It's really just a game that passes the time and gives you a way to look for details if you're an organized person. The sounds aren't that great, and the graphics are possibly even worse. If you make mistakes, then you get money taken from your paycheck. As the player stands on the threshold between two different countries, a unique perspective of immigration and border security springs out of the mundane. There is a menu on the side of the screen that shows what you're supposed to be looking for so that you don't let anyone past who shouldn't go through. Papers, Please is a single-player Dystopian Document Thriller in which the player steps into the role of an immigration inspector in the fictional country of Arstotzka in the year 1982. Your job is to look at all of the components of the papers to see if everything is in order.
There is a line of people who will show you the paperwork that they have. The money that is made while working isn't a lot, but it's something to give to your family so that they can survive. Your job involves a lot of sitting behind a window or a desk, which doesn't make for a lot of interesting action in the game unless an arrest needs to be made.
As a citizen, you have been asked to work as an inspector so that you can help the government try to find those who are getting into the country illegally. The game seems simple enough, but the laws of immigration change frequently, so you have to be on your toes when it comes to the people who try to sneak across without the proper paperwork. This is a different kind of game where you play the role of an immigration worker who looks at the papers of those who are trying to get into the country.