Papers, Please is an interesting sim game that was recently released for PC and has since gained a cult following which continues to grow. The developer of the game, Lucas Pope, is also planning to bring the bureaucratic sim over to Android and iOS tablets as well. While the Android version won’t have a problem with being released onto Google Play, the developer is weary about Apple’s approval policies and isn’t sure the game will get approved for iOS devices.
Even though that is just a terrible shame for iOS gamers if Papers, Please does get rejected by Apple, us Android gamers can look forward to the game that has a rather dark and dreary atmosphere to it. Google Play doesn’t have an approval process to go through. For those of you not familiar with this game, Papers, Please has you play as an boarder crossing guard who is inspecting papers of would-be travelers trying to enter your country.
In this game your country/state is definitely more of a communist one (called Arstotzka) or at least that is the vibe the game gives off. As you inspect people’s paperwork, you will be looking for discrepancies which can range from the obvious (a male who has paperwork stating he’s female) to the subtle. As you find invalid, out of date, or faked documentation, you have a choice as to whether you report those people, who will be pulled out of line and disappear from existence, just deny them access or let them through.
Paperwork starts off as simply checking Visas but as you progress further into the game you’ll need to be much more thorough, checking various pieces of paperwork like IDs, different types of passports and other types of records, cross-referencing them to be sure everything is legit. Unfortunately for you, time is of the essence as you earn money on each visitor you process. When the workday ends, you get paid but you’ll need to cover your bills (rent, food, medicine, etc etc) before you can claim any profit.
There is a lot of content in this game that could be deemed controversial as well including bombers, X-ray scans of people and other touchy subjects. So it is understandable as to why the developer would have concerns over the iOS version but for us Android users, we can be sure that there won’t be a problem with the game getting released onto Google Play.
Unfortunately we will have to wait awhile before we see the mobile version of Papers, Please. Lucas Pope wants to get the Linux version of the game done first before really starting work on the mobile one. As of right now, the plan is to launch the game only for tablets.
Screenshots and video are from the PC version.
Developer Website: Lucas Pope
Website Referenced: PocketGamer
