Hacker News new | past | comments | ask | show | jobs | submit login

If anyone has been putting off playing Papers, Please, it is an amazing game and currently on sale for its anniversary for only $1.99:

https://www.gog.com/en/game/papers_please

https://store.steampowered.com/app/239030/Papers_Please/




Further, Lucas Pope recently released the game for mobile OSes, and did an awesome job porting it over. There's a great blog post at his devblog where he talks about the challenges of taking a game originally developed for mouse/keyboard (mostly mouse) and making it work in the mobile form factor.

Edit: this one: https://dukope.com/devlogs/papers-please/mobile/


I already own it on Steam but I pulled the trigger on the iOS version, if not only to support Lucas Pope.

I still haven't played it, but I played through Revenge of the Obra Dinn a few years ago and read a lot of his blog posts from the development of the game, and I think the guy's an absolute genius.


The description of how he solved the dithering problem in Obra Dinn is mind blowing, and made me appreciate software as a craft, where you have a problem you chisel at for days on end.

Software as art and personal expression, rather than software as a deadline and meetings with your manager.


"Return of the Obra Dinn": https://obradinn.com/


Oops, yes "Return"


Obra Dinn is a fucking masterwork. Love this guy.


And for those who have played, or just are intrigued by it, let me also recommend the official short film PAPERS PLEASE (major spoilers alert):

https://youtu.be/YFHHGETsxkE

Made by fans of the game, and later accepted as official canon by Lucas Pope himself.


I tried to like it, but it just felt too close to an authentic paperwork simulator for me or get into. Maybe if there wasn’t a timed element to it, that just stressed me out.


The game in a way, is supposed to stress you out, or at the very least, make you feel uncomfortable.


Same. I couldn't get into it. I've heard a lot of good things about it but I think I was expecting more like an interactive story (which I think is an actual genre of "game" now). Instead it's actually hard and I only play games to relax.


It is not hard but requires you to use the brain a bit. An interactive game should not be like watching Netflix.

I don't play games if I'm tired, but maybe because I do not like games with no challenge whatsoever.

If you like a story, then this has been approved by Pope himself: https://youtu.be/YFHHGETsxkE


I guess the thing is it's not fun either. I like games like Half-life 2, on easy mode. It's fun and a challenge, but doesn't become annoying such that I can't enjoy the story.


I'm with you. I already have hard challenges that I sometimes fail at, IRL; gaming is supposed to be an escape.




Guidelines | FAQ | Lists | API | Security | Legal | Apply to YC | Contact

Search: