Papers, Please is set in the fictional country Arstotzka where you play as an immigration officer at the border, allowing habitats, visitors, and refugees into the country. The game is modeled on those time-stress games that allow us to focus entirely on the job at hand.

Interestingly this game begins out quite simple, allowing people in and out if their passports match. As time goes on, so does the difficulty – Arstotzka opens to internationals, terrorist attacks happen and therefore stricter fingerprint and entry permits are required. At this point the game allows us to see broader human emotions and the desperation as people try to pass the border, so does your own desperation as you’re required to correctly allow people in to pay rent, buy medicine, and food for your family.

 

 

Lucas Pope, the designer of the game has created a complex world where we choose morality. The game has designs that imply Eastern European clothing, world design, and names, but in fact is meant to be devoid of any links to Soviet and Eastern European settings (Kelly, 2018). I think the game fails in promoting a neutral setting and has been received as a critique on the Soviet border, and Croatian-Serbian wartime. I think that maybe Pope could have found a more neutral ground in design if the genuine intention was a question of our own humanity without placing any internalised political landscape on being a critique of the soviet nation.

 

Due to the design, I think the messaging is somewhat lost, depending on your predetermined character and the sympathy can be lost. Whilst I played the game, I found myself allowing in some people I felt sorry for. Yet, on others ‘Let’s Play” series on YouTube, players will take on an entirely black and white mindset, denying entry to all those, regardless of any sympathy. Mary Flanaghan (2009) touches on the difficulty of designing for critical play, and the ease to ignore any critical commentary. 

I still think that the gameplay is strong enough in messaging to allow most to question their own morality in the story, and see varying world perspectives. An impressive feat of Papers, Please is that whilst falling into a heavily political and human morality game, it still managed to fall into the masses and pique the interest of all gamers. It wasn’t a quiet indie game released, it was a best seller through Steam and flooded the internet with discussions and gameplay videos. 

I’m sure many players were confronted with the thought of strict immigration and the impact it has on refugees and immigration law. But as I’m finding more as I delve into the world of critical play, not everyone is ready to be confronted and video game audiences tend to ignore any conflict in favour of an enjoyable game.

 

 

References

 

Flanagan, M 2009, ‘Chapter One: Introduction to Critical Play’, Critical Play: Radical Game Design, MIT Press: Cambridge MA.

Kelly, M 2018, ‘The Game of Politics: Examining the Role of Work, Play, and Subjectivity Formation in Papers, Please.’, Games and culture, vol. 13, no. 5, pp. 459–478.