Games Like Papers, Please

Person of European Heritage #112: Welcome to Relocation Block B, your new home. Your designated role is 'Bouncer'. Work hard, stay out of trouble, and we might let you stay in the UK.

Why similar: Political 48.3% ★, Dystopian 17.2%, Simulation 9.2%, Pixel Graphics 7.7%, Addictive 4.3% ★

Why You'll Like It: It takes Papers, Please's document-checking loop and moral strain and shifts it to a bouncer job in a xenophobic near-future Britain.

You’re a state-installed landlord in a totalitarian country. Place listening devices, steal and sneak into your tenants’ apartments. Use what you uncovered to report anyone capable of plotting against the state. You MUST! But WILL you?

Why similar: Political 37.8% ★, Dystopian 20.4%, Point & Click 10%, Multiple Endings 6.4%, Great Soundtrack 5.8%

Why You'll Like It: Like Papers, Please, it traps you inside an authoritarian system where every act of rule enforcement can help or ruin desperate people.

Take over the duties of a border guard inspector in a communist country of the 80's. Smuggling, corruption and forgery are the order of the day here. Be vigilant and earn the respect of your superiors.

Why similar: Simulation 31.1%, Multiple Endings 29.2%, Story Rich 13.3%, Indie 10.3%, Singleplayer 8.6%

Why You'll Like It: This expands the border-inspection fantasy into 3D, emphasizing fake documents, smuggling searches, and life under a harsh regime.

Imagine you're a 12 year old, suddenly in charge of the guard shed at the castle gate, where you decide if elves, goblins and 100+ other characters should be admitted. It's a wonderful combination of deduction, narrative and puzzle games.

Why similar: Political 53.1% ★, Point & Click 16.7%, Multiple Endings 8.4%, Indie 5.4%, Puzzle 4.8%

Why You'll Like It: It mirrors the core inspect-question-decide rhythm almost exactly, but in a fantasy kingdom full of funny writing and meaningful branching consequences.

In this 2D, short narrative-based game, you assume the role of the Grim Reaper... on an office job. Your job is to decide which people are going to live or die. The consequences of your choices are yours to bear, while the mystery of your incarnation awaits revelation!

Why similar: Point & Click 28.2%, Multiple Endings 15.5%, Simulation 14.9%, Story Rich 8.8%, Puzzle 7.5%

Why You'll Like It: Its day-by-day paperwork loop and moral choices about who lives or dies capture the same bureaucratic dread in a supernatural office.

Big Brother has arrived - and it’s you. Investigate the lives of citizens to find those responsible for a series of terror attacks. Information from the internet, personal communications and private files are all accessible to you. But, be warned, the information you supply will have consequences.

Why similar: Political 34.9% ★, Dystopian 32.2%, Simulation 7.3%, Point & Click 6.4%, Story Rich 5.6%

Why You'll Like It: You play another cog in a repressive state, digging through personal data and deciding how much harm you're willing to do in the name of security.

You are an intern at the central ministry of a totalitarian state with your whole career ahead of you. Work your way up the ladder by scheming against employees, spying on your boss, and completing paperwork. Or do you turn against the state and expose corruption. The choice is still yours to make!

Why similar: Political 36.4% ★, Dystopian 19.3%, Addictive 11.4% ★, Point & Click 8.2%, Multiple Endings 5.8%

Why You'll Like It: Its ministry setting leans even harder into corrupt bureaucracy, careerist compromises, and branching outcomes inside a totalitarian state.

A new political Party has won a landslide in the General Election, and for some reason the editor at the news station you work at has done a runner. Now it’s up to you, the Janitor, to take over the editing booth in this tumultuous time - will you help the government, or stand in their way?

Why similar: Political 41.7% ★, Dystopian 20.9%, Point & Click 11.1%, Multiple Endings 7.3%, Simulation 6.6%

Why You'll Like It: You manage propaganda from a control room, making workday decisions that shape both society and your conscience.

