Described as a “dystopian document thriller,” Papers, Please is a 2013 video game designed by Lucas Pope and published by 3090 across several platforms. Playing as an immigration inspector, the game unfolds through increasingly bureaucratic duties of processing paperwork at the border of fictional Artstotzka. Sorting through passports, immigration documents, and personal information, the player decides whether to grant entry to migrants who arrive at the border. Critiquing contemporary immigration policies, the world crafted by the game takes reference from the Cold War era checkpoints separating East and West Berlin.

Here, processes of migration are entangled in broader geopolitics, as well as ever-changing legislation enacted by the fictional Arstotzkan regime. However, the internal world of the immigration inspector, as enmeshed with the politics of the border, is further explored through complex moral quandaries presented to the player. At points in the game, the player as inspector is given multiple scenarios where they may allow desperate travelers to enter without proper documentation. Yet, to follow one’s moral judgement might lead to the punishment of the player through reduced daily wages, paralyzing one’s ability to properly provide food, medicine, and heating for the immigration inspector’s in-universe family.

With multiple possible endings, the player may faithfully follow the legislation of the Arstotzkan regime, or support a revolutionary group seeking to overthrow the government. One possible pathway includes fleeing of the country with family in tow. Through gameplay and complex moral positionalities, Papers, Please articulates migration through experiences of bureaucracy and the possibilities and politics of the border.

—JY

 

 

Further reading

Kelly, Matthew. “The Game of Politics: Examining the Role of Work, Play, and Subjectivity Formation in Papers, Please.” Games and Culture 13, no. 5 (2015): 459–478. https://doi.org/10.1177/155541201562389.

Kocik, David. “Discrepancy Detected. Operationalizing Immigration and Borderzone Policy in Papers, Please.” gamevironments 13 (2020): 35–63. https://doi.org/10.26092/elib/401.

Mattli, Alan. “Policing the border in Lucas Pope’s computer game Papers, Please.” In Migrations and Contacts, 99–117, ed. Michael C. Frank and Daniel Schreier. Heidelberg: Universitätsverlag Winter, 2022. https://doi.org/10.5167/uzh-230538.

Morrissette, Jess. “Glory to Arstotzka: Morality, Rationality, and the Iron Cage of Bureaucracy in Papers, Please.” Game Studies 17, no. 1 (2017). https://www.gamestudies.org/1701/articles/morrissette.