Papers, Please
Storytelling Reinvention:
incorporates a strong morality through player-choice in order to create a game-world wherein it is difficult for the player to be neutral
Game Information
Release Date: August 8th, 2013
Developer: 3909
Publisher: 3909
Rating: Mature
Genre(s): Role-Playing, Strategy
Price: $9.99
Website: papersplea.se
Developed by Lucas Pope, who worked prior as a developer for Naughty Dog, Papers Please is an interesting example in moral gameplay and player agency. You play as an immigration agent, who has been granted the opportunity through state lottery, to screen all incoming people trying to enter the country. The goal of the game is to check the passports of all incoming people to ensure that everyone has the correct information. Correctly process enough people and you are rewarded with a daily salary, however make mistakes and let people through who have papers that don’t check out and you are penalized and given less money for the day. This is important because you must take care of your family who get can get ill, cold, and hungry if you don’t bring home enough money. In addition to taking care of your family, you also have to contend with terrorist attacks and human traffickers. In response, you are given a tranquilizer gun to take out refugees who try and run across the border into the state.
The role of player choice comes heavily into play as you have to decide if you are going to pay closer attention to incoming immigrants at the cost of money, or take a risk and let them in. Toward the end of the game you are given the opportunity to make several decisions that can cost the lives of your entire family and yourself.
Researcher: Chris Hurley
This page has paths:
- Mobile Narratives Madeleine Philbrook
- iPad Madeleine Philbrook
- Teen Madeleine Philbrook
- Alphabetical Order Madeleine Philbrook
