History YMMV / PapersPlease

** KILLER SIDEBURNS.[[labelnote:Explanation]]ID suplements may note this characteristic.[[/labelnote]]

** Is the EZIC a heroic group of freedom fighters seeking to liberate Arstotzka from its oppressive regime? Or is it just another group of radicals who simply want to seize power for themselves?

* NightmareFuel: The ending of the film adaptation. After letting a couple in, having approved the wife's entry and letting an inconsistent spelling of her last name slide (after having broken Elisa's heart by denying her entry and thus the chance to see her lover Sergiu), the couple [[TheFarmerAndTheViper blows up]] the booth [[JumpScare without warning]] while the husband screams "FOR KOLECHIA!!", raid sirens go off, and the disoriented Inspector steps outside to see the husband shooting Sergiu dead. This ''terrorist'' then turns his gun on the Inspector and the screen [[SmashToBlack smashes to black]], implying that [[DownerEnding he killed the Inspector too]].

* NightmareFuel: The ending of the film adaptation. After letting a couple in, having approved the wife's entry and letting an inconsistent spelling of her last name slide, the couple [[TheFarmerAndTheViper blows up]] the booth [[JumpScare without warning]] while the husband screams "FOR KOLECHIA!!", raid sirens go off, and the disoriented Inspector steps outside to see the husband shooting Sergiu dead. This ''terrorist'' then turns his gun on the Inspector and the screen [[SmashToBlack smashes to black]], implying that [[DownerEnding he killed the Inspector]].

* NightmareFuel: The ending of the film adaptation. After letting a couple in, having approved the wife's entry and letting an inconsistent spelling of her last name slide, the couple [[TheFarmerAndTheViper blows up]] the booth [[JumpScare without warning]] while Isaac screams "FOR KOLECHIA!!", raid sirens go off, and the disoriented Inspector steps outside to see the husband shooting Sergiu dead. This ''terrorist'' then turns his gun on the Inspector and the screen [[SmashToBlack smashes to black]], implying that [[DownerEnding he killed the Inspector]].

** KILLER SIDEBURNS.[[labelnote:Explanation]]ID cards may note this characteristic.[[/labelnote]]

** The Obristan border agent the inspector encounters in the ending where [[spoiler:he flees to Obristan. It's quite obvious that the forged Obristan passports the inspector and his family are carrying are of extremely poor quality and likely won't even pass a cursory check, but they are let into the country anyways. Was the Obristan border agent simply too incomptent or apathetic to do his job properly? Or is he aware of Arstotzkans refugees trying to escape into Obristan and secretly looks the other way?]]

** Your niece that you can adopt on day 21, to an extent. She is left with no family members as her mother was arrested for undisclosed reasons. If you don't adopt her, she will disappear in the next day, leaving the player with a sense of unease.

** Lots. You will be encountering lots of people with varying degree of problems that you really just want to give them a hug, from a couple of immigrants that's escaping from their tyrannical country government to a loving father whom have robbed away from his (presumably) only family and driven into state of depression.

* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic: The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h2FxJrK9Amw ending theme]]. It's a cheerful piano piece that lets you know that, depending on your ending, [[spoiler:you have escaped Arstotzkan totalitarianism, you've toppled the Arstotzkan government, or you've proven your loyalty to Arstotzka and can continue your duties as a border inspector without worrying about EZIC anymore]].

* TheScrappy: Both of the Journalists that come in day 17 and 20 respectively are complete [[{{Jerkass}} entitled assholes]] that always come with insufficient papers. You can always deny them, but they prove to be quite a nuisance themselves by calling out your either strict protocol or your lax decision in the next day's newspaper entry, claiming that Arstotzka's border check is too strict or too lax, enough for the MOA to issue a Reason of Denial stamp into your booth. The fact that they can't be detained at all makes it more infuriating. At best, you can [[spoiler:poison the second of two journalists with the powder meant for Khaled Istom / The Man in Red]], but this does not net any unique scenes or dialogue, which makes it a disappointing form of revenge.

* TheScrappy: Both of the Journalists that come in day 17 and 20 respectively are complete [[{{Jerkass}} entitled assholes]] that always come with insufficient papers. You can always deny them, but they prove to be quite a nuisance themselves by calling out your either strict protocol or your lax decision in the next day's newspaper entry, claiming that Arstotzka's border check is too strict or too lax, enough for the MOA to issue a Reason of Denial stamp into your booth. The fact that they can't be detained at all makes it more infuriating.

* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodCharacter: Nathan Cykelek a.k.a. Carpov Calistnen, the entrant who accidentally presents two passports by accident. Most players will just slam the Detain button the moment it appears, but if you stop to interrogate him, he says that he'll explain why he has two passports, which would've been an interesting bit of worldbuilding given that he has Arstotzkan and Kolechian passports (and those two countries just ended a war with each other), if you give him his documents back. But do so and he leaves without saying another word.

** If you're genuinely playing as a moral justicar inspector, letting the Vengeful Father lash out against [[spoiler:Simon Wens]] for murdering his daughter in day 30 is very satisfying to do, especially if you keep up on the newspaper and discover him to be [[spoiler:found dead in a gruesome mess]].

* HarsherInHindsight: Near the end of the game, the United Federation suffers a polio outbreak and Arstotska imposes an entry ban on Federals until the vaccine certificate requirement was introduced. In 2020, the UsefulNotes/COVID19Pandemic swept the globe, with the United States -- one of the likely inspirations for the U.F. -- becoming the epicenter of the pandemic, causing many countries to refuse American entrants until a vaccine became available. Moreover, some entrants may respond that they do not believe in vaccines upon the lack of vaccination certificate being pointed out, which, to an extent, reflects the anti-vaccine movement that rised because of the pandemic.

