Comparison

Papers, Please vs Stardew Valley

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Papers, Please

Step into the shoes of a border inspector in a dystopian communist state. Examine documents, interrogate travelers, and decide who is allowed to enter. Your choices impact your family's survival and the fate of the nation.

Highlights
  • Dystopian border inspector simulation
  • Document examination and verification
  • Interrogation and decision-making
  • Multiple endings based on choices
  • Unlockable multitouch support
  • Game Center achievements and leaderboards
Features
Read full description

A dystopian document thriller. The award-winning, critically-acclaimed border inspector game. ______________________________________ "Congratulations." "The October labor lottery is complete. Your name was pulled." "For immediate placement, report to the Ministry of Admission at Grestin Border Checkpoint." "An apartment will be provided for you and your family in East Grestin. Expect a Class-8 dwelling." "Glory to Arstotzka." ______________________________________ Awards ◉ Best Game of 2013 - The New Yorker ◉ Best Game of 2013 - Wired Magazine ◉ Top Indie Game 2013 - Forbes Magazine ◉ Best Strategy & Simulation Game 2014 - BAFTA ◉ Grand Prize Winner 2014 - Independent Games Festival ◉ Excellence in Design Winner - IGF 2014 ◉ Excellence in Narrative Winner - IGF 2014 ◉ GameCity Prize Winner 2014 - GameCity ◉ Cultural Innovation Award 2013 - SXSW ◉ Best PC Game 2014 - LARA Game Awards ◉ Innovation Award - GDCA 2014 ◉ Most Innovative 2014 - Games For Change ◉ Best Gameplay 2014 - Games For Change ◉ Best Game of 2013 - Ars Technica ◉ Best Game of 2013 - PC World ◉ Best PC Game of 2013 - Destructoid ◉ Best Story of 2013 - Destructoid ... and more ______________________________________ Story The communist state of Arstotzka has just ended a 6-year war with neighboring Kolechia and reclaimed its rightful half of the border town, Grestin. Your job as immigration inspector is to control the flow of people entering the Arstotzkan side of Grestin from Kolechia. 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. ______________________________________ Features Includes the complete original game with all 31 days and 20 endings. Also adds unlockable multitouch support for faster paperwork, an enhanced inspection mode, Game Center achievements, leaderboards, mid-day resume, and more. ______________________________________ Warning This game contains mature themes, non-photographic nudity, and brief moments of pixelated violence.

About

Stardew Valley

Cultivate a new life in this open-ended farming RPG. Build your dream farm, raise animals, grow crops, and explore mysterious caves. Customize your farmer, settle down, and become part of a vibrant community.

Highlights
  • Build and customize your farm
  • Raise animals and grow crops
  • Explore caves and battle monsters
  • Develop relationships and start a family
  • Participate in festivals and quests
  • Fishing and foraging activities
  • Mobile-specific controls and auto-save
Features
Read full description

Move to the countryside, and cultivate a new life in this award-winning open-ended farming RPG! With over 50+ hours of gameplay content and new Mobile-specific features, such as auto-save and multiple controls options. **Winner of the Golden Joysticks' Breakthrough Award** **Nominee of Game of the Year 2017 - BAFTA Games Awards** --- BUILD THE FARM OF YOUR DREAMS: ■ Turn your overgrown fields into a lively and bountiful farm ■ Raise and breed happy animals, grow a variety of seasonal crops and design your farm, your way ■ Customize your farmer and home! With hundreds of options to choose from ■ Settle down and start a family with 12 potential marriage candidates ■ Become part of the community by taking part in seasonal festivals and villager quests ■ Explore vast, mysterious caves, encountering dangerous monsters and valuable treasure ■ Spend a relaxing afternoon at one of the local fishing spots or go crabbing by the seaside ■ Forage, grow crops and produce artisan goods to cook up as a delicious meal ■ Rebuilt for touch-screen gameplay on iOS with mobile-specific features, such as auto-select to toggle quickly between your farming tools and auto-attack to swiftly take down fiendish monsters in the mines ■ Continue farming from where you last left off with auto-save (even if you close the app!) ■ Play the game your way with multiple controls options, such as touch-screen and virtual joystick ■ Newly Updated Single Player Content - Including new town upgrades, dating events, crops, fishing ponds, hats, clothing, and new pets! Plus more to be discovered... --- “The best version of Stardew Valley is the one you have with you … This game is absolutely incredible, and will not disappoint.” - TouchArcade "Stardew Valley beautifully combines farm simulation with RPG elements to create an intriguing, absorbing rural world." - IGN “Far more than just a farming game... filled with seemingly endless content and heart.” Giant Bomb "Village life has never been so accessible and satisfying" - The Telegraph “Stardew Valley has been the most rich and heartwarming experience I’ve had in a game in years.” CG Magazine --- Note: Features new 1.6 update story content, multiplayer functionality not supported. No in-app purchases.

