Probably Stolen is a shop sim that's missing a certain kind of sauce

I’m currently playing through Probably Stolen, a game that combines the stresses of running a shop on a cyberpunk space station with the bureaucratic pressure of scanning goods, checking forms, and making choices. So far, I’m enjoying some aspects of it, but it’s missing a certain sauce that I usually enjoy in this genre. After some contemplation, I think I’ve discovered what the best checkpoint games have in common: I think you need the ability to be a petty little bitch.

If you’re not familiar with 2013’s Papers, Please, it’s the game that pioneered the paperwork checking mechanic. You play as a border crossing agent for the fictional nation of glorious Artsotzka, a Soviet-style authoritarian state that continually presses a boot on your neck. You’re dealing with a line of visitors in varying states of depression, checking their passports and making sure they meet the requirements for entry. Some people are actively wanted by the government, others are innocent refugees, and most exist somewhere between those two extremes. 

Probably Stolen takes bits and pieces of Papers, Please and it adds some variety to the shopkeep sim. You have to check medication labels to make sure it's not counterfeit, surmise the value of scavenged goods, and eliminate rogue Ai agents who come to your stand. But none of it is particularly satisfying, because these encounters are flat and dry. There’s no thrill to it, and it’s a problem that’s sapping my enjoyment of the rest of the game.