--- key: mechanic/activity-simulators--t138 type: mechanic id: activity-simulators--t138 lang: en title: 'Business, office and bureaucracy simulators' summary: >- Office tasks move documents and requests through limited authority, approvals and deadlines to expose organizational dependencies. updatedAt: '2026-10-22' status: active url: 'https://gamemechanics.pro/en/knowledge/mechanic/activity-simulators--t138/' jsonUrl: >- https://gamemechanics.pro/api/v1/knowledge/en/mechanic/activity-simulators--t138.json markdownUrl: >- https://gamemechanics.pro/content/knowledge/en/mechanic/activity-simulators--t138.md aliases: - 'Business, office and bureaucracy' tags: - Activity and profession simulators - Mechanics and variants sourceIds: - source-3817d420df0baa92 - source-cd67e3aaef77868a sources: - id: source-3817d420df0baa92 title: 'Robert Nystrom: State' url: >- https://github.com/munificent/game-programming-patterns/blob/master/book/state.markdown verifiedAt: null - id: source-cd67e3aaef77868a title: 'Papers, Please' url: 'https://store.steampowered.com/app/239030/' verifiedAt: null relations: - type: uses direction: outgoing label: Sources in the selection key: resource/state-pattern title: 'State: Game Programming Patterns' url: 'https://gamemechanics.pro/en/resources/#resource-state-pattern' jsonUrl: 'https://gamemechanics.pro/api/v1/knowledge/en/resource/state-pattern.json' markdownUrl: 'https://gamemechanics.pro/content/knowledge/en/resource/state-pattern.md' placements: - catalogId: activity-simulators id: t138 title: Activity and profession simulators url: 'https://gamemechanics.pro/en/mechanics/activity-simulators/#t138' categoryIds: - mechanics supersededBy: [] attributes: preview: updatedAt: '2026-10-22' title: 'Business, office and bureaucracy' description: >- Office tasks move documents and requests through limited authority, approvals and deadlines to expose organizational dependencies. image: src: images/mechanics/strategy-papers-please-06.webp width: 1280 height: 720 game: 'Papers, Please' sourceUrl: 'https://store.steampowered.com/app/239030/' originalUrl: >- https://shared.akamai.steamstatic.com/store_item_assets/steam/apps/239030/ss_4a533fbcd53d15778d477d8417fb28f814e27210.1920x1080.jpg?t=1678266428 credit: Lucas Pope / 3909 rights: © Lucas Pope / 3909. All rights reserved. caption: The working day affects the family’s income and expenses alt: The working day affects the family’s income and expenses markers: - x: 51 'y': 57 label: 'The summary accounts for wages, rent, food and heat' - x: 86 'y': 39 label: The panel shows family members’ conditions tips: - >- Connect paperwork procedures to understandable resources and decision consequences. examples: - title: 'Papers, Please' url: 'https://store.steampowered.com/app/239030/' endsAt: null provenance: >- Original bilingual editorial overviews authored for gamemechanics.pro on 2026-10-20 and reviewed on 2026-10-21. Scenarios are hypothetical design examples; prototype checks describe work to perform, not completed playtests. Primary sources support the stated techniques and implementation context, not every proposed variant. license: CC-BY-4.0 codeLicense: MIT attribution: gamemechanics.pro contributors catalogKey: catalog/activity-simulators --- # Business, office and bureaucracy simulators id: activity-simulators--t138 type: mechanic key: mechanic/activity-simulators--t138 lang: en status: active url: https://gamemechanics.pro/en/knowledge/mechanic/activity-simulators--t138/ Office tasks move documents and requests through limited authority, approvals and deadlines to expose organizational dependencies. ## At a glance ![The working day affects the family’s income and expenses](https://gamemechanics.pro/images/mechanics/strategy-papers-please-06.webp) [Papers, Please](https://store.steampowered.com/app/239030/) · © Lucas Pope / 3909. All rights reserved. 1. The summary accounts for wages, rent, food and heat 2. The panel shows family members’ conditions - Connect paperwork procedures to understandable resources and decision consequences. - [Papers, Please](https://store.steampowered.com/app/239030/) ## How it works Office tasks move documents and requests through limited authority, approvals and deadlines to expose organizational dependencies. ## Variants ### Mechanic variants - Approval routes impose a required sequence. - Authority permits a specific decision type. - Templates speed up repeated processing. - Revision requests create another work cycle. ## Design example A purchase needs a manager's signature before the manager leaves for a meeting. Prototype check: Test whether a stalled document has a visible cause and a solution beyond trying every employee. ## Context and limits Activity simulators turn observation, operation sequences and limited tools into a testable work task. Each overview separates player actions, state changes and alternative rules. Examples are hypothetical design scenarios, not claims about a named game. A prototype check states an observable question for the next iteration. Existing detailed references remain separately linked from the direction map. ## Connected materials - Sources in the selection: [State: Game Programming Patterns](https://gamemechanics.pro/en/resources/#resource-state-pattern) (key: resource/state-pattern) ## Sources and provenance Original bilingual editorial overviews authored for gamemechanics.pro on 2026-10-20 and reviewed on 2026-10-21. Scenarios are hypothetical design examples; prototype checks describe work to perform, not completed playtests. Primary sources support the stated techniques and implementation context, not every proposed variant. - [Robert Nystrom: State](https://github.com/munificent/game-programming-patterns/blob/master/book/state.markdown) (id: source-3817d420df0baa92) - [Papers, Please](https://store.steampowered.com/app/239030/) (id: source-cd67e3aaef77868a) CC-BY-4.0 · gamemechanics.pro contributors