Free-to-play border police sim

Papers, Please is a free simulator from 3909 LLC. This is the Android port of the hit single-player puzzle sim released on other platforms in 2013 and in 2014. In this game, you experience being a border security personnel assigned in the fictional country of Arstotzka. As the border police, the lives of countless immigrants are at your hands as you decide who gets to enter your country.

Papers, Please uses simple, pixelated graphics that lets you immerse yourself in its world-building, resembling the European Eastern bloc. It’s a deeper, more serious take on games like Border Patrol Police Simulator.

Keep your homeland safe

Papers, Please has a fascinating premise. You work as border police tasked with checking the paperwork of people attempting to enter Arstotzka. Your landlocked nation has come off a six-year war with a neighboring state and remains in high tension with the rest of the countries around it. Right from the bat, you are informed of this premise and your actions could result in various ending scenarios.

What made this game highly praised during its release is the depth that it offers. You budget your earnings—legal or otherwise—to sustain your family, and you even have the opportunity to work with a mysterious organization to overthrow the government. It also offers a lot of tools for you to explore, from simply checking passports and documents to ordering full body scans to find contrabands.

It has simple graphics but it has an immersive experience. However, expect a certain level of mental or emotional challenge for some players due to morally conflicting choices. Furthermore, there are specific endings that are difficult to unlock, requiring specific actions to be taken in order to access them. Since the premise revolves around a clerical job, it can also get tiring as you try to complete a month.

An immersive, conflicting experience

Those who have played Papers, Please on other platforms could surely attest to this game pushing the boundaries of the medium, and the same can be said for its Android port. Get immersed in a fictional world much like the real one, and make in-game choices that can make you change how you see the world. If anything, the use of simplistic graphics makes you focus deeper. Highly recommended.