Are you be wanting to cross border? Then you must pass papers. Please. That's the simple premise of Lucas Pope's hit indie title, Paper's Please and it's the same one that dominates the new short film based on the game. Does out protagonist allow those who don't quite meet the criteria for entry through? Does their story of heartache qualify them for entry even if their papers don't?
Papers Please is a game about the morality involved with just one small position of power and what is truly important to a person in that situation. Does their soul come before the lives of their family? Do they put themselves or others at risk, for the sake of doing the right thing?
The short film sees the protagonist -- usually occupied by the faceless gamer in the original indie title -- played by Russian actor, Igor Savochkin, who does a great job of portraying the heartache and depressing inevitability of the border checkpoint officer. He's joined by the claustrophobic atmosphere of the game, but not in the form of a cramped workspace, but in a dingy setting and that droning music, which while so applicable, is crushing in its own way.
Directed by short film creator, Nikita Ordynskiy, Papers Please features writing by Liliya Tkach and Lucas Pope himself. You can watch it on the Youtube link above, or on Steam.
