Do you have anything left? Your family is depending on you. At the end of the day, 6 PM Arstotzka time, your receipts are tallied and bills for food, rent, medicine, and heat are deducted. Follow the latest decree to the letter or you risk getting punished for your poor decision-making skills. Does it get much lower than that? Each day, you will make decisions based on the morning's memo and the newspaper headlines.

You and your family had to leave everything behind, and have been moved to class-8 housing. You have been chosen via national lottery to carry out the country’s immigration policy. In Papers, Please, outsiders are always the enemy. Depending on the day, immigrant paperwork changes to reflect the current political climate with an unhealthy dose of suspicion. Immigration access is restricted to those with the proper documents. The border is guarded with walls, guns, and barbed wire. Arstotzkan has won, retaking Grestin, a border town. It’s been six long years of war with neighboring Kolechia.

Olivia Newton-John and Joan Jett do not play in the background. You star as the immigration inspector in the fictional locale of Arstotzka in the year 1982. Or do they? With armed guards and extra security, plus punishments for getting things wrong, you may not be as trusted as you think. The Ministry of Admission leaves border control in your capable hands. Will you choose to play by the rules and avoid hurting your family? Or, will you follow your own ethical conscience? In Paper, Please, you can’t please them all.

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