Papers, Please on Steam - User reviews, Price & Information

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Congratulations. The October labor lottery is complete. Your name was pulled. For immediate placement, report to the Ministry of Admission at Grestin Border Checkpoint. An apartment will be provided for you and your family in East Grestin. Expect a Class-8 dwelling.

Papers, Please is a indie, political and simulation game developed by Lucas Pope and published by 3909.
Released on August 08th 2013 is available on Windows, MacOS and Linux in 15 languages: English, French, German, Spanish - Spain, Portuguese - Brazil, Russian, Italian, Japanese, Polish, Ukrainian, Czech, Simplified Chinese, Turkish, Basque and Korean.

It has received 74,187 reviews of which 72,168 were positive and 2,019 were negative resulting in an impressive rating of 9.6 out of 10. 😍

The game is currently priced at 9.75€ on Steam, but you can find it for less on Gamivo.

The Steam community has classified Papers, Please into these genres:

Indie Political Simulation Point & Click Singleplayer Pixel Graphics Dystopian Multiple Endings Puzzle Story Rich Retro Atmospheric 2D Addictive Great Soundtrack Strategy Replay Value Casual Difficult Adventure

Media & Screenshots

Get an in-depth look at Papers, Please through various videos and screenshots.

System requirements

These are the minimum specifications needed to play the game. For the best experience, we recommend that you verify them.

Windows

Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system
OS *: Windows XP or later
Processor: 1.5 GHz Core2Duo
Memory: 2 GB RAM
Graphics: OpenGL 1.4 or better
Storage: 100 MB available space
Additional Notes: Minimum 1280x720 screen resolution

MacOS

OS: OSX Mountain Lion (10.8)
Processor: 1.5 GHz Core2Duo
Memory: 2 GB RAM
Graphics: OpenGL 1.4 or better
Storage: 100 MB available space
Additional Notes: Minimum 1280x720 screen resolution

Linux

Processor: 1.5 GHz Core2Duo
Memory: 2 GB RAM
Storage: 100 MB available space
Additional Notes: Minimum 1280x720 screen resolution

User reviews & Ratings

Explore reviews from Steam users sharing their experiences and what they love about the game.

Dec. 2025

Glory to Arstotzka! I bought Papers, Please mainly because of its Overwhelmingly Positive reviews. At first glance, it looked like a simple game, but once I actually started playing, I realized it has far more depth than it initially appears. As the game progresses, new mechanics and rules are constantly introduced, which makes the job more stressful and engaging over time. While the core gameplay loop stays the same, the experience never felt repetitive to me because of how many new elements and situations get added. The moral choices are one of the strongest parts of the game. Deciding between following the rules or helping people often at a personal cost creates real tension. On top of that, the financial pressure and responsibility toward your family add another layer of stress that fits perfectly with the game’s theme. The gameplay itself is simple but surprisingly satisfying, and the increasing difficulty keeps you on edge. The fact that the game has multiple endings also adds a lot of value and replayability. Overall, Papers, Please is much more than it seems at first. It’s stressful, thoughtful, and genuinely unique.

