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[Messofanego]

Papers, Please is FUCKING OUT! (August 8th)

GO BUY IT FOR ARSTOTZKA!

Steam | GoG | Humble Store

Papers, Please (Lucas Pope)

Original OP:

FREE Beta (short, ~30min-1hr)

Forget the boring text below for now, just go play!

(If you get stuck on day 3, open the rule book, highlight the rule of needing a passport and click on the desk to interrogate the old man who just won't leave.)

A Dystopian Document Thriller.

The communist state of Arstotzka has just ended a 6-year war with neighboring Kolechia and reclaimed its rightful half of the border town, Grestin.

Your job as an immigration inspector is to control the flow of people entering the Arstotzkan side of Grestin from Kolechia. Among the throngs of immigrants and visitors looking for work are hidden smugglers, spies, and terrorists. Using only the documents provided by travelers and MoA's primitive computer dispatch system you must decide who can enter Arstotzka and who will be turned away or arrested.

This game is a work-in-progress.

---
[A beta version just got released of the game yesterday, where you can play up to day 9.]
---

Heard of/played Cart Life? We're in a similar ballpark of moral dilemmas placed through gameplay. It's still linear, but there are hints of consequences that I won't spoil if you let certain people in when they usually would be denied. It's more a reflection of what kind of person you are. There are some amusing characters, and then some sub-plots that are pretty brutal.

As the days go on, there's a lot of checks and balances to keep track of.

You've got a family to take care of, so you don't want to make any mistakes and have enough money to feed or keep them warm. So you've got to get more people accepted in the opening hours you're allotted (time goes really fucking fast). But it's hard to quickly snipe issues with if the person's passport hasn't expired, is from Arstotzka on first day, is it the right issuing city (which is the longest mental hurdle to cross-reference unless if you can memorise more than 20+ city names), whether they have the entry ticket later on and right date on that, are they a suspected terrorist or just a tourist, and a few more things to worry about.

You can make 2 mistakes without penalities to your salary, so you can excuse a few people.

It's the usual risk/reward in games taken to a more disturbing level. It puts you into an uncomfortable position. I don't know much about actual immigration officers, but I wonder if they also "gamify" their jobs to keep that emotional distance while trying to take care of themselves and loved ones.

It can hit close to home, but it's also not all doom and gloom. There's a running gag of an old dude who can't quite catch up with all the stuff he needs. People whose appearance have changed over the years.

If you like this or are interested in more indie games, head over to the Indie Games thread. There's bound to be something there that catches your fancy.

 

[indigo-cyclops]

This was a fantastic game; I really loved how the game built on the preceding day with a more difficulty set of rules. Folks should really check this out.

 

[Messofanego]

I'm hearing that the full game might have 30 days. There's already so much in there, and clear plot threads going so I can see a full story being forged.

 

[Haunted]

Thumbs fucking up.

Here's my little initial writeup in the Indie thread after only playing a little bit of the alpha:

My God, Papers, Please could be the most harrowing thing I've played all year, and it's only in early Alpha. What a fantastic premise for a game. The things you could do with this. I'm actually tempted to make a thread for it to have more people talking about this, but I think it's too early for that yet. My father's family had a lot of problems with the [border] authorities in the GDR and ultimately fled from the GDR when he was a teenager to come to West Germany, and I also had family in Berlin who lived through the whole East/West separation, so maybe that's why the setting and idea of this hit me deeper than I thought. Fantastic pixel art, too.

I was worried that he wouldn't really take advantage of the setting and its possibilities, but after the end of the first day - I let everyone through, fuck the system - the (not yet working) stats screen came up and I've got chills as it showed "family status: wife - OK; son - OK; uncle - OK".

Chills. This thing could be something really intense.

Everyone with a mild interest into the themes/setting or just someone who might want to step out of his usual comfort zone should give this one a go. Just set an hour aside and go in. Don't forget that it's still in alpha and just a small project made by one guy. But man, this has potential.

This is a genuinely interesting thing.


edit: the other two games on his page are also neat. Just concepts he acted on during game jams, but still. Pope is definitely a dev to watch for me.

 

[KodeAndGame]

Heard good stuff about this game over in the indie threads going on right now. I'll have to check this out this weekend. Looks very interesting. Hope other people give it a shot too.

 

[Messofanego]

Oh yeah, forgot to say it's a fun game!

Mentally juggling all the minute details while trying to get through as many people as possible in a day feels great when you're on top of it all.

 

[BomberMouse]

This is a game I will throw $5 when it's done. It's very good and has a Mac version.

I could talk many good things about it but I think it's better if everyone experience them on its own it's a very short game anyway.

 

[Messofanego]

Not paying rent is a totally legitimate strategy! For now

 

[nin1000]

this game is very gripping but i like what it has to offer at this point , did not get past 6 days as i made a lot of mistakes. This game sure has potential and it recieve some of my money just for doing something interesting

 

[vitacola]

Gonna try it!

