Papers, Please: one border booth, one family to feed
Papers, Please is a dystopian document thriller by Lucas Pope, released for Windows and Mac on August 8, 2013. You are an immigration inspector at the border of Arstotzka, a fictional Eastern Bloc-style country. You check each traveller's papers, stamp approve or deny, and try to earn enough to keep your family alive.
How a working day goes
Travellers step up one at a time with their documents. You compare passport dates, names, issuing cities and photos against the day's rules. When something does not match, you can point out the discrepancy and question the person. Then you stamp.
The rules change almost every day. One day only citizens may enter, the next you need entry permits, then work passes, then searches. You are paid per person processed correctly, and mistakes cost you. At night the money goes to rent, food and heat, and there is rarely enough.
On top of the paperwork, people ask for favors, bribes and mercy, and a secret group asks for help. Your choices lead to one of 20 endings.
That is what makes it stick. The game never tells you what the right thing is. It only tells you what the rules are, and lets you find out what following them costs.
Where to play it
It is a paid game on each of these platforms. The 2022 phone release was a free update for people who already owned the iPad version.
- PC. Windows and Mac since 2013, Linux since 2014.
- iPad. An iPad version came out in 2014.
- iPhone and Android. Released on August 5, 2022.
Roam inspection and paperwork games
These are separate Roam games, not Papers, Please. Each keeps the inspect-and-decide pressure in a new setting.
- Repair & Report. A dystopian repair shop: fix the phone, or report the owner.
- Stamp Or Sink. A wartime cipher clerk. Decode the message, choose the stamp, live with it.
- Pass or Purge. A border checkpoint. Check the rules, check the traveller, choose.
- Airport Security Scanner. Every bag crosses your X-ray screen. Nothing gets past you.
Play it on Roam
More on Roam
Make your own inspection game with Roam
Roam is a free iPhone app. Describe the booth, the rules and the people in line, and it comes back playable. Roam is rated 13+ on the App Store.
Try: "border booth on Mars, check visas and oxygen permits, the rules change every day, my friends are the travellers in line"Roam ("Roam - Make Games" on the App Store) is an iPhone app where you play games and make your own by describing them or from a photo. It is free to download and play, and making games works without a subscription; optional Spark and Reality plans and credit packs add more creation. Android: pre-register on Google Play.
Questions people ask
Who made Papers, Please?
Lucas Pope. It came out on August 8, 2013.
Is Papers, Please on mobile?
Yes. It came to iPad in 2014, and to iPhone and Android on August 5, 2022.
How many endings does Papers, Please have?
20 endings, decided by your choices and how well you keep up.