Greetings. Your Mind Scanner request has been approved. Your duty is to diagnose and treat the citizens of The Structure. The patient list is long so don't waste your time. We’ll let you see your daughter soon...

Why similar: Political 44.5% ★, Dystopian 20.2%, Multiple Endings 7.3%, Simulation 6.8%, Pixel Graphics 6.1%

Why You'll Like It: It pairs repetitive evaluation work with pressure from a dystopian government and tough calls about whether to obey, exploit, or resist.

Welcome to the Department of Liberty. Ascend the ranks of the NSA-like surveillance agency and decide: will you stand up for privacy, or help create an unstoppable police state? Spy on people’s deepest secrets, pick apart their private lives and decide their fate in this modern surveillance thriller.

Why similar: Political 54.7% ★, Simulation 17.2%, Point & Click 9.8%, Indie 9.5%, Puzzle 3.3%

Why You'll Like It: This is another surveillance desk job where filtering information for the state gradually becomes a moral minefield.

A digital voyeur simulator where you watch strangers through surveillance cameras. Invade their privacy and witness their most intimate moments, but don’t interact with the subjects – anything could happen if you dare feed the monkeys!

Why similar: Dystopian 27.1%, Point & Click 22.8%, Multiple Endings 11.7%, Pixel Graphics 10.2%, Simulation 9.4%

Why You'll Like It: Watching strangers through surveillance feeds and deciding when to interfere delivers a similar voyeuristic mix of routine work and moral tension.

Short, thought-provoking adventure where you are a News Editor and decide what stories get published, set in a fictional city where most people are genetically modified. Multiple unique endings let you share your story and see what the Headliner before you did.

Why similar: Political 46.9% ★, Dystopian 18.9%, Multiple Endings 8.5%, Indie 8.5%, Simulation 4.2%

Why You'll Like It: Each workday asks you to make small editorial calls that cumulatively reshape lives and the political climate, much like Papers, Please's escalating routine.

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.

Why similar: Dystopian 28.7%, Simulation 18.4%, Pixel Graphics 14.1%, Indie 10.2%, Multiple Endings 7.8%

Why You'll Like It: You spend your days inspecting goods, judging authenticity, and surviving under a suspicious regime, which scratches a very similar grim counter-bureaucracy itch.

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...

Why similar: Political 44.7% ★, Dystopian 27.8%, Simulation 16.4%, Indie 11.1%

Why You'll Like It: Running a newspaper under censorship gives you the same uncomfortable power to enforce or undermine an authoritarian government's narrative.

For the People is a mix of a political management sim and a visual novel, putting players in the shoes of an idealistic young state official tasked with shaping the future of a communist factory town. Will the party provide for the people, or are the people just cogs in its machine?..

Why similar: Political 46.8% ★, Dystopian 17.4%, Point & Click 11.3%, Multiple Endings 7.2%, Simulation 5.8%

Why You'll Like It: As a judge under a shaky regime, you're constantly weighing rules, humanity, and political consequences in text-driven casework.

Greetings, valued employee. You have been tasked with sorting the Ringo CorpoNation's genetic samples. With the credits that you earn, you can shop, game and pay your bills on time. Rogue workers may try to entice you into betraying your beloved employer, but we know you'll give 110%.

Why similar: Political 44.7% ★, Dystopian 19.9%, Point & Click 12.1%, Simulation 6.4%, Pixel Graphics 5.9%

Why You'll Like It: This office dystopia focuses on repetitive sorting work, quota pressure, and satirical dehumanization in a way Papers, Please fans usually click with.

Award-winning adventure where you control the news and its impact on society, your friends and career. Different choices lead to unique combinations of endings. Share your story with the community, and see what the players before you did.

Why similar: Political 49.5% ★, Dystopian 15.5%, Point & Click 12.2%, Multiple Endings 6.8%, Simulation 5.3%

Why You'll Like It: It offers a more polished newspaper-editing spin on authoritarian decision-making, with your daily choices rippling through the city.

