The Westport Independent on Steam - User reviews, Price & Information
Quick menu
The Westport Independent is a censorship simulator taking place in a post-war country, governed by the recently elected Loyalist Party. As the editor of one of the last independent newspapers in the country, your job is to remove and edit the content of your paper, affecting the people’s opinion of both the rebels and the Loyalist...
The Westport Independent is a indie, simulation and dystopian game
developed and published by Double Zero One Zero.
Released on January 21st 2016 is available in English on Windows, MacOS and Linux.
It has received 312 reviews of which 235 were positive and 77 were negative resulting in a rating of 7.1 out of 10. 😊
The game is free to play on Steam.
The Steam community has classified The Westport Independent into these genres:
Media & Screenshots
Get an in-depth look at The Westport Independent through various videos and screenshots.
Load More
System requirements
These are the minimum specifications needed to play the game. For the best experience, we recommend that you verify them.
Windows
- Memory: 1 GB RAM
- Graphics: Open GL 2.0
- Storage: 100 MB available space
MacOS
- Memory: 1 GB RAM
- Graphics: Open GL 2.0
- Storage: 100 MB available space
Linux
- Memory: 1 GB RAM
- Graphics: Open GL 2.0
- Storage: 100 MB available space
User reviews & Ratings
Explore reviews from Steam users sharing their experiences and what they love about the game.
A nice little game to play. It's a bit short but when the game costs 0$ can't really complain about the length.
Expand the review
If you expect an ambitious game in the league of "Papers, Please", you will be highly disappointed. This game takes less than thirty minutes to complete. Most people think it's too short, but personnaly it allowed me to do a few runs, whereas I did one game and a half of "Papers, Please". This way, you can try many things. In my first run, I aligned with the government, which was very easy. In my following runs, I tried to make each district revolt. The South and East are easy to "win"; the West and, above all, the North are super hard to turn around (they are lawful Loyalists in the beginning). This was where the game became challenging. I find it amusing to think that one of my hardest challenge in video games was to inform rich people through newspapers that their government is evil and that they should work against it. Who knew we would someday live in such a time... However, I'm still unsure if the challenge is either very tough and complex or just plain unfair. I feel like you don't know enough about the mechanics. It seems like it's not any articles speaking against the government that will get to the North folks. What makes it even harder is that you have to avoid making the government suspicious; to influence the North, you will almost inevitably bust your limit. How do you find the balance? Lucas Pope, the creator of "Papers, Please", created a free game with a similar concept to The Westport Independant called Republia Times (it was released before). It wasn't divided into districts, and the outcome of everything you did was obvious. Also, the gameplay consisted only of choosing which articles to publish, and how big they would be on the front page; you couldn't modify the titles or the content, and you didn't have to assign them to a specific journalist. Finally, there wasn't all the marketing side of the game; your articles were either political (which are not popular but are influential) or about celebrities or entertainement (which have the opposite effect). So it was simpler and more straightforward, but at the same time isn't it a bit boring if you're sure of the outcome, and if there's no challenge? The community is so inactive that you can't expect to find a guide on the web. You can't even find a clear description of the achievements. So yeah, I'm a bit mixed about all of this, but overall I had a great time and it was very compelling to try to make rebels out of the North folks (in which I succeeded! Yay for me :D ).
Expand the review
A difficult recommendation. The Westport Incident tries to hit the same trigger "Papers, Please" did and show how difficult it is to operate within a repressive dictatorship. You are taking the role of a newspaper editor who has to basically choose between being a government mouthpiece, and keeping the paper running while being complicit in the government repression; or reporting the news in a more truthful manner, but by doing so putting not just the paper, but also your employees at risk. Gameplay consists of choosing which articles to put in the paper, how to present them, and who to write the article. For example you may get an article about a bombing. Articles can be roughly separated in two categories: politics and fluff. Fluff is without risk, but doesn't do much for your paper's popularity. Politics is where the risk is. If you are fully loyal throughout it's easy to complete the game, although you do end up supporting a totalitarian regime. If you decide to be disloyal (and report the truth), you will run into several problems. The most clear one is that if you become too disloyal to the government before time runs out, the paper is closed and the game ends. But even if you try to balance this somewhat by occasionally reporting something with a government slant or publishing fluff instead, you may still risk your employees as they all have their own suspicion meter. Allow this to go too high and they are arrested and you will have one fewer article you can print each week. Increasing the difficulty further is that your employees have different political leanings, a Loyalist supporter will not be happy to write against his government, for example. The various loyalties and suspicion rates make the game pretty difficult to balance. There are several possible endings, and it will require multiple playthroughs to unlock them all. While I like the concept a lot, I have a few issues with this game and they hold it back from being a new classic like its obvious inspiration Papers, Please. First off, the various mechanics are not really explained. Unless you read this or other reviews, your first playthrough you will likely have no idea about the different employees' suspicion meters, and their arrest will come at a complete surprise. The game has a too brief tutorial and it doesn't tell you about this at all. It is also not clear exactly how the advertisement works, and if this even matters. Each district has two subjects it cares about, but does that mean you are wasting advertisement points by still placing adverts in a district if your paper doesn't include a subject they like? The game doesn't tell you this. Second, the presentation. There is no voice acting outside of the intro, there is very little animation, and the game simply does not look that impressive. You will be spending most of your time on the same screen just sliding things around with no variation. For $/€ 10 as it currently priced on Steam I expect more from a game, but at a discount price I can recommend it. Pick it up if you like Papers, Please, or the idea of working as a newspaper censor in a totalitarion society.
Expand the review
I personally really enjoy this game. YES, I know, it didn't live up to expectations, its short, and isn't as emotionally conflicting as Papers Please. BUT, what you have here is still a good, fun, original game. Your a media outlet editor under the employ of the "Westport Indipendent", a newspaper publisher. Westport itself however, is a large industrial city split into four districts, The southern docks, the eastern industy area, the western middle class region, and the upperr class elite northern section. The country that westport is part of is run by a totalitarian regime that is referred to as "The Loyalist Party", their goals lie within censoring general media, television shows, books, and other sources of information for the sake of a tighter and more controlling grip on their citizens. The game starts off with a notice from the loyalist party, it states that soon a bill will be passed that basically shuts down all indipendent media outlets and inserts the government in control of all media. You will have 12 weeks until the bill is officially in action, meaning that you must do what you can, to influence the populace through your media in whatever way you can, for example, in my first playthrough I focused mainly on posting government propoganda, to get on the good side of the loyalist party, in turn I was able to influence the unruly southern docks into showing more loyalty towards the loyalist party, which is a big chunk of westport's population, and by the end of the 12 weeks, the government was more dystopian than ever thanks to me, militarized police that were labeled as heroes by my media outlets propoganda, flags on every street corner due to the recently brainwashed populace, and of course, the mass arrests and executions that happened anywhere disloyalty may lie. And as for my second playthrough, I took a hardheaded stand against the loyalist party, trying to brew rebel support into all the districts, I didn't play my cards well, and long story short, me and all my writers one by one were arrested, and assumedly executed. Im still trying to get a perfect rebel ending, trust me, its tough, I've already gotten a half decent rebel ending, but it basically just meant half the city was in a state of anarchist uprising... but wow, Kinda led a tangent with this review, hopefully its helpful in someway to somebody.
Expand the review
I have just completed my first playthrough of the Westport Independent. I stayed loyal to the government, always painting the rebels as the bad guys and making sure every district adored the Loyalists. My extreme devotion cost me an employee, Frank, but I weakened the rebels' movement and remained a popular newspaper. While the game is a bit shorter than I would have liked, I still loved this experience. I loved imagining how the people reacted to the articles, how this dystopia changed. I see a lot of replay value in this, to see how the other extreme and min-maxing would work out. If anything, my main gripe with the game is a minor one; the achievement don't have a description after I unlock them. Minor but annoying. If you enjoyed Papers, Please or want to see how government censorship can work out in a dark world, I highly recommend this game.
Expand the review
Similar games
View all
Papers, Please
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.
Orwell: Ignorance is Strength
Step into the shoes of a government official in a top-secret department of the Orwell surveillance program. Given the power to both uncover and fabricate "the truth", how far will you go in the service of your country? Season 2 of Orwell, the award-winning surveillance thriller.
Beholder: Conductor
A Beholder series spin-off. Become a conductor of the Determination Bringer train: monitor passengers, report incidents, and carry out important Ministry assignments — whose level of secrecy depends only on your loyalty. And remember: mission success is very important to you!
Clock Simulator
Clock Simulator is a mindful game of rhythm and focus in which YOU are the clock. Click once a second, every second. Don't be late. Don't hurry. There's nothing else to be concerned with. Clear your mind and discover new depths of relaxation while becoming time itself!
Slap The Fly
You will embody a fly, a spider, a bee or a human. Your mission thus is to survive or to slap the fly !
Satisfactory Modeler
Model your Satisfactory builds. Set up your machines however you like, adding optional limits to the number of any of those machines and the tool will calculate how the parts will flow and how many of each machine type are getting used.
Achievement Clicker 2019
Feel like a real Achievement hunter! Earn Achievements, upgrades and get the most Achievements on Steam!
No Umbrellas Allowed
Reveal the true value of the items coming into the shop. Each item has their own history. Dig deep to see what is behind them and become an expert appraiser. Begin a tug of war with customers. With their own expectations and knowledge, they never give up on money.
Tree Simulator 2020
It's exactly what it sounds like. You are the tree! You are equaled by no other. Relax and be the best tree you can be.
Frequently Asked Questions
The Westport Independent is free to play on Steam.
The Westport Independent is not on sale because is already free to play on Steam.
The Westport Independent received 235 positive votes out of a total of 312 achieving a rating of 7.08.
😊
The Westport Independent was developed and published by Double Zero One Zero.
The Westport Independent is playable and fully supported on Windows.
The Westport Independent is playable and fully supported on MacOS.
The Westport Independent is playable and fully supported on Linux.
The Westport Independent is a single-player game.
The Westport Independent does not currently offer any DLC.
The Westport Independent does not support mods via Steam Workshop.
The Westport Independent does not support Steam Remote Play.
The Westport Independent does not currently support Steam Family Sharing.
You can find solutions or submit a support ticket by visiting the Steam Support page for The Westport Independent.
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 | 24 January 2026 10:20 |
|---|---|
| SteamSpy data | 27 January 2026 17:35 |
| Steam price | 24 January 2026 10:20 |
| Steam reviews | 27 January 2026 17:52 |
If you'd like to dive deeper into the details about The Westport Independent, 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 The Westport Independent
- SteamCharts - Analysis of The Westport Independent concurrent players on Steam
- ProtonDB - Crowdsourced reports on Linux and Steam Deck The Westport Independent compatibility
Game modes
Online players
1
Developer
Double Zero One Zero
Publisher
Double Zero One Zero
Release
21 Jan 2016
Platforms