Papers, Please

Papers, Please is a singleplayer first-person, bird's-eye view and flip screen puzzle and simulation game.

General information

Availability

Source	DRM	Notes	Keys	OS
Official website
GOG.com
Humble Store
Steam		Can be played without Steam if Steam.exe is not present or by creating a `steam_appid.txt` file containing its Steam App ID number `239030` in `<path-to-game>` on Windows.^[4]

Type	Notes
One-time game purchase	The game requires an upfront purchase to access.

Type	Notes
No microtransactions	Game does not contain any microtransactions.

System	Location
Windows	%APPDATA%\3909\PapersPlease\
macOS (OS X)	$HOME/Library/Application Support/PapersPlease/
Linux	$XDG_DATA_HOME/3909/PapersPlease/

The settings file is binary and can't be easily edited.

This game follows the XDG Base Directory Specification on Linux.

System	Location
Windows	%APPDATA%\3909\PapersPlease\*.sav
macOS (OS X)	$HOME/Library/Application Support/PapersPlease/
Linux	$XDG_DATA_HOME/3909/PapersPlease/

In the Unity version, the command-line argument savedir <directory> may be used to override the save directory.

System	Native	Notes
GOG Galaxy
Steam Cloud		Does not work on Linux

General settings.

Graphics feature	State	Notes
Widescreen resolution		16:9; other aspect ratios are either letterboxed or pillarboxed. If you have issues with scaling, try using the command-line argument `stretch` to stretch the pixels to fill the screen.
Multi-monitor
Ultra-widescreen
4K Ultra HD
Field of view (FOV)
Windowed		Window is fully resizable.
Borderless fullscreen windowed		Supported in the Unity version; labeled as "Fullscreen".
Anisotropic filtering (AF)
Anti-aliasing (AA)
Vertical sync (Vsync)		Use the command-line argument `nosync` to disable vertical synchronization for the Unity version.
60 FPS
120+ FPS		Framerate is capped at 65 fps.
High dynamic range display (HDR)		See the glossary page for potential alternatives.
Color blind mode		See the glossary page for potential workarounds.

The game engine may allow for manual configuration of the game via its variables. See the Unity page for more details.

Keyboard and mouse, touch	State	Notes
Remapping		See the glossary page for potential workarounds.
Mouse acceleration
Mouse sensitivity
Mouse input in menus
Keyboard and mouse prompts
Mouse Y-axis inversion
Touchscreen optimised		Windowed mode only as of February 2014; no multi-touch support.^[5]^{[citation needed]}
Controller
Controller support

Audio feature	State	Notes
Separate volume controls		Music, Sound
Surround sound
Subtitles
Closed captions
Mute on focus lost		Audio is not muted in the Unity version.
Royalty free audio

Language	UI	Audio	Sub	Notes
English
Basque
Simplified Chinese
Czech				Fan translation made official and added to the HAXE+Unity version. Fan - 1
French
German
Hungarian				Fan translation by The_Reaper_CooL (TRC), download.
Indonesian				Added to the HAXE+Unity version.
Italian
Japanese
Korean				Added to the HAXE+Unity version.
Polish				Fan translation made official.
Brazilian Portuguese				Alternative fan translation by Tribo Gamer; download.
Russian
Spanish
Turkish				Added to the HAXE+Unity version.
Ukrainian				Fan translation made official.

Start the game directly^{[citation needed]}
Go to the installation folder. Run `PapersPlease.exe` directly.

Executable	32-bit	64-bit	ARM	Notes
Windows				The last 32-bit executable (1.1.65) is available on Steam in a separate branch for the legacy OpenFL version.
macOS (OS X)
Linux

A 64-bit operating system is required.

A 64-bit operating system is required.

Developers

	Lucas Pope
Publishers
	3909
Engines
Former	OpenFL^[1]
	Unity 2020^{[Note 1]}
Release dates
Windows	August 8, 2013
macOS (OS X)	August 8, 2013
Linux	February 12, 2014
Reception
Metacritic	85
IGDB	82
Taxonomy
Monetization	One-time game purchase
Microtransactions	None
Modes	Singleplayer
Pacing	Real-time
Perspectives	First-person, Bird's-eye view, Flip screen
Controls	Point and select
Genres	Puzzle, Simulation
Art styles	Stylized
Themes	Cold War, Eastern Europe