Papers, Please
A game about checking documents at a border checkpoint.
Where Papers, Please comes up2 episodes and tests
Gcreator of Game Maker's Toolkit, with the designer of Islanders and Thronefall testHow to find amazing game ideas
Gcreator of Game Maker's Toolkit testThe 100 Games That Taught Me Game DesignLucas Pope turned his own frequent passport checks while travelling into a game about spotting document discrepancies, and he asks how he'd express an idea in a trailer. It starts as spot-the-difference deduction, then a woman fleeing persecution arrives with an out-of-date passport and you must decide. Lesson: mine real-life routines for mechanics, and let a simple mechanic carry a moral choice.
- 1Check documentsSpot-the-difference deduction
- 2Spot discrepanciesCompare details across papers
- 3Fleeing woman arrivesHer passport is out of date
- 4Decide what to doDeduction becomes a moral choice
From Mark Brown's video on game design
What was said about Papers, Please
Lucas Pope turned his own passport checks into a game. Pope's frequent passport checks while travelling became Papers, Please, a game about spotting discrepancies between documents. The idea came from an experience outside games.
Mark Brown's video uses it as an example of mining real world activities and outside interests for mechanics, alongside Miyamoto's Pikmin (from gardening) and Will Wright's SimCity and The Sims (from whatever he reads). The advice given: "it's important to have experiences and interests outside of games."
Pope checks whether he can picture a trailer before building. Pope asks how he would express an idea in a trailer. If he can't imagine a cool trailer, the idea is probably not worth pursuing.
Working out the name and capsule art early also shows whether the idea has a marketable proposition before resources are spent. Pope is cited for this on Papers, Please and Return of the Obra Dinn. Quote: "If it can't be expressed in a, if I can't imagine right now a cool trailer for this, then it's probably not worth pursuing."
Papers, Please starts as deduction, then forces a moral choice. The game begins as spot-the-difference deduction across documents. Then a woman fleeing persecution arrives with an out-of-date passport and you must decide what to do.
Mark Brown lists it among the games that taught him game design.
How to find amazing game ideas
Lucas Pope's frequent passport checks while travelling became a game about spotting document discrepancies. Pope also asks how he'd express it in a trailer.
Lucas Pope turned his own passport checks into a game. Pope's frequent passport checks while travelling became Papers, Please, a game about spotting discrepancies between documents. The idea came from an experience outside games.
Mark Brown's video uses it as an example of mining real world activities and outside interests for mechanics, alongside Miyamoto's Pikmin (from gardening) and Will Wright's SimCity and The Sims (from whatever he reads). The advice given: "it's important to have experiences and interests outside of games."
Pope checks whether he can picture a trailer before building. Pope asks how he would express an idea in a trailer. If he can't imagine a cool trailer, the idea is probably not worth pursuing.
Working out the name and capsule art early also shows whether the idea has a marketable proposition before resources are spent. Pope is cited for this on Papers, Please and Return of the Obra Dinn. Quote: "If it can't be expressed in a, if I can't imagine right now a cool trailer for this, then it's probably not worth pursuing."
The 100 Games That Taught Me Game Design
It starts as spot-the-difference deduction, then a woman fleeing persecution arrives with an out-of-date passport and you must decide.
Papers, Please starts as deduction, then forces a moral choice. The game begins as spot-the-difference deduction across documents. Then a woman fleeing persecution arrives with an out-of-date passport and you must decide what to do.
Mark Brown lists it among the games that taught him game design.
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