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 Heart. Papers. Border.
Papers, Please and Heart. Papers. Border. 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 4 years older than Heart. Papers. Border. (2017). Papers, Please is Deck Verified on Steam Deck; Heart. Papers. Border. 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 Heart. Papers. Border.
Choose Heart. Papers. Border. if you want a Strategy, Simulation, and Casual experience. On Steam, it's the newer release (2017) and ships with the modern feature baseline. Heart. Papers. Border. launched in 2017.
Both Papers, Please and Heart. Papers. Border. 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 |  Heart. Papers. Border. | |
|---|---|---|
| Released | 2013 | 2017 |
| Genres | Indie, Adventure | Strategy, Indie, Simulation, Casual, Early Access |
| 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) | 6 reviews |
| Multiplayer | Single-player only | Single-player only |
| Developers | Lucas Pope | Jovian Industries, Pronoia AB |
Side by side
- Both are Indie games on Steam.
- Papers, Please (2013) is 4 years older than Heart. Papers. Border. (2017).
- Papers, Please is Deck Verified on Steam Deck; Heart. Papers. Border. has no Deck rating yet.
Papers, Please vs Heart. Papers. Border. — FAQ
- Should I play Papers, Please or Heart. Papers. Border. first?
- If you want chronology, Papers, Please (2013) came out before Heart. Papers. Border. (2017). 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 Heart. Papers. Border. 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. Heart. Papers. Border. doesn't have a Deck rating yet, so its Deck behaviour is currently unverified.