App gamers are soon to have their moral mettle tested with the long-awaited arrival of a Papers, Please mobile port. The game created by indie dev extraordinaire, Lucas Pope, has enjoyed critical acclaim since its initial release on PC and MacOS in 2013. But despite its relatively simple graphics and artstyle, it’s taken a while for app gamers to get a taste of this conundrum-crammed puzzle/simulation game. But the wait is nearly over.

Papers, Please is a simulation game that puts players in the thankless role of an immigration officer in a fictional Eastern Bloc-like country called Arstotzka. As they approve and deny the entry of myriad migrants, they are inevitably faced with ethical dilemmas aplenty as they wrestle with their moral compass and the need to see proper documentation. 

As a result of its deep choices and poignant themes Papers, Please went on to win a string of awards as one of the foremost examples of an ‘empathy game’. Which is why getting a Papers, Please mobile port is such an exciting prospect.

 

Papers please

 

Pope announced the imminent arrival of the Papers, Please mobile port via Twitter to his nearly 100k followers. “Papers, Please” but small. August 5th.” He stated, following up with a tongue-in-cheek promise that a console port is set to arrive in 2031. We have our doubts. Besides, Pope has his console bases covered with pirate puzzler, Return of the Obra Dinn.

The Papers, Please mobile port will be a paid game on release, living up to its old-school style by adopting a progressively more old-school pricing structure. Those that have already downloaded the game for iPad, however, will be able to access the mobile port for free. 

Pope also confirmed some other details via Twitter (which can be found after sifting through the inevitable descent into a political flame war), including the fact that it won’t include a zooming function, opting instead for an optimized interface that fits comfortably on phones. iPhone users in particular, however, can only dive in if they have iOS 11 or higher.

The Papers, Please mobile port took eight months for Pope to develop and it will be interesting to see how it fares with this new audience. We suspect it will be topping many a best-of list in no time, however.