Comparison

Plague Inc. vs Papers, Please

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Plague Inc.

A strategic simulation game where you evolve a deadly pathogen to infect the world and end humanity. Adapt your plague against global defenses and master different disease types to achieve victory. It's a high-stakes battle of strategy against the entire planet.

Highlights
  • Evolve deadly global plagues
  • Adapt against human defenses
  • Master 12 disease types
  • Infect 50+ countries
  • Hundreds of traits to evolve
  • Daily Diseases and Outbreak Mode
Features
Read full description

Can you infect the world? Plague Inc. is a unique mix of high strategy and terrifyingly realistic simulation. Your pathogen has just infected 'Patient Zero'. Now you must bring about the end of human history by evolving a deadly, global Plague whilst adapting against everything humanity can do to defend itself. Brilliantly executed with innovative gameplay and built from the ground up for iPhone & iPad, Plague Inc. evolves the strategy genre and pushes mobile gaming (and you) to new levels. It’s You vs. the world - only the strongest can survive! ◈◈◈ #1 top game globally with well over a billion games played ◈◈◈ Plague Inc. is a global hit with over a million 5 star ratings and features in newspapers such as The Economist, New York Post, Boston Herald, The Guardian and London Metro! The developer of Plague Inc. was invited to speak at the CDC in Atlanta about the disease models inside the game! ▶ “The game creates a compelling world that engages the public on serious public health topics” – The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ▶ "Plague Inc: The Cure encapsulates the complexities of a global pandemic response and highlights how crucial international collaboration is needed to address such a threat.” – Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations ▶ “Best Tablet Game” - New York Daily News ▶ “Plague Inc. will snag your attention in all the right ways and keep it there” - Touch Arcade ▶ “No denying Plague Inc.'s high-level of quality” - Modojo ▶ “Plague Inc. should not be as much fun as it is” – London Metro ▶ “Will leave you hoping to destroy the world, all in the name of a bit of fun” – Pocket Lint ▶ “Plague Inc.'s gameplay is infectious” - Slide to Play ▶ Winner – “Overall Game of the Year” – Pocket Gamer ▶ “Killing billions has never been so fun” – IGN ◈◈◈ Features: ● Stunning retina graphics with a highly polished interface (Contagion guaranteed) ● Highly detailed, hyper-realistic world with advanced AI (Outbreak management) ● Comprehensive in-game help and tutorial system (I am Legendarily helpful) ● 12 different disease types with radically different strategies to master (12 Monkeys?) ● Full Save/Load functionality (28 Saves Later!) ● 50+ countries to infect, hundreds of traits to evolve and thousands of world events to adapt to (Pandemic evolved) ● Full game support for scoreboards and achievements ● Expansion updates add the mind controlling Neurax Worm, the zombie producing Necroa Virus, Speed Runs and real life Scenarios! ● Can you save the world? Take control and stop a deadly global plague in our biggest expansion yet! ● Take on Daily Diseases, earn powerful upgrades and compete against the world in Outbreak Mode! Localised in English, German, Spanish, Brazilian Portuguese, Italian, French, Japanese, Korean, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese and Russian. (more coming soon) P.S. Give yourself a pat on the back if you got all the themed literature references! Special sale price to celebrate being one of the most popular paid iPhone games ever! ◈◈◈ Like Plague Inc. on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/PlagueInc Follow me on Twitter: www.twitter.com/NdemicCreations

About

Papers, Please

Step into the shoes of a border inspector in a dystopian communist state. Examine documents, interrogate travelers, and decide who is allowed to enter. Your choices impact your family's survival and the fate of the nation.

Highlights
  • Dystopian border inspector simulation
  • Document examination and verification
  • Interrogation and decision-making
  • Multiple endings based on choices
  • Unlockable multitouch support
  • Game Center achievements and leaderboards
Features
Read full description

