Despair, dystopia, diaspora: Papers, Please portrays the stark reality of immigration

In Lucas Pope’s Papers, Please, the player is simply an immigration officer. They sit in a small office in the gray line that divides Kolechia and Arstotzka. Their work is to sort through the sea of people seeking to get into Arstotzka.

The officer is supposed to turn a blind eye to the despairing mass of humanity around him. All that matters to him is his own land and the dictum of its government. Glory to Arstotzka, as every communication repeats, until it becomes a mindless drone inside their heads. Glory to Arstotzka!

Little Box (Image via Papers, Please)

This “dystopian document thriller”, in spite of its limited gamespace, was highly lauded for the sense of immersion it managed to create. Often termed as an “empathy game”, Papers, Please’s immaculate portrayal of the grim reality of immigration earned it glowing reviews, several nominations and awards. Most notably, the game won the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) Games award for Strategy and Simulation in 2014. The game has even spawned a short film.

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Papers, Please: Glory to Arstotzka!

Papers, Please is set in the fictional country of Arstotzka in the year 1982. The country's geopolitical background is volatile, and it can be termed a "police state." Papers, Please documents the time when Arstotzka recently ended a six-year-long war with Kolechia, a neighboring country.

Glory to Arstotzka! (Image via Papers, Please)

As expected, a conflict of that magnitude has rippling consequences on even the most distant aspect of everyday life. There is a constant risk of further fighting. The border is often a target for suicide bombers and terrorists. As the immigration inspector sitting at the checkpoint, the player’s duty is to ensure that such elements do not enter the land of Arstotzka.

The official game description states:

"The communist state of Arstotzka has ended a 6-year war with neighboring Kolechia and reclaimed its rightful half of the border town, Grestin. Your job as 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 travellers and the Ministry of Admission's primitive inspect, search, and fingerprint systems you must decide who can enter Arstotzka and who will be turned away or arrested."

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The mindless drone of Papers, Please

Congratulations (Image via Papers, Please)

Drafted (Image via Papers, Please)

A loud ominous sound keeps playing as Papers, Please starts. The player is picked by the October Labor Lottery in 1982 to be an immigration inspector at the border. They are provided with an apartment for them and their family’s dwelling.

Headlines Today (Image via Papers, Please)

The first thing the player sees at the beginning of each day is the national newspaper called The Truth of Arstotzka. It is possibly a reference to the Soviet newspaper Pravda. The headlines in the newspaper are an indication of events that have happened previously and the steps taken because of them.

Headlines Day 2 (Image via Papers, Please)

In the office, the player encounters a tiny space. The visuals are that of a small box with a speaker on top. There is a small desk which gets more and more cluttered with documents. There is some space on the right where the players can drag the passports and other documents to be inspected or stamped.

Rule Book (Image via Papers, Please)

The inspector is provided with a rules and regulations book they can refer to while making their check. There are also official bulletins with newer protocols that have to be minutely followed. The player has to check passports and relevant documents, stamp them as necessary, return them and say "next" for another person to arrive.

Since the government pays on a multiplier of how many inspections the player did correctly, the player is under a time crunch to check as many people as possible.

Citation (Image via Papers, Please)

If the player violates any protocol after the second day, they receive a citation. The third violation earns the player a penalty with every subsequent violation costing increasing penalties from the end of the day’s salary.

Tallying up (Image via Papers, Please)

As the booth closes, the screen for that day’s earnings come up. The savings and earnings from the day are shown from which the cost of rent, food, and heat is deducted. Not being able to pay for food or heat renders family members sick, and even dead. Going into debt also ends the game prematurely.

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The petty politics of the bureaucracy and the humane crisis of the immigrants

With each passing day, newer and different regulations are brought into effect. Terrorist attacks have resulted in more guards and protocols to be followed. The desk gets further cluttered with documents like entry permits, entry tickets, ID cards, work passes, and diplomatic authorizations.

Vaccination Certificate (Image via Papers, Please)

During the end stages of the game, there is a polio outbreak. After being told to deny all entrants from the place, the ban is lifted for only those that have a Vaccination Certificate with them. This scenario eerily echoes the present reality of traveling in the post-pandemic world.

Bulletins (Image via Papers, Please)

The closed space, the ticking time, the urge to complete each check as fast as possible, and the sound of citations all create a claustrophobic experience for the player. It comes across as a mindless activity, shouting next and having to both hurry and be thorough for each inspection.

The politics between each country beautifully reflects the reality of global politics. Trade relations sour one day, which provokes some reactionary decisions to restore the status quo. Visitors from one country are to be banned one day, and the next day, they are allowed again.

The atmosphere and narrative of Papers, Please reek of an Orwellian dystopia. Arstotzka’s enemy shifts from day to day, much like 1984’s Oceania.

As the days pass, the inspector is allowed further methods to ascertain the entrants. They are given the authority to scan, search, detain, and even a gun to shoot down terrorists.

Papers, Please does have the option of three possible ways for the protagonist at the end depending on the choices the player makes along the game.

They can choose to escape the politics and threat of death by running away to another country with their family. To avail of this option, they must confiscate a required number of passports and save money for each member of the family.

They can choose to help EZIC, the Order, a mysterious organization that states its goal is to free Arstotzka from its greedy and corrupt leaders. It becomes clearer as the game progresses that their methods are similar to the autocratic regime already installed. The theme of the wheel of never-ending tyranny is explored in Pope’s browser game, The Republia Times.

The final option is to help the state and thwart the EZIC attack on the very last day. This does not guarantee that the protagonist will not be killed though. That depends on the fact if the player had made any decision to help EZIC along the way.

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Finding Hope

Stuck in this mechanical rut, it is hard for the player to keep a hold of their identity and humanity in Papers, Please. People on the other side of the desk run the risk of simply becoming their documents. They are dehumanized and reduced by the ever-increasing amount of bureaucratic hurdles.

Changing Protocols (Image via Papers, Please)

The regime awards the inspector for performing their duties to the tune of arbitrary rules and protocols at a swift pace. It also punishes the inspector for making mistakes because of that swift pace.

Hope in Papers, Please is ambiguous. It resides in short stories that crop up from time to time. The player meets a husband passing ahead in the line who asks the player to “be kind” to his wife coming next who does not have an Entry Permit.

Husband's plea (Image via Papers, Please)

Wife's plight (Image via Papers, Please)

Some stories challenge the morality of the inspector. For instance, there's a woman who wants to meet her son but her permit is expired. Then there is the reuniting of a guard with his lost love, who does not have a valid permit. Players also see a woman who is afraid of a man coming later who has a valid permit to enter.

The player has to decide how many citations they can incur. Hope resides in the humanity of the inspector and the choices the player makes. It is a moral gray ground, but one that the game pushes players into.

The problem of immigration is one that does not seem to have an end. The world has diasporas of people who had to move away from their homeland. The game portrays this with care and thought.

Games like Syrian Journey and Finding Home are examples of the medium of video games being used to talk about this plight. But Papers, Please manages to achieve an immersion that the others could not.

Lost Love (Image via Papers, Please)

It intricately designs the suffocating position of an inspecting official, constantly threatened and with a fickle authority hanging overhead. The steady stream of people mirrors the global crisis that the countries face, more so with recent geopolitical shifts and the pandemic. It is easy to not look at their faces. Ignorance can help play the game with ruthless efficiency.

Thank you (Image via Papers, Please)

But it is in the little stories that the game throws at the player where Papers, Please shines. These stories become recurring roadblocks to an inhumane power’s dehumanizing project.