** If you're feeling particularly spiteful of the Arstotzkan government and EZIC, [[spoiler:you can meet the conditions for Ending 19 by completing at least four EZIC tasks, then gather enough Obristan passports for your family, shoot the EZIC agents on Day 30, and then flee the country for Ending 18, basically giving the middle finger to both factions, although this does not trigger any unique rewards or cutscenes.]]

** If you don't like the oppressive Arstotzkan government ''or'' the seedy and questionably-trustworthy EZIC, [[spoiler:you can do enough EZIC tasks to get on their side on the final day, ''then'' kill the EZIC agents to betray them at the last minute, ''then'' take your whole family to Obristan for Ending 18, basically telling both factions to shove it. "Obristan above all" indeed.]]

* SelfImposedChallenge: [[NoDamageRun Zero-Citation Runs]] are pretty common, and harder than they sound as the rules and documents stack up (not to mention morally taxing, as a lot of sympathetic entrants have to be turned away). Technically a true Zero-Citation Run is impossible because a late-game interaction with Jorji forces a citation, but general consensus is that [[ObviousRulePatch this doesn't count]] since you don't have a choice.

* RealismInducedHorror:
** You're a border inspector in a Soviet-like nation who has to support his family on a shoestring budget that the government can cut down if he doesn't follow the policies. Even in today's post-Cold War world, there's many families out there who depend on one person (often one of the parents, or a child who's of legal working age) to put food on the table and keep a roof over their heads, and that's easily jeopardized if that sole earner loses their job.
** Picture it from an entrant's perspective as well. You're coming to the country because of some urgent reason or another, like moving away from another country that's in worse condition or better opportunities for income for you and your family than what you can get back home. And the person staffing the customs booth coldly rejects your entry and forces you to go back, all because of one document that expired a day ago. Or you get in, but your loved one (such a spouse) doesn't, for the same reason.

** You're a border inspector in a Soviet-like nation who has to support his family on a shoestring budget that the government can cut down if he doesn't follow the policies. Even in today's post-Cold War world, there's many families out there who depend on one person (often one of the parents, or a child who's of legal working age), and that's easily jeopardized if that sole earner loses their job.

** You're a border inspector in a Soviet-like nation who has to support his family on a shoestring budget that the government can cut down if he doesn't follow the policies. Even in today's post-Cold War world, there's many families out there who depend on one person (often one of the parents), and that's easily jeopardized if that sole earner loses their job.
** Picture it from an entrant's perspective as well. You're coming to the country because of some urgent reason or another, like moving away from another country that's in worse condition or better opportunities for income for you and your family than what you can get back home. And the person staffing the customs booth coldly rejects your entry and forces you to go back, all because of one document that expired a day ago. Or you get in, but your loved one (like a spouse) doesn't, for the same reason.

** You can actually gave that pesky journalists a comeuppance for giving your country and work a bad name. On day 20, you can [[spoiler:use the poison that EZIC has given to you onto the Journalist's passport instead of Khaled's]]. Doing so prompts the same day-ending script, but it doesn't count as helping EZIC, allowing you to get the Ending 20 if you haven't completed any other EZIC task prior. Best of all, killing the journalist carries nearly no negative consequences if you are not trying to side with EZIC; while the day does get cut short, [[ThePerfectCrime you are never suspected of killing them]].

** You can actually gave that pesky journalists a comeuppance for giving your country and work a bad name. On day 20, you can [[spoiler:use the poison that EZIC has given to you onto the Journalist's passport instead of Khaled's]]. Doing so prompts the same day-ending script, but it doesn't count as helping EZIC, allowing you to get the Ending 20 if you haven't completed any other EZIC task prior.

** Is Sergiu being nice and friendly towards the inspector because he is [[NiceGuy genuinely a good person]], or is he just doing it in order to establish a rapport with you, so that when the time comes, [[BatmanGambit he can use the inspector's position to get his lover through the border against regulations]]? How you interpret this will really change your perception on whether or not the scene of Sergiu and Elisa embracing each other as one of the [[SugarWiki/HeartwarmingMoments most adorable and heartwarming moments in an otherwise bleak story]], or that he is [[ManipulativeBastard yet another guy who will step over you to get what he wants]] (After all, your supervisor [[BadBoss Dimitri]] had you do the same thing with [[EvenEvilHasLovedOnes his own lover, Shae]]. Just in an even ruder and demanding manner.)
*** Though the fact that (if you save his life) Sergiu sends you some money in gratitude after you let Elisa through should hint you which interpretation of him is more likely to be true.
*** And, hey, just because he's befriending the inspector for his own sake, [[TakeAThirdOption doesn't mean the friendship is not real.]]
*** Not to mention Sergiu can end up dying trying to protect the inspector from a terrorist raid.

** M. Vonel will be at your booth before you even arrive is sure to give you [[JumpScare a start]], and leave you wondering if he'll be back to arrest you should you prove to be anything but squeaky clean.

* TheWoobie: Lots. You will be encountering lots of people with varying degree of problems that you really just want to give them a hug, from a couple of immigrants that's escaping from their tyrannical country government to a loving father whom have robbed away from his (presumably) only family and driven into state of depression.
** Special mention goes to Elisa Kastenja. She has no remaining family members after the war between Arstotka and Kolechia five years prior, and the government couldn't care less about her state and refuses to give her the proper documents needed for immigration, leaving her stuck either surviving in her hellhole homeland or dying trying to escape it. If you approve her entry and Sergiu is still alive at his post, she will be grateful towards your kindness and give you a hefty chunk of money the following night, presumably her savings from prior to moving.