very fun and interesting, and think it progresses nicely. The people that come through your terminal also offer interesting stories and dilemmas. Good atmosphere.

I didn't bother to play through many different endings, but there are plenty of them, so that's cool, too. I mainly played so much of this game by just replaying it in general because I like the gameplay so much.

Very unique game, can't get its experience from many other games, if any (even with the games inspired by it that have since come out). It's great, play it!