A dark and satirical management sim, where you take control of a recycling factory with a twist: it recycles humans. Your job is to decide who gets to escape our dying planet in a cozy spaceship and who sacrifices their blood, sweat and tears for humanity. Literally.

Why similar: Political 39.7% ★, Dystopian 20.7%, Point & Click 13.2%, Multiple Endings 8.4%, Simulation 5.3%

Why You'll Like It: Sorting citizens and body parts in a bleak bureaucracy mixes dark humor, resource triage, and ethically ugly paperwork decisions.

This Is the Police is a strategy/adventure game set in a city spiraling the drain. Taking the role of gritty Police Chief Jack Boyd, you'll dive into a deep story of crime and intrigue. Will Jack reach his retirement with a nice stack of bills, or will he end up broken ... or worse?

Why similar: Political 42.1% ★, Simulation 12%, Story Rich 11.3%, Great Soundtrack 8.4%, Strategy 8.3%

Why You'll Like It: It trades passports for police management, but keeps the same grim balancing act between survival, corruption, and personal ethics.

When a high-ranking security officer saves you from prison, you end up a pawn in her schemes. Now you must eliminate anyone standing in the way of her secret plans and try to get your life back while working two jobs. No tenant, employee or superior is safe from your spying.

Why similar: Political 38.5% ★, Dystopian 23.5%, Point & Click 12.9%, Simulation 7.7%, Multiple Endings 4.7%

Why You'll Like It: It returns to the series' mix of authoritarian busywork, spying, and difficult personal choices, even if it's less elegant than the earlier entries.

A retro, pixel art style adventure in New York, inspired by ’80s cop shows. You are Jack Kelly and you’ve been framed for murder. Now as a regular beat cop you have to find out, who did that. Expect thick crime story, a lot of black humour and all the other things you can find on the streets of Brooklyn.

Why similar: Pixel Graphics 28.4%, Simulation 15.3%, Retro 13.7%, Indie 13.1%, Point & Click 12.1%

Why You'll Like It: Its retro beat-cop routine mixes daily tasks, petty rule enforcement, and moral compromise in a similarly grim bureaucratic setting.

It’s 2065, and you are an interrogator-model android tasked with rooting out deviants among your own kind. You must probe for lies, monitor and exploit emotional spikes, earn the trust of your subjects, and make the final call: release, or destroy?

Why similar: Political 44.4% ★, Dystopian 20.4%, Point & Click 10.2%, Multiple Endings 10%, Story Rich 5.7%

Why You'll Like It: Its interview-and-evaluate structure, hidden truths, and pressure to follow corporate-state rules feel like a sci-fi cousin to border inspection.

Ministry of Broadcast is a narrative-driven single player cinematic platformer mixing Orwell’s 1984 with modern reality TV. A country divided by The Wall; to cross it and reach your family, you must compete on - and win - a reality TV show broadcast by the Regime.

Why similar: Political 32.8% ★, Dystopian 20.3%, Indie 16.1%, Pixel Graphics 7.3%, Great Soundtrack 4.4%

Why You'll Like It: Though more platforming-focused, its oppressive state satire and desperate survival tone line up closely with Papers, Please.

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!

Why similar: Political 37.1% ★, Dystopian 18.5%, Point & Click 10.6%, Multiple Endings 5.8%, Simulation 5.5%

Peace, Death! is an arcade simulator with difficulties. In this game you play as the Reaper working for your boss, Death, and send clients to Heaven, Hell, or Purgatory.

Why similar: Pixel Graphics 26.9%, Simulation 22.8%, Indie 20.8%, Great Soundtrack 9.8%, Retro 7.9%

Why You'll Like It: Processing clients at a booth by spotting telltale details is a more arcade-like spin on the same examine-and-sort appeal.

Immigration Enforcement Case #112: You are under arrest. Unless your friends can cross a broken America, retrieve your identifying documents and stay out of trouble... this is the end of the American dream for you.