Nov. 2025

Twelve years on, Papers Please serves as both the pinnacle and progenitor of its own genre of narrative-driven simulator, and despite a long list of replicators and imitators, has only been (maybe) superceded by Lucas Popes follow up. The sheer ingenuity and creativity behind this game is staggering. The fact that somebody (Pope) thought ‘You know what would make a good game? What if you were a guard at a border crossing and you had to cross reference paper-work.’ Like, ‘ V I D E O G A M E S ‘ are where you are a hot person with a gun or a sword and you kill people and do kickflips, not a monotonous, stressful work simulator where your concerns are about sick family members, and the omnipresent conflict between your own totalitarian dystopia and the nations surrounding it. On paper, a game where you deal with a bunch of paperwork and have to pay your rent and worry about the state of the nation isn’t very fun… and it also isn’t very fun in practise either, and I say that with utmost respect. I think ‘Papers, Please’ proves that video games don’t have to be fun (or atleast, kinetically exhilarating) to be good, which seems insane to think, but it is true. The real metric for a good video game is not ‘fun’ but rather ‘engagement.’ It doesn’t actually matter if you are having fun, if you are enthralled and engaged - this game delivers that in droves. It realizes the casual horror of living in a Soviet-era regime, and is able to tell stories from the smallest scale to the greatest of consequences, all from this one screen. From small character narratives of love and fear, to the global conflicts and wars, it all filters through your little booth. The moral choices this game places on you are so rarely seen in any form of art, and in general dystopias are not depicted in such a realistic way. You are not in the high offices of government, you are not a soldier on the front lines, you are an immigration inspector at a border crossing, yet you have power over people lives, life and death are controlled by your stamps. Trying to walk the balance between being empathetic towards people, while not making too many mistakes, and trying to not get so many fines as to starve your family is a tense tightrope you have to walk. Do you let in this grieving mother, despite her papers being outdated? They are only expired by a few days. This man is moving with his wife, but his passport is obviously forged, but he is fleeing from a warzone. Another has wrong papers, yet hasn’t committed any real crime, but you get bribes for each person you detain, and your family is starving and freezing to death at home. Should you detain them for a minor transgression? Even the people the game ASKS you to detain - they are in the wanted criminals bulletin - we are never told what they have done, and they seem shocked and surprised at being detained. Are they really criminals, or have they just spoke out against Arstotska? Papers, Please is an example of sheer focus and execution on a single vision, and the power of video game story telling. It is also an example of choice. You could be empathetic, you could engage with everything, and read the newspapers, and help to thwart the government. Or you could keep your head down, ignore anybody who talks to you, and just do your job and keep your family safe. A timeless game which should be studied and put in museums.

Oct. 2025

This game can truly put a persons observation skills to the test. Enjoyed it thoroughly, glory to Arstotzka!

July 2025

The fucking grin on my face each time I find a mistake in someones papers is priceless . As a morally bankrupt person I wholeheartedly reccomend this game

June 2025

content warnings: - j*b - empl*yment Went from feeling terrible for denying people, to developing a system to try and do it as quickly and efficiently as possible. Most stressful experience I've ever had, 9/10 Glory to Arstotzka

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Discover more games like Papers, Please

Frequently Asked Questions

Papers, Please is currently priced at 9.75€ on Steam.

Papers, Please is currently not on sale. You can purchase it for 9.75€ on Steam.

Papers, Please received 72,168 positive votes out of a total of 74,187 achieving an impressive rating of 9.57.

😍

Papers, Please was developed by Lucas Pope and published by 3909.

Papers, Please is playable and fully supported on Windows.

Papers, Please is playable and fully supported on MacOS.

Papers, Please is playable and fully supported on Linux.

Papers, Please is a single-player game.

Papers, Please does not currently offer any DLC.

Papers, Please does not support mods via Steam Workshop.

Papers, Please supports Remote Play on Phone and Remote Play on Tablet. Discover more about Steam Remote Play.

Papers, Please is enabled for Steam Family Sharing. This means you can share the game with authorized users from your Steam Library, allowing them to play it on their own accounts. For more details on how the feature works, you can read the original Steam Family Sharing announcement or visit the Steam Family Sharing user guide and FAQ page.

You can find solutions or submit a support ticket by visiting the Steam Support page for Papers, Please.

Data sources

The information presented on this page is sourced from reliable APIs to ensure accuracy and relevance. We utilize the Steam API to gather data on game details, including titles, descriptions, prices, and user reviews. This allows us to provide you with the most up-to-date information directly from the Steam platform.

Additionally, we incorporate data from the SteamSpy API, which offers insights into game sales and player statistics. This helps us present a comprehensive view of each game's popularity and performance within the gaming community.

Last Updates

Steam data	23 January 2026 14:20
SteamSpy data	26 January 2026 01:55
Steam price	28 January 2026 20:44
Steam reviews	27 January 2026 14:00

If you'd like to dive deeper into the details about Papers, Please, we invite you to check out a few dedicated websites that offer extensive information and insights. These platforms provide valuable data, analysis, and user-generated reports to enhance your understanding of the game and its performance.

SteamDB - A comprehensive database of everything on Steam about Papers, Please
SteamCharts - Analysis of Papers, Please concurrent players on Steam
ProtonDB - Crowdsourced reports on Linux and Steam Deck Papers, Please compatibility