Lucas Pope, gamemaker (Papers, Please; Return of the Obra Dinn).

My guest today is the American designer of two of the most highly regarded experimental games yet made. He grew up in Virginia, where his interest in hobbyist robotics led him to study mechanical engineering at Virginia State University. At that time he started designing mods for Quake, which eventually led to a job at Naughty Dog where he worked on the first two games in the Uncharted series.

In 2009 he left the studio and moved with his wife to Japan. It was while travelling abroad that my guest had the idea for a game involving a passport inspector. The result, Papers, Please, sold millions of copies and won several awards, including the grand prize at the Independent Game Festival. His next game, 2018’s The Return of the Obra Dinn, cast players as an insurance adjustor for the East India Company trying to piece together the events that led to the destruction of one of its merchant ships and the crew’s deaths. In a poll of industry experts for GQ magazine the game was named one of the greatest yet made.

Play the console

• Wizards & Warriors
• Dark Castle
• Out Of This World
• Thief: The Dark Project
• Digital: A Love Story

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