"wired" listed "papers, please" as their top game for 2013, recognizing that the game's title, often coupled with the hollywood representation of nazi officials stopping people and demanding to see their identification, alongside the drab presentation captured the ideas of living as a lowly worker in a police state. in 2019, the game was ranked 45th on "the guardian" newspaper's the 50 best video games of the 21st century list.