Way back in 2013, the game Papers, Please showed the world how simple but clever border control gameplay could create a seriously compelling experience with a meaningful narrative. It had a huge effect on how I viewed video games as a whole, and was almost universally praised by everyone who played it. Since that landmark game we’ve had a few other indies that took on the Papers, Please formula in interesting ways, like Lil Guardsman which presented a comedy spin on the guarding formula. Techno Banter swaps out the border control booth with the door to a Berlin nightclub, and throws in a death cult and sex dungeon for good measure.
The life of Nill, our bouncer protagonist, goes downhill rather fast in Techno Banter. Doorman to a powerful businessman, Nill gets ideas above his station, pitches an idea to his boss, and is promptly fired and sent back to the slums in the opening section of the game. The only place left to turn is to his former employer Gunthy, and get back to managing The Green Door. The story takes some pretty wild twists and turns from there that I absolutely wasn’t prepared for (and even get pretty dark) but before you get to them you’ll need to manage the door.
Every night in Techno Banter (for the most part) revolves around standing outside a nightclub and deciding who to let in. Each 2d animal character who wants to enter the club can be observed, and using your keen eye for trouble you’ll discover three traits about them. Eager dancers and arrogant bodybuilders are fine to fill the dancefloor with, but you also have a list of red flags to send away. This includes aggressive people, salesmen and those wearing blue jeans, although if you think there’s a good reason to ensure they enter (or they’re willing to remove their inappropriate trousers) you can always bend the rules a little.
There are always those who you absolutely must send away though, and as you might expect they’re never thrilled about being denied entry. The insults will start flying when this happens, and the only way to combat this is with witty retorts of your own. By suitably picking the best reply to the abuse they hurl your way you’ll embarrass them enough to make them leave, and this is as amusing as it sounds. It’s never particularly difficult to figure out which retort connects to the insult thrown at you, but that doesn’t make it any less satisfying when you land a sick burn.
Occasionally this whole process backfires on you a little though, and some violence will come your way. The attacks of upset clubbers take the form of bullets, which you’ll need to weave your little icon between to avoid taking damage. I really liked this idea initially, but with a lack of variety in the attacks this exciting concept becomes more of a chore to deal with.
Although you spend a lot of time bouncing in Techno Banter, you also get some free time to explore the rainbow strip. This lively place is full of clubs, shops and sketchy people, all of whom can be interacted with to start various side quests. The free roaming parts of Techno Banter are where the game really shines, because you get to really bask in the weirdness of this world.
Whether you’re fishing for a government agent or helping a girl escape the grip of a cult, there’s always something going on for Nill to help out with which will lead to some all important extra XP points.
It’s not a huge part of the game (mainly because you’ll level up enough to unlock everything pretty quickly) but the RPG hooks are a nice incentive to do more than just bouncing. When you level up you can add a point to one of your skills that you can use to persuade people in a variety of ways, like intimidation or manipulation. These lead to more interactions with the colourful cretins of the world, and so this is well worth investing in.
As well as improving yourself, you can also improve The Green Room by ensuring the party is pumping enough to earn a high enough star rating. Adding a VIP room and better lighting will ensure your place of work is less of a dive, which will mean more successful future nights. Admittedly the game isn’t really long enough for this to be a mechanic that adds any depth, but when you’re awarded an upgrade point it’s still fun to decide what to improve.
Techno Banter is an intriguing game with plenty of enjoyable aspects, but it has just as many frustrating ones. Characters not remembering that you have helped or talked to them previously can really take you out of the experience, and there were a few occasions where the dialogue itself is bordering on unacceptable too (insulting someone’s dad for being a woman just isn’t it in 2025). The issue that caused the most misery for me though was towards the end of the game, where a particularly tough encounter had an unskippable three minute song right before it which I had to sit through every time I took it on.
Techno Banter is an entertaining Papers, Please-style game with interesting ideas, but it has issues that prevent it from being easy to recommend. Still if you want to play something unique and full of wild characters then you could do much worse, especially if the idea of European techno gets your blood pumping.
Reviewed on PC.
