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 Beholder
Papers, Please and Beholder 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 3 years older than Beholder (2016). Papers, Please scores higher on Steam reviews (97.3% positive) than Beholder (82% 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 Beholder
Choose Beholder if you want a Strategy experience. On Steam, it's the newer release (2016) and ships with the modern feature baseline. 3,028 Steam reviews back the pick.
Both Papers, Please and Beholder 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 |  Beholder | |
|---|---|---|
| Released | 2013 | 2016 |
| Genres | Indie, Adventure | Strategy, Indie, Adventure |
| Platforms | Windows, macOS, Linux | Windows, macOS, Linux |
| Steam Deck | Deck Verified | Deck Verified |
| Price | 9.99 USD | 13.99 USD |
| Steam reviews | 97.3% positive (38,957 reviews) | 82% positive (3,028 reviews) |
| Multiplayer | Single-player only | Single-player only |
| Developers | Lucas Pope | Alawar Stargaze (Warm Lamp Games) |
Side by side
- Both share Indie, Adventure on Steam.
- Papers, Please (2013) is 3 years older than Beholder (2016).
- Papers, Please scores higher on Steam reviews (97.3% positive) than Beholder (82% positive).
- Papers, Please is currently ~29% cheaper on Steam than Beholder (9.99 USD vs. 13.99 USD).
- Both are Deck Verified.
Papers, Please vs Beholder — FAQ
- Which is better, Papers, Please or Beholder?
- On Steam reviews Papers, Please scores higher (97.3% positive) than Beholder (82% 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 Beholder first?
- If you want chronology, Papers, Please (2013) came out before Beholder (2016). 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 Beholder 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.
- Do Papers, Please and Beholder both run on Steam Deck?
- Yes — both are Steam Deck Verified, meaning Valve confirms they run with full controller support, legible text, and default settings out of the box.