Papers, Please, is a magnificent game. The premise is incredibly simple — you are a border guard between two fictional countries during 1982. These countries are almost certainly Communist. Your job is to process passports and get people into the country or keep them out.

If it sounds dull and repetitive, you’re a foolish fool from Foolville. It is beautiful and hilarious and depressing all at the same time. There’s a surprisingly robust story in there too, or should I say stories. Some people will beg you to let them in, some will bribe you, one person will even ask you to deny him entry. And then there’s Jorji. I have never fallen in love (metaphorically) with a computer game character so quickly before. This is a man who basically draws his passport with crayon on a piece of paper. One of these days, I’m going to let him in.

It can be frustrating, especially when you get farther into the game, as you need to check more and more things. If you let someone in who shouldn’t be (or the opposite), you get two warnings per day and then they start docking you cash. Your family can quite easily starve, and if you lose too many family members, you also fail. The game has 20 endings, not to mention Endless Mode.

It may well be the best $10 you ever spend. It is that good.

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4 thoughts on “An early contender for game of 2014 (for me)

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