Games of the Decade: Papers, Please's immigration takedown is more powerful now than ever

Lucas Pope's dystopian document thriller Papers, Please is, on the face of it, a puzzle game about catching people out, but I think it's actually a game about coping with being punched in the gut, over and over again, with the relentlessly regular beat of a bass saxhorn playing a slow march rhythm.

Bowm! Bowm! Bowm! Bowm!

Amid the stress of trying to catch travellers out as an immigration officer working at the border crossing between fictional Eastern Bloc-style countries Kolechia and Arstotzka (glory to Arstotzka), Papers, Please forces you to decide the fate of not only strangers, but your loved ones. It is impossible to earn enough money to feed, heat and nurse your entire family. So you must decide who should live and who should die in your house. My wife is cold, sick and hungry. My son is cold and very sick. My mother-in-law and uncle are already dead. My son will die without medicine. If I spend the $5 I have spare after paying rent on medicine for him, my wife will probably get very sick and die. Both will get very cold because I can't afford to pay for heating.

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