10 Emotionally-Draining Video Games You Only Finished Once

9. Papers, Please

Much has been written about the idea of making a game out of analysing dates on a variety of official documents and then noting down discrepancies, but to look at that on face value and go "Well I'd rather be shooting something!" is to completely miss the point. Created by one Lucas Pope, a man known for developing some extraordinarily intense games in 48 hour periods for various competitions, this fully-fledged 2D foray into asking the player what they would do if their own family's wellbeing hinged on that of others says more by its very existence and execution than many triple-A games ever will. You're a border control agent, balancing things like processing enough people through the checkpoint to avoid being fired, and making sure you can afford medicine or food for your family in the process. As you progress up the ladder and establish something of a rapport with the guards on patrol you're able to do deals that will get you more money - at the expense of the person in question's wellbeing (they have quotas to meet too) - and that's before you're given a firearm to take down anyone who tries to make a break for it. It's all very weighty stuff, and when you've got a begging husband with papers in order who as you flag through mentions his wife is in the line behind - only to realise she'd be entering the country illegally and giving you a pay-cut - the time-sensitive "What would you do?" hook is pure genius.