A dystopian document thriller. The award-winning, critically-acclaimed border inspector game. ______________________________________ "Congratulations." "The October labor lottery is complete. Your name was pulled." "For immediate placement, report to the Ministry of Admission at Grestin Border Checkpoint." "An apartment will be provided for you and your family in East Grestin. Expect a Class-8 dwelling." "Glory to Arstotzka." ______________________________________ Awards ◉ Best Game of 2013 - The New Yorker ◉ Best Game of 2013 - Wired Magazine ◉ Top Indie Game 2013 - Forbes Magazine ◉ Best Strategy & Simulation Game 2014 - BAFTA ◉ Grand Prize Winner 2014 - Independent Games Festival ◉ Excellence in Design Winner - IGF 2014 ◉ Excellence in Narrative Winner - IGF 2014 ◉ GameCity Prize Winner 2014 - GameCity ◉ Cultural Innovation Award 2013 - SXSW ◉ Best PC Game 2014 - LARA Game Awards ◉ Innovation Award - GDCA 2014 ◉ Most Innovative 2014 - Games For Change ◉ Best Gameplay 2014 - Games For Change ◉ Best Game of 2013 - Ars Technica ◉ Best Game of 2013 - PC World ◉ Best PC Game of 2013 - Destructoid ◉ Best Story of 2013 - Destructoid ... and more ______________________________________ Story The communist state of Arstotzka has just ended a 6-year war with neighboring Kolechia and reclaimed its rightful half of the border town, Grestin. Your job as immigration inspector is to control the flow of people entering the Arstotzkan side of Grestin from Kolechia. Among the throngs of immigrants and visitors looking for work are hidden smugglers, spies, and terrorists. Using only the documents provided by travelers and the Ministry of Admission's primitive inspect, search, and fingerprint systems you must decide who can enter Arstotzka and who will be turned away or arrested. ______________________________________ Features Includes the complete original game with all 31 days and 20 endings. Also adds unlockable multitouch support for faster paperwork, an enhanced inspection mode, Game Center achievements, leaderboards, mid-day resume, and more. ______________________________________ Warning This game contains mature themes, non-photographic nudity, and brief moments of pixelated violence.

Screenshots

Plague Inc.4 screens
Papers, Please4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Papers, Please at none against Plague Inc.'s 10. Papers, Please also leads on update cadence (weekly vs every 2 months) and iOS requirement (11.0 vs 13.0). Plague Inc.'s advantage is ratings volume (167K vs 1.2K) and price ($0.99 vs $4.99). On rating, review sentiment, ads and device support there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Plague Inc. costs $0.99 and Papers, Please $4.99 up front. Plague Inc. sells 10 one-off in-app purchases. Papers, Please asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.8 for Plague Inc. against 4.7 for Papers, Please. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Plague Inc. has 167K ratings behind it against 1.2K, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 76% of Plague Inc.'s written reviews are positive against 80% of Papers, Please's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Plague Inc. ships an update every 2 months, Papers, Please weekly. Both last shipped on October 19, 2026.

Scorecard7 real differences · 4 level
Plague Inc. versus Papers, Please: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPlague Inc.Papers, Please
Price$0.99 — better$4.99
Rating4.8 (167K ratings) — better4.7 (1.2K ratings)
Positive reviews76.1% of reviews79.6% of reviews — better
Number of ratings167K — better1.2K
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsWeekly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases — betterPaid
Best chart rank#1 — better#4
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS13.011.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size116 MB62 MB
Age rating9+17+
DeveloperNdemic Creations3909

Customer experience

Plague Inc.

All ratings167,278 ratings
Positive96.4%
Neutral2.0%
Negative1.6%
Written reviews1,370 reviews
Positive76.1%
Neutral5.0%
Negative18.9%

Papers, Please

All ratings1,202 ratings
Positive92.3%
Neutral3.7%
Negative4.1%
Written reviews992 reviews
Positive79.6%
Neutral7.6%
Negative12.8%

Bugs and requests

Plague Inc.

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Inability to restore purchased content
  • Glitches with certain disease types
  • Inconsistent DNA point rewards
  • Sudden difficulty spikes on normal mode

Requested features

5 requests
  • Multiplayer mode (player vs player)
  • More realistic cure distribution and development
  • Ability to customize game scenarios
  • Expanded free content without paywall
  • Improved progression for free-to-play users

Papers, Please

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

10 purchases

Plague Inc.

One-time10
  • Unlock Virus$0.99
  • Neurax Worm Expansion Pack$1.99
  • Necroa Virus Expansion Pack$1.99
Show 7 more
  • Simian Flu Expansion Pack$1.99
  • Shadow Plague Expansion Pack$1.99
  • Unlock 7 Standard Plagues$2.99
  • Scenario Pack$2.99
  • Unlock All Genes$7.99
  • Unlock Cheats$9.99
  • Plague Pack$12.99
None

Papers, Please

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Plague Inc. free?
Plague Inc. costs $0.99, and also offers in-app purchases.
Is Papers, Please free?
Papers, Please costs $4.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Plague Inc. or Papers, Please?
Plague Inc. is rated higher. Plague Inc. averages 4.8 out of 5 from 167K ratings, while Papers, Please averages 4.7 from 1.2K ratings.
Do Plague Inc. or Papers, Please have ads?
Neither Plague Inc. nor Papers, Please shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Plague Inc. or Papers, Please?
Plague Inc. ships an update every 2 months, and Papers, Please weekly. Most recently, Plague Inc. was updated on October 19, 2026 and Papers, Please on October 19, 2026.
Which is more popular, Plague Inc. or Papers, Please?
Plague Inc. currently peaks at #1 in the App Store charts, and Papers, Please at #4. Chart position reflects recent download velocity rather than total install base.

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