Choose Papers, Please
Choose Papers, Please if you want an Adventure game with Steam Leaderboards. On Steam, it's Steam Deck Verified, so handheld play works out of the box. 38,957 Steam reviews back the pick.
Papers, Please vs What Awaits, Aleksey?
Papers, Please and What Awaits, Aleksey? both land in Indie 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 are Indie games on Steam. Papers, Please (2013) is 13 years older than What Awaits, Aleksey? (2026). Papers, Please is Deck Verified on Steam Deck; What Awaits, Aleksey? has no Deck rating yet. 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 What Awaits, Aleksey?
Choose What Awaits, Aleksey? if it's the newer release (2026) and ships with the modern feature baseline. What Awaits, Aleksey? launched in 2026.
Both Papers, Please and What Awaits, Aleksey? sit in Indie 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 |  What Awaits, Aleksey? | |
|---|---|---|
| Released | 2013 | 2026 |
| Genres | Indie, Adventure | Indie |
| Platforms | Windows, macOS, Linux | Windows, macOS, Linux |
| Steam Deck | Deck Verified | Unrated |
| Price | 9.99 USD | Price unknown |
| Steam reviews | 97.3% positive (38,957 reviews) | — |
| Multiplayer | Single-player only | Single-player only |
| Developers | Lucas Pope | JKBC |
Side by side
- Both are Indie games on Steam.
- Papers, Please (2013) is 13 years older than What Awaits, Aleksey? (2026).
- Papers, Please is Deck Verified on Steam Deck; What Awaits, Aleksey? has no Deck rating yet.
Papers, Please vs What Awaits, Aleksey? — FAQ
- Should I play Papers, Please or What Awaits, Aleksey? first?
- If you want chronology, Papers, Please (2013) came out before What Awaits, Aleksey? (2026). 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 What Awaits, Aleksey? similar?
- They overlap on Indie 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.
- Does Papers, Please run on Steam Deck?
- Yes — Papers, Please is rated Deck Verified by Valve. What Awaits, Aleksey? doesn't have a Deck rating yet, so its Deck behaviour is currently unverified.