PPP2 Review: Paper's Please

Another fantastic Indie game found on the Steam website is Paper's Please, developed now from its original free Beta version, something I looked at before buying as I was initially very interest in it.

The general concept of the game is very unique and different from anything that I usually play. Its been the October Health Lottery in Arstotzka, the fictional region in which you live, and you have been selected to work the border control, and all of your family have been housed and you have to ensure you make enough money to look after each family member. While working the border, rules are put into place to ensure that only the correct people get through. The first level is very easy and will help prepare you for what is ahead - which believe me gets a lot more difficult. You are armed with a rule book and an access granted and an access denied stamp to which you either let them in or send them away.

The tricky part to the game is when the later levels get started and more rules are introduced, meaning that there is a lot of stuff to remember. As the levels progress there are security scans, terrorist attacks, random body searches, detaining of suspects and this is all while checking that all the details of the person match up correctly. That they are the correct height, weight, the names are the same on all of the documents, passport numbers are correct, work passes are in date and they are who they say they are... and all of this is done under a time limit.

Each level is a different in game day and the day is 12 hours long which equates to about 5ish minutes in which you have to check all of the above details about people, which is very pressurising, but so much fun. There is so much pressure to get as many people through as possible and it is so difficult not to make a mistake. Make 3 in one day and that means 5 credits is taken out of your daily wage; meaning that you may not be able to afford to feed or heat your household.

Something which interested me greatly in the game was the story that went in game with it. There are many little storied that can be looked into. Like the strange order that ask you to let people in or the guard that asks you to detain more people as to help him get a bonus, which he will give you a little bit of to say thank you. All of these different stories combine to create 20 different possible ending to the 30 day game, which is another thing that I thought was brilliant about the game as it means you can go back and try to unlock different endings and see how they will affect you.

To sum up, this game is so well created. It is so unusual and such a rare special find as there are not many games like this out on the market. The very stylised artwork to it is interesting but suits the business looking type game that it is. It puts you under pressure and gives you the opportunity to test how well you can do under such a tense situation.