Why similar: Political 51.7% ★, Dystopian 22%, Simulation 8.2%, Pixel Graphics 7.9%, Indie 4.3%

Why You'll Like It: It keeps the document-checking loop and political anxiety, though its road-trip structure is a bit less focused than the first game.

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.

Why similar: Political 47.9% ★, Dystopian 22.3%, Simulation 9.2%, Indie 4.9%, Story Rich 4%

Why You'll Like It: The sequel doubles down on manipulating truth for the state, echoing the surveillance-heavy bureaucracy that Papers, Please fans often enjoy.

The year is 2036. In this famine-riddled world, food-centric sovereignty has been established. Living alone inside a food-inspection booth, you are striving to find truth and peace beyond the borderline.

Why similar: Dystopian 37.7%, Point & Click 18.4%, Multiple Endings 12.5%, Pixel Graphics 10.7%, Story Rich 6.8%

Why You'll Like It: This bleak food-inspection adventure uses repetitive checking work and oppressive worldbuilding to evoke a similar mundane-horror rhythm.

Berlin 1933. “Adolf Hitler is chancellor!” We all know the consequences this message bore. Unspeakable horrors and suffering would sweep across the world. Few would stand and fight the monstrosity that was the German Reich. Will you? Lead an underground resistance group Through the Darkest of Times.

Why similar: Political 47.8% ★, Simulation 14.1%, Indie 8.8%, Point & Click 8.6%, Multiple Endings 6.1%

Why You'll Like It: Resisting fascism from the ground level gives you the same atmosphere of fear, scarcity, and impossible compromises, even with broader strategy systems.

Usually everyone is unemployed here. But by chance you got a job. You'il work for the state.Everyone in your family is sick or unemployed, only you can help them. You're an immigrant officer.

Why similar: Political 34.5% ★, Simulation 31.9%, Dystopian 13.8%, Indie 9.2%, Multiple Endings 5.1%

Why You'll Like It: A rougher but very literal alternative, it centers on checking travelers and documents at a national border while surviving under a failing state.

Things were worse than ever in Banana Republic, a somber island country. While anarchists roamed the streets, corruption was running deeper due to economic crisis and rising crime rates. Bearing these burdens were "judges" who tried to make things right with honesty...

Why similar: Political 47% ★, Dystopian 14.6%, Point & Click 11.3%, Simulation 7.9%, Multiple Endings 4.9%

A brain-racking game about bathroom breaks, screwdrivers and nuclear explosions.

Why similar: Point & Click 27%, Pixel Graphics 17.4%, Puzzle 13.2%, Multiple Endings 12.9%, Indie 11.5%

It's 1955, and for unknown reasons, doppelgangers are more common than usual. Therefore, the Department of Doppelganger Detection (D.D.D.) has taken action. You are the doorman of an apartment complex, and you must decide whether to let in those who claim to be your neighbors.

Why similar: Point & Click 40.7%, Simulation 15.7%, Multiple Endings 15.5%, Indie 10.8%, Casual 3.8%

Lost at sea 1803 ~ The good ship Obra Dinn.

Why similar: Puzzle 16.5%, Great Soundtrack 16.4%, Story Rich 14.1%, Indie 12.6%, Atmospheric 10.1%

Replica is an interactive novel game played through a cellphone and social media. The insane experience of peeping into someone's private life through a cellphone will transform you into the state's greatest patriot.

Why similar: Political 39% ★, Dystopian 27.1%, Pixel Graphics 11.7%, Indie 9%, Puzzle 6.2%

The Stanley Parable is a first person exploration game. You will play as Stanley, and you will not play as Stanley. You will follow a story, you will not follow a story. You will have a choice, you will have no choice. The game will end, the game will never end.

Why similar: Multiple Endings 32.5%, Indie 30.2%, Story Rich 10.5%, Singleplayer 7.6%, Puzzle 7%

UNDERTALE! The RPG game where you don't have to destroy anyone.