Oh ... Linux, Please!

Spoiler

Can't be that hard, if the dev already ported it to Mac OSX, I think ... Gonna try it anyway.

 

[SLV]

Day 3 last dude, WHAT DO ?
DOH, need to read the OP better ;P

 

[Messofanego]

Day 3 last dude, WHAT DO ?
DOH, need to read the OP better ;P

Yeah, I know quite a few people got stuck on that (including me!)

 

[Mr.Monitor]

Played it multiple times over the past hour and a half or so. Really liked it. I think the people who go through the line get switched up over the playthroughs, so there should be some nice replayability here when the full version is released.

 

[D4Danger]

This game is engrossing. I'm going pretty slow because I love all the little details and sub plots.

Is there anything I need to do at the end of the day screen? Some of my family died :\

 

[Mr.Monitor]

This game is engrossing. I'm going pretty slow because I love all the little details and sub plots.

Is there anything I need to do at the end of the day screen? Some of my family died :\

If you have money to spare click the little circles to choose medicine, heat, food, and I think maybe you can uncheck rent? I never bothered to try and I don't remember if there's a circle or not.

 

[D4Danger]

If you have money to spare click the little circles to choose medicine, heat, food, and I think maybe you can uncheck rent? I never bothered to try and I don't remember if there's a circle or not.

I wasn't doing anything, just pressing sleep. I thought it was automatic. oops!

 

[DashReindeer]

Oh shit. Saving this until after work. Sounds fucking rad.

 

[thetrin]

Yeah, this sounds really cool. I'll have to investigate this after work today.

 

[thesuperfunk]

this looks fucking epic!

 

[Kinyou]

What an amazing game.

Looking forward to the full version. Would easily pay some money for it.

 

[Messofanego]

This game is engrossing. I'm going pretty slow because I love all the little details and sub plots.

Is there anything I need to do at the end of the day screen? Some of my family died :\

Ice cold! You can click on the circles and also the rent (don't bother paying rent) to make sure food/medicine are being paid for.

One day my son got sick, and I didn't give any food or heating:

 

[The Chef]

Shoot, I'll check it out. Thanks OP!

 

[Dr. Zoidberg]

I came in here looking for a reference to this scene:

Left disappointed, but the next person won't.

 

[The Chef]

Dang no "Window" mode. Guess I'll have to wait and play it when im not at work.

 

[Toma]

Yep, big fucking Toma seal of approval.

Also people who are intrigued by this game should really check out the March Indie Games thread, where we talked about that game for a few days now and which has more hidden Indie gems:
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=517647

 

[MormaPope]

Almost got to the end.

The fact that my son died and my family went to the shitter health wise negated the fact that I would deny people entry into a country. And oddly enough, I have a lot of fun looking for the smallest thing to deny someone entry into the country.

Like, I had a lot of fun with the game instead of feeling anything about the situation I'm in and how I'm contributing to it. In reality I'm against a lot of what's in this game and how immigrants are mistreated throughout the world.

But I have a lot of fun noticing how last names are spelled differently, how an ID might have a different number than the work permit. So I don't know if the emotional or social points are actually driven home enough.

 

[Hofmann]

From Arstotzka with love!

I finally finished the beta and I find it much better than I expected. For the first three days I thought it's gonna be another find the difference kind of game, but then things started to get more complex and I got really hooked.

What I didn't like was the lack of realism sometimes - I managed to kill my whole family in six days, which has the opposite effect on me than intended by an author - maybe it's just for the purpose of the demo/beta. Other thing, was the lack of response from people trying to pass through me. I would like to interrogate them more before making a final decision - it was evident in the husband wife scenario. I didn't know what to do, because I couldn't explore their micro story more. That part moved me the most.

Overall it's already a very good game and it has potential to become something phenomenal. Everyone should try it.

Oh, and the Glory to Arstozka guy is simply genius, lol.

 

[Messofanego]

Man, hearing people killing their families sounds awful and hilarious at the same time!

 

[D4Danger]

I denied a lady entry after I approved her husband because her permit was wrong.

I rule these borders with an iron fist!

 

[Daeda]

Damn, its really hard to earn enough to support your family..

 

[Versipellis]

Dang no "Window" mode. Guess I'll have to wait and play it when im not at work.

Try ALT+ENTER if you're on Windows.

 

[Hofmann]

Man, hearing people killing their families sounds awful and hilarious at the same time!

Because right now it is hilarious, but I think it's been there, in current exaggerated form, just to show how the mechanics work.

 

[The Chef]

Try ALT+ENTER if you're on Windows.

Mac.

Couldn't help myself. Had to play it and this game is amazing.

 

[Glass Rebel]

This game is incredible. I had a dancer/prostitute beg me to do something about a certain man following her but my hands were tied. Next newspaper had the headline "Dancers found dead, involved in human trafficking" or something along those lines.

