"papers, please" is considered by several journalists as an example of video games as an art form. "papers, please" is frequently categorized as an "empathy game", a type of role-playing game that "asks players to inhabit their character's emotional worlds", as described by patrick begley of the "sydney morning herald", or as described by pope himself, "other people simulators". pope noted that he had not set out to make an empathy game, but the emotional ties created by his scenarios came about naturally from developing the core mechanics.