Why similar: Great Soundtrack 26%, Multiple Endings 20.8%, Pixel Graphics 18.6%, Story Rich 12%, Indie 9.3%

Sit on the throne as a benevolent (or malevolent) medieval monarch of the modern age and swipe your royal controller either left or right to impose your will upon the kingdom.

Why similar: Indie 27.2%, Simulation 26.7%, Singleplayer 9.4%, Strategy 7.7%, Great Soundtrack 7.4%

Gods Will Be Watching is a minimalistic “point and click thriller” centered on despair, commitment, and sacrifice as players face intriguing puzzles and tough decisions that will affect their entire crew’s wellbeing.

Why similar: Point & Click 30.6%, Pixel Graphics 18.6%, Indie 11.7%, Difficult 8.8%, Story Rich 8.1%

In Game Dev Tycoon you replay the history of the gaming industry by starting your own video game development company in the 80s. Create best selling games. Research new technologies and invent new game types. Become the leader of the market and gain worldwide fans.

Why similar: Simulation 40.3%, Addictive 18.2% ★, Indie 15.7%, Strategy 6.5%, Point & Click 4.8%

The Red Strings Club is a cyberpunk narrative experience about fate and happiness featuring the extensive use of pottery, bartending and impersonating people on the phone to take down a corporate conspiracy.

Why similar: Pixel Graphics 20.9%, Point & Click 17.4%, Dystopian 15.8%, Great Soundtrack 14.8%, Story Rich 10.7%

Assume the role of President Anton Rayne and guide the nation of Sordland. Amidst brewing international conflicts, need for reform, deep-seated corruption, and economic recession, you must make the decisions in this political drama. How will you lead?

Why similar: Political 64% ★, Point & Click 17%, Multiple Endings 10.2%, Story Rich 5.2%, Singleplayer 2.4%

Inscryption is an inky black card-based odyssey that blends the deckbuilding roguelike, escape-room style puzzles, and psychological horror into a blood-laced smoothie. Darker still are the secrets inscrybed upon the cards...

Why similar: Point & Click 31.7%, Story Rich 21.5%, Puzzle 17.5%, Pixel Graphics 14.6%, Strategy 9%

Pony Island is a suspense puzzle game in disguise. You are in limbo, trapped in a malevolent and malfunctioning arcade machine devised by the devil himself. It is not a game about ponies.

Why similar: Pixel Graphics 26.1%, Puzzle 19%, Indie 18.9%, Great Soundtrack 17.4%, Story Rich 6.1%

In This War Of Mine you do not play as an elite soldier, rather a group of civilians trying to survive in a besieged city; struggling with lack of food, medicine and constant danger from snipers and hostile scavengers. The game provides an experience of war seen from an entirely new angle.

Why similar: Simulation 31.4%, Atmospheric 17.2%, Indie 14.6%, Story Rich 13.9%, Strategy 12.3%

Gunpoint is a stealth puzzle game that lets you rewire its levels to trick people. You play a freelance spy who takes jobs from his clients to break into high security buildings and steal sensitive data.

Why similar: Pixel Graphics 22.5%, Indie 20.6%, Puzzle 19.1%, Great Soundtrack 16.3%, 2D 6.1%

Hotline Miami is a high-octane action game overflowing with raw brutality, hard-boiled gunplay and skull crushing close combat.

Why similar: Great Soundtrack 31.5%, Pixel Graphics 17.1%, Addictive 16.1% ★, Indie 11.1%, Retro 9.8%

Unpacking is a zen puzzle game about the familiar experience of pulling possessions out of boxes and fitting them into a new home. Part block-fitting puzzle, part home decoration, you are invited to create a satisfying living space while learning clues about the life you’re unpacking.

Why similar: Point & Click 22.8%, Pixel Graphics 19.1%, Simulation 14.9%, Puzzle 10.5%, Indie 9%

Throw your toys into your fire, and play with them as they burn. An adventure that takes place almost entirely in front of a fireplace - about looking up up up out of the chimney, and the cold world just on the other side of the wall. From the creators of World of Goo and Human Resource Machine.

