Quarantine Zone: The Last Check is a serious contender for anyone who ever enjoyed the slow-burn tension of Papers, Please.
Released on January 12, 2026 by Brigada Games and Devolver Digital, it takes the inspection-sim formula and injects it with the kind of raw panic that only a zombie outbreak can deliver. You are in charge of a crumbling city’s final checkpoint. Every decision you make affects who lives, who dies, and how long your walls stay standing.
Gameplay Overview: Screening, Survival, and Stress
You play as the checkpoint commander. Your job is to screen terrified survivors using high-tech scanners and old-fashioned instincts.
Some of them are healthy, but some are infected. Some are smugglers. Some are carrying items you might actually want. On top of that, you are not just checking papers, but you are also keeping the entire camp alive. That means managing food, power, medical supplies, and security.
As days go on, the number of survivors rises and the pressure ramps up. One mistake can cause an outbreak. Let one infected person through and you might lose everything. The gameplay loop stays tight by combining detailed inspection work with resource balancing and tough moral decisions.
Atmosphere, Setting, and the Smell of Decay
The world of Quarantine Zone feels real in the worst way. Visually, it goes for a grounded 3D style. The interface is clear enough to manage the chaos but still leaves room for error. You can miss things, and you probably will.
Sound also plays a massive role in a game. Screams in the distance, pleading survivors, sirens, and the growl of something just outside the gate make every moment feel unstable.
Systems, Features, and the Moral “Science” of Zombies
Unlike its genre predecessors, this game adds an entire layer of moral weight through systems that let you experiment on survivors. Some are infected but not fully turned. You can detain them and extract biological samples to level up your staff or improve tools. The bad news is these tests are fatal, and the choice up to you.
You can expand your base, unlock better screening tools, and even pilot drones to neutralize infected breaches in real time.
Performance and Technical Requirements
The game runs well, but it is demanding.
To hit 60 FPS at 1080p on High settings, you will need at least an Intel Core i7-10700 or AMD Ryzen 5 5600X with a GeForce RTX 2080.
If you are using older hardware, the minimum spec is around an i7-5820K with a GTX 980 for 30 FPS on Low settings. Storage requirements sit at about 12 GB, and it uses DirectX 12.
Why the Community is Buzzing
The game lends itself to viral content and dramatic outcomes. Streamers love it. Reddit threads are full of arguments about who deserved to be let in and whether it was ethical to sacrifice one for an upgrade. It is not a sandbox, but every player’s checkpoint ends up looking different, shaped by their choices and failures.
The Evolution of the Inspection Sim
Quarantine Zone follows in the footsteps of games like Papers, Please and Contraband Police but pushes the genre into new territory by combining inspection mechanics with base defense, tactical drone use, and layered resource management.
Devolver Digital has positioned it as part of a broader ecosystem alongside titles like Dead by Daylight. The bundle marketing shows they are serious about this one reaching a core audience of simulation and survival fans.
Final Verdict: To Buy or Not to Buy?
Quarantine Zone: The Last Check is not just another Papers, Please clone. It builds something more complicated, more stressful, and in many ways more rewarding. It is the kind of game where even success feels like you barely held things together.
Pros:
- Real tension, built from sound, visuals, and pressure-based mechanics
- Systems that give your choices real weight
- Tactical action via drones and upgrades
- Strong localization support and performance scaling
Cons:
- High system requirements for a sim-style game
- Difficulty curve can feel brutal, especially early on
At the current price it is an easy recommendation for anyone who wants a challenge with teeth. Just know what you are signing up for. One bad scan, one wrong choice, and the whole camp might burn.