Papers, Please creator Lucas Pope says 'it's a tragedy' his 2013 immigration sim now feels so on-the-nose: 'You want your work to be relevant, but at the same time, wow, I really wish it was not that f***ing relevant'

Papers, Please, first released in 2013, was among the vanguard of indie games that felt like they had something to say, turning the simple act of processing paperwork into a pointed commentary on the political brutality of immigration. It was set in a fictional Soviet-esque country in 1982, which creator Lucas Pope used to amplify the painful decisionmaking of who to allow across the border—defy your authoritarian leaders and your family would go hungry; enforce the letter of the law, and you...