With great power comes enormous responsibility, and Papers Please fans had to learn this rule the hard way.
Welcome to a list of games that offer a similarly bitter-sweet gameplay experience!
Papers, Please provoke reflections about immigration, bureaucracy, and the harsh truths of dystopian or totalitarian realities. Playing as an immigration officer in the fictional communist country of Arstotzka, our job is to review potential immigrants’ papers to decide whether to let them in. But this simple mechanic comes with a catch, as any wrong decision can heavily impact the protagonist’s family or even result in their death due to government penalties.
These moral dilemmas intertwine with the sense of tension, creating claustrophobic sensations encouraging us to question every decision. The alternatives listed below share similar themes, gameplay, and settings, so you can freely continue exploring these dystopian worlds depending entirely on your choices.
| Game | Release | Genres | Developer | Trailer | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Do Not Feed the Monkeys | 2018-10-23 | Indie | Fictiorama Studios | |
 | Return of the Obra Dinn | 2018-10-18 | Adventure | Lucas Pope | |
 | Not Tonight | 2018-08-17 | Adventure | PanicBarn | |
 | Ministry of Broadcast | 2020-01-30 | Adventure | Ministry of Broadcast | |
 | No Umbrellas Allowed | 2021-09-03 | Hoochoo Game Studios | ||
 | Human Resource Machine | 2015-10-15 | Indie | Tomorrow Corporation | |
 | Beholder | 2016-11-09 | Adventure | Warm Lamp Games | |
 | Beholder 2 | 2018-12-04 | Adventure | Warm Lamp Games | |
| | Beholder 2 | 2018-12-04 | Adventure | Warm Lamp Games | |
 | Strange Horticulture | 2022-01-21 | Bad Viking |
Do Not Feed The Monkeys
| Release date: | 2018-10-23 |
| Genre: | Indie |
| Developer: | Fictiorama Studios |
Join the shady organization to work as a professional stalker! While watching the monkeys (random people) through the surveillance cameras, you can do whatever you want except feed them (interact with them). Good luck!
Watch the monkeys through cameras to see what they do in their private (not necessarily) lives. Soon, you’ll know more, but be careful because this is where observers often start to interfere with their targets. Avoid feeding monkeys, which can result in quite tragic consequences! Or take a risk and try to help them, as your morality tells you. What will you choose?
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Return of the Obra Dinn
| Release date: | 2018-10-18 |
| Genre: | Adventure |
| Developer: | Lucas Pope |
Developed by the creator of Papers Please, Return of the Obra Dinn tells the story of a ship that sailed from London to Asia six years earlier but disappeared without a trace. Now it returned, devastated and without a single living soul on board.
Play as an insurance agent investigating this extraordinary mystery. Explore the ship, examine documents, and discover bits of the story to determine what happened to the crew and passengers. Obra Dinn oozes the disturbing atmosphere of the best detective novels known to humanity!
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Not Tonight
| Release date: | 2018-08-17 |
| Genre: | Adventure |
| Developer: | PanicBarn |
An alternative history of Europe sees Brexit going completely wrong when right-wing parties take over the power. As a foreigner, you are waiting for deportation in a relocation camp – but you can still decide what to do about the situation.
Play as a Person of European Heritage #112 to work as a bouncer in local clubs. Like in Papers Please, your job is to check IDs and decide who to let in. But time flies, and you must choose whether to oppose or blend in and maybe get permission to stay in the UK.
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Ministry Of Broadcast
| Release date: | 2020-01-30 |
| Genre: | Adventure |
| Developer: | Ministry of Broadcast Studios |
Inspired by Orwell’s “1984” and modern TV shows, this dystopian platformer tells the story of a red-headed man separated from his family by a massive wall dividing the entire country.
As it turns out, the only way to return to the family is to participate in the regime’s The Wall Show. While crossing the following levels filled with deadly traps and puzzles, the hero discovers details about the surrounding world and the rules of this game.
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No Umbrellas Allowed
| Release date: | 2021-09-03 |
| Genre: | Strategy |
| Developer: | Hoochoo Game Studios |
Rescued by a man named Darcy, you get a job at his second-hand shop in Ajik City. But you don’t recall anything from before, not even your real name, and now, as Bob, discover the truth or focus on work.
Buy cheaper and sell higher to earn a living in a massive city. Learn how to recognize the value of specific items to negotiate prices and maintain a good reputation at the same time. You’ll soon discover this city seems strange, but that’s probably just an impression.
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Human Resource Machine
| Release date: | 2015-10-15 |
| Genre: | Indie |
| Developer: | Tomorrow Corporation |
Pick this game if you love solving math puzzles in a depressingly corporate setting! And hurry, because the machines are almost here to take your job.
Play as one of the little office workers to climb the career ladder in a massive corporation. Human Resource Machine is a puzzle game requiring programming and counting basics to advance to the next level, meaning one year of work. Solve the puzzles and see what it’s all about!
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Black Border
| Release date: | 2021-01-01 |
| Genre: | Indie |
| Developer: | Bitzooma Game Studio |
Like in Papers, Please, you will be tasked with checking passports and goods passengers want to bring to the country. But which side will you choose?
Remain loyal to the current establishment or start cooperating with mysterious Opposition Groups. Examine documents, communicate with organizations, buy or sell prohibited products, and decide between duty and decent money.
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The Westport Independent
| Release date: | 2016-01-21 |
| Genre: | Indie |
| Developer: | Double Zero One Zero |
Become the editor of the last independent newspaper in a totalitarian country. Anything you leave in the paper about the rebels and the current government may affect public opinion – prepare for the consequences!
Remaining neutral in such turbulent circumstances may do more harm than good. Choose the side and try to smuggle preferred information to see how the story unfolds. But remember, printing your version generates reactions from colleagues, friends, public figures, and others – many of them turn out negative.
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Beholder
| Release date: | 2016-11-09 |
| Genre: | Adventure |
| Developer: | Warm Lamp Games |
Play as Carl, the manager of an apartment building, tasked by a totalitarian government with stalking his tenants. No one can threaten the absolute power of this country!
Watch, eavesdrop, search, and report to satisfy your superiors! But this task will not be that simple. You will meet many unique characters walking the line between legal and not. Choose what to do with the acquired knowledge and whether you can live with the consequences of your ultimate decisions. Should you show some kindness or become a cog in the machine of totalitarian control?
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Life in a dystopia is hard! The endless choices, consequences, serving the oppressive government, surveillance, and bureaucracy cause some pretty gloomy thoughts. But somehow, people still love this theme, seeking it out in books, movies, and video games.
What does that say about human nature? Are we obsessed with death and tragic political scenarios? Perhaps, but let’s not forget that games like Papers contain a glimmer of hope strongly related to some sense of empowerment in the face of oppressive power.