Choose Papers, Please
Choose Papers, Please if you want the Steam Leaderboards side of the pairing. On Steam, it carries the stronger Steam consensus at 97.3% positive across 38,957 reviews.
Papers, Please vs Border Officer
Papers, Please and Border Officer both land in Indie, Adventure on Steam, which is why they keep getting compared. The comparison below is built from each game's Steam metadata — release year, genres, categories, Steam Deck status, price, and review score — refreshed daily by imho.run's scraper. Headline differences: Both share Indie, Adventure on Steam. Papers, Please (2013) is 6 years older than Border Officer (2019). Papers, Please scores higher on Steam reviews (97.3% positive) than Border Officer (63.1% positive). No login or purchase needed — scroll for the full table, the verdict FAQ, and links to ranked similar games for both titles.
Which should you pick?
Choose Border Officer
Choose Border Officer if you want an Action and Simulation experience. On Steam, it's the newer release (2019) and ships with the modern feature baseline. Border Officer launched in 2019.
Both Papers, Please and Border Officer sit in Indie and Adventure on Steam, so either pick lands in the same broad neighborhood. Use the side-by-side table for the feature view, or follow the "Games like" links below to see ranked alternatives for either title.
Side-by-side comparison
 Papers, Please |  Border Officer | |
|---|---|---|
| Released | 2013 | 2019 |
| Genres | Indie, Adventure | Action, Indie, Adventure, Simulation |
| Platforms | Windows, macOS, Linux | Windows |
| Steam Deck | Deck Verified | Deck Playable |
| Price | 9.99 USD | 9.99 USD |
| Steam reviews | 97.3% positive (38,957 reviews) | 63.1% positive (309 reviews) |
| Multiplayer | Single-player only | Single-player only |
| Developers | Lucas Pope | Cheesecake Dev |
Side by side
- Both share Indie, Adventure on Steam.
- Papers, Please (2013) is 6 years older than Border Officer (2019).
- Papers, Please scores higher on Steam reviews (97.3% positive) than Border Officer (63.1% positive).
- Border Officer is currently ~0% cheaper on Steam than Papers, Please (9.99 USD vs. 9.99 USD).
- Steam Deck: Papers, Please is Deck Verified, Border Officer is Deck Playable.
Papers, Please vs Border Officer — FAQ
- Which is better, Papers, Please or Border Officer?
- On Steam reviews Papers, Please scores higher (97.3% positive) than Border Officer (63.1% positive). Both have enough reviews to trust the signal, so for players using reviews alone, Papers, Please is the safer pick. Genre fit still matters — check the side-by-side table for the categories each game lands in.
- Should I play Papers, Please or Border Officer first?
- If you want chronology, Papers, Please (2013) came out before Border Officer (2019). If neither is a sequel to the other, order doesn't really matter — start with whichever fits your current mood, since both share enough on Steam to make either a reasonable opener.
- Are Papers, Please and Border Officer similar?
- They overlap on Indie, Adventure on Steam, so the catalogue groups them together — but "similar" depends on the specific mechanics. Use the genre + category rows above to decide whether the overlap matches what drew you to the one you've already played.