Why similar: Indie 24.1%, Great Soundtrack 16.2%, Puzzle 15.3%, Point & Click 14.9%, Singleplayer 7.2%

These are troubling times, Your Grace. The petitioners’ petty matters exceed our limited resources, to say nothing of the war. A careful balance must be struck. Your throne awaits.

Why similar: Pixel Graphics 21.9%, Multiple Endings 20.8%, Simulation 16.8%, Indie 15%, Story Rich 11.5%

Exciting Adventure About the Joys of Working at an Amazin' Fulfillment Center! Short, social commentary game that is 100% free, no micro-transactions.

Why similar: Political 56.4% ★, Indie 14.8%, Pixel Graphics 11.8%, Difficult 5.3%, Casual 3.6%

Interpret the law as you see fit! Run the sheriff’s department, manage your cops, make tough decisions – and try to keep out of prison yourself – in this story-driven mixture of adventure, strategy, and turn-based tactical combat.

Why similar: Story Rich 21.7%, Strategy 18.2%, Indie 16.2%, Great Soundtrack 12.8%, Simulation 12.2%

Gomez is a 2D creature living in a 2D world. Or is he? When the existence of a mysterious 3rd dimension is revealed to him, Gomez is sent out on a journey that will take him to the very end of time and space. Use your ability to navigate 3D structures from 4 distinct classic 2D perspectives.

Why similar: Pixel Graphics 23.4%, Indie 21.9%, Great Soundtrack 20.6%, Puzzle 20.5%, Singleplayer 4.1%

In Social Credit Simulator, you make life-altering decisions by assigning social credit scores based on people’s actions and status. Satirizing real-world social rating systems, your choices determine your survival in a dystopian regime.

Why similar: Political 63.7% ★, Pixel Graphics 9.1%, Simulation 9%, Indie 5.5%, Puzzle 5.5%

There is no game. So don't go messing things up by clicking everywhere. You don’t want to be kicked out of your video game world, do you? Of course not!

Why similar: Point & Click 31.9%, Pixel Graphics 16.3%, Indie 11.2%, Puzzle 9.9%, Story Rich 8%

W!LiB! is an interactive psychological thriller about suicide, based on personal experience. This is a story about a void in the soul, about search and loss of the life purpose in trying to save oneself and others. This is a life that can be lived your own way. For any life is beautiful... isn’t it?

Why similar: Political 35.4% ★, Dystopian 14.5%, Point & Click 10.5%, Simulation 5.1%, Multiple Endings 5.1%

Hacknet is an immersive, terminal-based hacking simulator for PC. Dive down a rabbit hoIe as you follow the instructions of a recently deceased hacker, whose death may not have been the accident the media reports.

Why similar: Dystopian 34%, Simulation 16.7%, Great Soundtrack 14.3%, Story Rich 7.5%, Difficult 7.1%

OneShot is a surreal top down Puzzle/Adventure game with unique gameplay capabilities. You are to guide a child through a mysterious world on a mission to restore its long-dead sun. The world knows you exist.

Why similar: Pixel Graphics 19.4%, Great Soundtrack 19.4%, Multiple Endings 13.1%, Story Rich 12.9%, Indie 11%

Baba Is You is a puzzle game where the rules you have to follow are present as blocks you can interact with. By manipulating them, you can change how the game works, repurpose things you find in the levels and cause surprising interactions!

Why similar: Puzzle 24.6%, Pixel Graphics 18.3%, Indie 17.8%, Difficult 16.7%, Great Soundtrack 9.6%

Irony Curtain: From Matryoshka with Love is a satirical point and click inspired by the classic adventure games. It smuggles you out of your comfort zone and throws you into the middle of a Cold War spy intrigue - where there’s an even bigger game being played …

Why similar: Political 57.5% ★, Point & Click 21.2%, Indie 6.9%, Great Soundtrack 5.3%, Singleplayer 2.6%