I hope I can get my name in!

 

[Messofanego]

If this was an actual simulator of a shitty immigration officer, like what I witnessed when coming to America for holidays twice (thanks NYC and my brown skin), you'd be able to ask the immigrant questions not just about the purpose of visit and for how long but also:

"The relatives you'll be living with, what are all their names?"

"Will they be feeding you for free?"

"What is the age of each of them?"

"What jobs do all of them do?"

"What are their pay grades?"

 

[Hofmann]

This game is incredible. I had a dancer/prostitute beg me to do something about a certain man following her but my hands were tied. Next newspaper had the headline "Dancers found dead, involved in human trafficking" or something along those lines.

Why were your hands tied? I helped her.

Fuck, the game is addicting, I can't stop thinking about it.
Gonna grab some late night snack and play some more.

 

[Glass Rebel]

Why were your hands tied? I helped her.

I already was sloppy that day, got my last warning and was trying to save money for my hungry family and sick son

 

[Hofmann]

I already was sloppy that day, got my last warning and was trying to save money for my hungry family and sick son

Ok, I hope your son got better! I'm gonna raise a new one, stronger.

 

[n8]

Didn't want to write anything until I played the latest release. Just finished my first dip in the beta, still sooo good. The bribery, the news, the groups, the returning character... Mmmm

I held up pretty well with the scoring/money. Nothing overbearing but pretty much had a constant 10 dollars for the saving near the end, only was hungry and cold for one day (son was sick too).

Gonna jump again when I can. See what happens when I do things differently.

 

[Riposte]

Still not sure what this game is like. You are looking for inconsistencies?

 

[plasmasd]

All of my family died the same day. Still I continue on to work like nothing happened.

 

[RionaaM]

This game sure sounds... intriguing. I may have to try it.

And I should also give the indie games thread the attention it deserves. I have subscribed to it, but didn't read it yet.

 

[pje122]

Reminds me of....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=Kpb33vZFFEc#t=212s

 

[n8]

Still not sure what this game is like. You are looking for inconsistencies?

That's one part of it. The other is keeping up with the ever changing world and following the rules that follow with it.

If you mess up too much, you start getting deductions in pay. Without money, you can't keep your family alive or even have a place to sleep. But also you can game the system, as you have an allowance of 2 failures a day. So if you know what you are doing, you can gain a little more cash without hurting yourself. But there is a chance you are hurting yourself in the long run, allowing a killer into your country quite possibly putting your family at risk.

Yes, the core of the game is pretty basic pairing and following rules. But everything about it is engrossing.

 

[RedNumberFive]

I can tell I've been spending too long on the Internet when the first thing I think about after reading the title to this thread is Dolan.

 

[D4Danger]

All of my family died the same day. Still I continue on to work like nothing happened.

the 80s were rough, man.

I let somebody through with dodgy paperwork and they turned out to be a suicide bomber. Killed 3 border guards. This game.

 

[Riposte]

That's one part of it. The other is keeping up with the ever changing world and following the rules that follow with it.

If you mess up too much, you start getting deductions in pay. Without money, you can't keep your family alive or even have a place to sleep. But also you can game the system, as you have an allowance of 2 failures a day. So if you know what you are doing, you can gain a little more cash without hurting yourself. But there is a chance you are hurting yourself in the long run, allowing a killer into your country quite possibly putting your family at risk.

Yes, the core of the game is pretty basic pairing and following rules. But everything about it is engrossing.

When you say mess up, you mean missing mistakes/fakes? Other than pointing out inconsistencies, is there another means to question subjects?

 

[The Chef]

When I am looking at my stats at the end of the day the window cuts off half the stuff. I cant scroll down to buy anything. :/

 

[Haunted]

Oh shit, I didn't even see he released a new build yesterday! It's in Beta now, and here I was wondering about some of the features you guys were talking about and I couldn't see them in my Alpha build. :lol

Will play some more!

Played it multiple times over the past hour and a half or so. Really liked it. I think the people who go through the line get switched up over the playthroughs, so there should be some nice replayability here when the full version is released.

If you're interested in the game's development, the creator's thought process and the nuts and bolts of some of the programming, he has a long running thread on tigsource that's super interesting to read.

Here are some immigrants he posted early on in development to show off the random face generator

 

[n8]

When you say mess up, you mean missing mistakes/fakes? Other than pointing out inconsistencies, is there another means to question subjects?

Yeah, missing out on mistakes or expatriation dates.

As for other means to question people...(gonna spoiler it just in case anyone cares)

Spoiler

- On one particular day, you are ordered to search everyone from a particular country.
- Later on, you get to detain people. You may get a note from someone stating that they are being followed by another, you can make the connection and detain them if you want.

You just can't question anyone for anything though, you need to have some kind of connection. You can of course accept and/or deny everyone, but your game isn't going to last long that route.