Lucas Pope’s 2013 “dystopian document thriller" Papers, Please is an absolute masterpiece, and it felt even more at home when it made its way to iPad the following year. Wow, was that really a decade ago? Yeesh. Anyway, the game had you playing a border control agent that would need to inspect the documents of those crossing the border and either approve or reject their entry. It was a neat puzzle-like game that tested your observational skills and attention to detail, but the actual subject matter and the meta stories told throughout were certainly on the “heavy" side. It’s the kind of game you almost felt guilty saying you were having fun with just because of how somber everything is.
Well, if you want a game like Papers, Please without (as many) heavy overtones, Bad Credit? No Problem! is pretty much that. You play as a newly hired loan officer at a fairly scummy company called Title 4 Cash that will give people loans using their vehicle as collateral. Each day you’ll meet with a new set of applicants and then go over their paperwork to determine if they’re eligible for a loan from you or not. Things start out fairly easy with you simply needing to make sure names match and dates are correct, but with each new day there are more things you’ll need to check on before deciding to approve or reject an applicant. You have limited time with each applicant too, so you can’t take forever poring over every little detail.
Since you’re a new hire you’re on a 14 day probation trial period, and your goal is to simply get through those 14 days. It is much easier said than done. Bad Credit? No Problem! gets quite challenging the further you go, but if you can complete that probation period you’ll unlock a sweet Survival mode where you can try to play for as long as possible. The game also features special items and abilities to unlock along the way that will hopefully make your job more manageable. These are presented as software that’s available through the app store on your company’s computer and you’ll spend the money you earn to purchase them, though you really shouldn’t be downloading unauthorized apps onto your company computer.
While the vibe in Bad Credit? No Problem! is much lighter than Papers, Please on initial impression, there actually is quite a lot of depth to the characters and the environment in the game. You’ll slowly find out why certain applicants are taking an obviously bad deal for a quick cash loan, and it’s hard not to feel bad for their various situations. You’ll also start to realize how crummy your company, especially your boss, and the other companies that come into your peripheral really are. It’s like a commentary on society, work culture, and capitalism, but also peppered with a ton of personality and lots of amusing little details that help to take the load off your shoulders. It feels like the kind of game Mike Judge would make. And if you were a fan of Papers, Please in any way and want something similar, Bad Credit? No Problem! will totally fit that bill.
