11 Games Like Papers Please
Our list of games like Papers, Please features other thought provoking and dystopian era games where players will be completing real world tasks as part of the core mechanics.
Papers, Please is a highly praised and unique indie game that follows the emotional toll that war and ever changing regulations have on an immigration officer in the fictional but familiar dystopian country of Arstotzka. The primary mechanic of this adventure revolves around players inspecting the required immigration documents for entry and then deciding if the documents presented meet the necessary criteria. Each day new complexity is added to your daily routine, adding new rules to entry requirements, defending yourself from attackers, defusing bombs and other challenges.
For players that aren’t diligent or opt to breach the rules intentionally they’ll find the government levy penalties against them which directly impacts on the livelihood of their family and may result in their death if players cannot bring home enough money each day. To earn extra money players are often faced with moral dilemmas of breaking the rules or helping the resistance movement which all have their own varied outcomes that result in a number of possible endings.
The games like Papers, Please found below offer a similar experience to the gameplay described above. From multiple endings, direct consequences for your actions, dystopian societies, constantly evolving mechanics, cross referencing of information or realistic tasks as a primary game mechanic.
Human Resource Machine
Human Resource Machine features programming like puzzles that challenge players to create the correct series of assembly language to beat the level. Using corporate officer workers as a metaphor for this assembly language players will find themselves facing constantly evolving concepts on PC and console platforms. With around 30 programming puzzles in total each takes place over a year within the corporate world of Human Resource Machine. For successful completion of a puzzle players will be rew...[Read Review]
Limbs Repair Station
What would happen if you took the mechanics from Papers, Please but added a science fiction element and limbs to the equation? The result would be Limbs Repair Station, a game about repairing futuristic hands for customers. This simple free to play browser title has a large amount of depth to every single customer visit and can prove tricky even for a veteran Papers, Please player. It doesn’t have the additional features and same depth though, making it only worth a few hours of play. To a...[Read Review]
The Republia Times
From the same brain that brought you the popular Papers, Please title, The Republia Times was created nearly 2 years earlier. With a similar style and theme you’ll step into the role of editor-in-chief and choose the articles that will appear in the daily paper. Set in the nation of Republia the game takes place just after the war with neighbouring Antegria and the crushing of rebel forces that attempted to rise up against the government. The public though is still uneasy about their leade...[Read Review]
Cook, Serve, Delicious!
Cook, Serve, Delicious! originally started as a mobile title for iOS and Android but eventually came across to the computer with a Steam release for Windows, Mac and Linux. Focused on the mundane tasks of serving food, drinks and managing a restaurant players need to serve an ongoing stream of customers across a number of different restaurant days with evolving game mechanics that make each more complex than the last. Marketing itself as the hardcore restaurant sim Cook, Serve, Delicious! delive...[Read Review]
St. Orchint’s Orphanage
St. Orchint’s Orphanage is set deep in war time where the ongoing conflict sees a dramatic rise in the number of orphans. Not content with standing to the side as the number of orphans grows each day the war continues the player opts to establish and operate their own orphanage which brings with it all the dark and harsh realities of war time. Similar to other games from the same developer St. Orchint’s Orphanage does not shy away from tackling these issues head on and provides a game that is in...[Read Review]
Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes
Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes is a game about defusing randomised bombs with the help of your friends. The unique premise of the game has captivated an audience quickly and ideal for group or partner play. Each game starts with one player inside a sealed off room with a bomb in front of them, which is randomly generated with each game, ensuring you always have a challenging experience. While one player can see the bomb the idea of the game is that a second player (or several other players) lo...[Read Review]
Detective Grimoire
Detective Grimoire (Detective Grimoire: Secret of the Swamp) is the first full game in the franchise of detective games following the 2007 Flash title of the same name. Released in 2014 the game was funded from a Kickstarter campaign and features an adventure full of mystery, dialogue, detective work and lovable characters. Playing as Detective Grimoire you will find yourself called to a remote swamp and tourist attraction known as Boggy’s Bog after the owner Richard Remington is found mur...[Read Review]
Unsolicited
Continuing the theme of paper coming from Lucas Pope is Unsolicited, a game about filling in various junk mail forms and sending them out into the world. As a typical Lucas Pope title there is a darker undertone to all the paper pushing although don’t expect the depths achieved in likes of Papers, Please as this game was created in 48 hours for Ludum Dare Game Jam 33. Despite this short development cycle though it’s worthy of a few playthroughs of your time particularly if you are a ...[Read Review]
Please, Don’t Touch Anything
Can you resist the urge to not touch a big red button right in front of you? Please, Don’t Touch Anything challenges that assumption with a puzzle game with real consequences depending on your actions. First released on PC the game was later expanded to console and mobile platforms allowing a broader audience to test themselves on this brain teasing puzzle designs. Please, Don’t Touch Anything is a cryptic game title at heart that will test your brain as you try to find the 25 game endings by ex...[Read Review]
The Westport Independent
The Westport Independent is a unique simulation title about censorship, corruption and the newspaper. Playing as the editor in one of the few remaining independent newspapers in the country you’ll be faced with a number of decisions as to how you present the government to your readers, for better or for worse while dealing with the associated consequences of those actions. The game kicks off the with Loyalist Party being elected into power and sending out a bulletin regarding the Public Culture ...[Read Review]
War Agent
War Agent sticks you in the middle of an incoming war although you’re role in this escalating conflict is unlikely to be one you’ve experience before in a video game. In this free to play Android game you’re objective is to make as much profit as possible off the warring nations by giving them the equipment they need and marking it up as you see fit. War Agent is more than just a game about drawing every single dollar you can out of the war though and designed to make you look ...[Read Review]