Papers, Please makes its iPad debut, but without the nudity of the PC version

By John Callaham
last updated

The acclaimed PC indie game Papers, Please has been released for the iPad today, but not without some changes. The creator of the game, Lucas Pope, stated he was forced to remove content that contained nudity due to Apple's rules.

Papers, Please was first released for the PC in 2013 and has the player taking on the role of a border inspector in the fictional totalitarian state of Arstotzka. It received a ton of 'Best Game of the Year" awards that year from various media outlets, including from The New Yorker, Wired, and Forbes. Here's a quick description of the game:

Among the throngs of immigrants and visitors looking for work are hidden smugglers, spies, and terrorists. Using only the documents provided by travelers and the Ministry of Admission's primitive inspect, search, and fingerprint systems you must decide who can enter Arstotzka and who will be turned away or arrested.

The iPad version has most of the content of the original Papers, Please, plus "unlockable multitouch support for faster paperwork, an enhanced inspection mode, Game Center achievements, leaderboards, mid-day resume, and more." It's currently available for $5.99, which is a price cut from its normal $7.99.

One of the parts of the PC version that was removed is the full nudity that's depicted when the full body scanner is used on the fictional characters. In a Twitter message this week, Pope said, "Apple rejected that build for containing 'pornographic content.'"

John Callaham
John Callaham

I have been writing professionally about technology and gaming news for 14 years.

5 Comments
  • For anyone curious, this game is one of the most unique, interesting, and fun games in a long time - on any platform. The PC version has had an enormous cult following and I'm almost jealous of anyone who hasn't played it yet. I would say it's not exactly appropriate for someone just looking to relax and play around, as it involves increasingly stressful situations that really put you in the reality of the game. Not bad for a game that could have been made for NES. Hoping the iPad port does it justice...(really, porn? no.)
  • http://daringfireball.net/linked/2014/12/11/papers-please I have to agree with Gruber and the article he linked to - games are being held to a far different standard than the rest of content Apple sells/is storefront for. More to the point, pornography is all about context, and there is nothing salacious about the way nudity is presented in the game. In fact, the bits of nudity are just the opposite - discomfiting, as a large part of the game's point is to get you to think about what we are willingly allowing our government to do to us. Removing the nudity blunts that impact. Sent from the iMore App
  • Fantastic premise. I'll see the game Posted via the iMore App for Android
  • I don't understand how this game could be fun.
  • I just picked this up... also the nudity part will be coming back.... Developers tweet: https://twitter.com/dukope/status/543480419581038592