Paper Mario: Sticker Star[a] is a 2012 role-playing game developed by Intelligent Systems and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo 3DS. It is the fourth installment in the Paper Mario series and part of the larger Mario franchise; it is the first game in the series released on a handheld console. In the game, the protagonist Mario and a new ally named Kersti travel across the Mushroom Kingdom to retrieve the six Royal Stickers scattered by Bowser. The game was released in November 2012 in North America and December 2012 overseas.
Unlike the previous Paper Mario games, Sticker Star uses a distinctly papercraft visual style, which is heavily incorporated into its gameplay mechanics. Sticker Star introduces the use of stickers, which are littered throughout the game world and are used as one-use items or power-ups, aiding the player in turn-based battles against enemies or in solving puzzles. A sequel for the Wii U, Paper Mario: Color Splash, carried over many ideas introduced in Sticker Star and was released in October 2016.