I haven't played This War of Mine, but "Papers, Please" is probably second only to "A Dark Room" in making me 'feel' something that could only have been achieve

I haven't played This War of Mine, but "Papers, Please" is probably second only to "A Dark Room" in making me 'feel' something that could only have been achieved by masterfully combining gameplay with a clever theme/storytelling. There are plenty of games that do a decent job combining gameplay with a particular theme or feeling or experience (Bioshock, Planescape: Torment, Thief, and a whole bunch more), but there's always some 'gap' between the two. But with these two games (and I'm sure there are others) both aspects elevate each other.