- Spoiler: this was a difficult list to collate, mainly because games akin to Papers, Please – thoughtful, nuanced and above all long experiences – aren’t usually what gets popular on the mobile platform.
- We’ve brought together seven games that we feel either follow the same themes as Papers, Please or have a similar focus on story, nuance and immersion.
As far as depressing post-Soviet bureaucracy simulators go, “Papers, Please” is probably one of the best. Not that it’s a particularly populous category at least. It’s a dreary, depressing, dark and weirdly engaging game that can leave you second-guessing yourself no matter how confident or reckless of a player you might be.
But what kind of games similar to Papers, Please can you play on mobile that evoke the same sort of feelings?
What is Papers, Please?
If you’re not familiar, Papers, Please puts you in the shoes of a border crossing official in the newly independent post-Soviet (although the game is set in a purely fictional universe) state of Arstotzka. You sit in your booth in the middle of the border and are tasked with checking each entrant’s papers and deciding whether or not to approve their entry.
Simple, right? Wrong. While you’re initially just asked to check for the right stamp or date, quickly it accelerates into multiple boxes to tick and hard questions to ask. Some people you can easily dismiss as chancing their arm, but others offer heart-wrenching stories or other reasons to be let through. But you never know what someone’s true reason for coming to Arstotzka might be…
Papers, Please has been the worthy recipient of many awards and stands as one of the most distinct examples of indie games ever to hit the market. The bleak and oppressive atmosphere coupled with an exploration of the dehumanising nature of bureaucracy, and some genuinely engaging gameplay as you battle the clock in order to hit your quotas, does a great job of forming a pretty chilling narrative without making you perform comically evil acts.
After all, this may not be Spec Ops: The Line, but you’re still making potential life-or-death decisions for those crossing the Arstotzkan border based on when your shift ends. But when the consequences could lead to your family literally freezing to death or other possible terrible endings, the line between good and evil blurs into murky shades of grey.
Yes, it’s a very heavy game. And now you can carry it in your pocket! But maybe you’ve already rinsed Papers, Please for all it’s worth, and now you’re eager for more depressing, time-constrained experiences to chill your heart. If you’re that kind of grim individual, then this list is for you!