Screenshots

Papers, Please4 screens
Stardew Valley4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ratings volume: Stardew Valley at 64K against Papers, Please's 1.2K. Stardew Valley also leads on update cadence (every 3 days vs weekly) and chart position (#1 vs #7). Papers, Please's advantage is iOS requirement (11.0 vs 13.0). On price, rating, review sentiment and ads there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Papers, Please costs $4.99 and Stardew Valley $4.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.7 for Papers, Please against 4.8 for Stardew Valley. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Stardew Valley has 64K ratings behind it against 1.2K, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 80% of Papers, Please's written reviews are positive against 73% of Stardew Valley's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Papers, Please ships an update weekly, Stardew Valley every 3 days. Both last shipped on October 29, 2026.

Scorecard4 real differences · 7 level
Papers, Please versus Stardew Valley: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPapers, PleaseStardew Valley
Price$4.99$4.99
Rating4.7 (1.2K ratings)4.8 (64K ratings) — better
Positive reviews79.6% of reviews — better73.4% of reviews
Number of ratings1.2K64K — better
Update frequencyWeeklyEvery 3 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaidPaid
Best chart rank#7#1 — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS11.0 — better13.0
Further details — not scored
Size62 MB442 MB
Age rating17+12+
Developer3909ConcernedApe

Customer experience

Papers, Please

All ratings1,202 ratings
Positive92.3%
Neutral3.7%
Negative4.1%
Written reviews997 reviews
Positive79.6%
Neutral7.5%
Negative12.8%

Stardew Valley

All ratings63,524 ratings
Positive95.6%
Neutral1.7%
Negative2.7%
Written reviews2,773 reviews
Positive73.4%
Neutral10.3%
Negative16.3%

Bugs and requests

Papers, Please

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

Stardew Valley

Reported bugs

5 issues
  • Fishing rod sound bug
  • Sewer key cutscene not triggering
  • Furniture/building placement issues
  • Inventory/interaction bugs
  • Crashing when entering certain areas

Requested features

6 requests
  • Multiplayer support
  • More NPC interactions and relationships
  • Ability to grow up/customize children
  • Joystick/controller support
  • More end-game content and challenges
Show 1 more
  • Ability to move/delete certain furniture items

In-app purchases

None

Papers, Please

No in-app purchases

None

Stardew Valley

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Papers, Please free?
Papers, Please costs $4.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Stardew Valley free?
Stardew Valley costs $4.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Papers, Please or Stardew Valley?
Stardew Valley is rated higher. Papers, Please averages 4.7 out of 5 from 1.2K ratings, while Stardew Valley averages 4.8 from 64K ratings.
Do Papers, Please or Stardew Valley have ads?
Neither Papers, Please nor Stardew Valley shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Papers, Please or Stardew Valley?
Papers, Please ships an update weekly, and Stardew Valley every 3 days. Most recently, Papers, Please was updated on October 29, 2026 and Stardew Valley on October 29, 2026.
Which is more popular, Papers, Please or Stardew Valley?
Papers, Please currently peaks at #7 in the App Store charts, and Stardew Valley at #1. Chart position reflects recent download velocity rather than total install base.

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