In this sense, the game plays out sort of like a puzzle. For example, on Day 1 you are instructed not to allow anybody from a specific country into Arstotzka. This code reads like a set of rules and you are specifically told which details to pay attention to most when examining papers. As the work day begins you are given a code to follow. Those in charge of Arstotzka have an ideal vision for their country, and they are very stringent who they allow in. You as the player are given the power of deciding who ends up where. The basic formula is as follows: Those with the correct credentials get a pass into the country and those without them get rejected. In the game, you find yourself working as an immigration inspector stationed at the border of fictional communist country Arstotzka.
Luckily, one man, an independent game developer named Lucas Pope, circumvented that process by taking it upon himself to create “Papers, Please,” the self-proclaimed “Dystopian Document Thriller.” Pitching the idea of a video game based around being an immigration inspector sounds like a hard sell.
