Termsheet Please is a simulation game that recreates the experience of 'Papers, Please' by placing players in the role of a venture capitalist deciding which startups to fund. The game requires players to navigate realistic startup pitches and manage a complex web of documents and signatures to determine investment outcomes.
The Core Concept and Gameplay
The project, hosted at termsheetplease.com, adapts the 'Papers, Please' formula to the world of startup funding. Players are presented with various startup pitches and must decide which ones to back based on the provided information.
The gameplay involves a document management system where players must handle signatures and various paperwork. While the goal is to simulate the VC experience, some users have noted that the specific loop of document management can be confusing compared to the simpler mental model of the original inspiration.
Community Feedback and Realism
Commenters on Hacker News provided feedback on the realism of the pitches. One commenter, writing as logicallee, noted that while the pitches felt realistic, the omission of valuation data in certain scenarios, such as the Pointer acquisition, is a critical metric for real-world investors.
The discussion also touched on the branding of the game. One commenter suggested that because YCombinator typically invests at the seed stage using standard terms, the game might be more accurate if it featured a hypothetical venture capital firm rather than using YC's specific branding.
Technical Execution and Attribution
The developer used LLM patterns to recognize and replicate the existing mechanics of 'Papers, Please.' This approach sparked a discussion regarding creative attribution and the ethics of using AI to recreate established titles.
Several commenters urged the developer to include a formal credit to Lucas Pope, the author of 'Papers, Please.' One commenter, writing as butlike, pointed out that the game technically replicates an existing work rather than creating a new one, leading to a consensus among some users that clear attribution is necessary.