▁the ▁English ▁and ▁translated ▁versions , ▁as ▁it ▁would ▁directly ▁all ude ▁to ▁a ▁Soviet ▁Russia ▁imp lication . ▁Using ▁a ▁fict ional ▁country ▁gave ▁Pope ▁more ▁freedom ▁in ▁the ▁narr ative , ▁not ▁having ▁to ▁base ▁events ▁in ▁the ▁game ▁on ▁any ▁real - world ▁politics ▁and ▁avoid ing ▁pre con ce ived ▁assumptions . ▁ ▁Work ▁on ▁the ▁game ▁began ▁in ▁November ▁ 2 0 1 2 ; ▁Pope ▁used ▁his ▁personal ▁financial ▁res erves ▁from ▁his ▁time ▁at ▁N aught y ▁Dog ▁for ▁what ▁he ▁thought ▁would ▁be ▁a ▁few ▁weeks ▁worth ▁of ▁effort ▁to ▁complete ▁and ▁then ▁move ▁onto ▁a ▁more ▁commer cially ▁vi able ▁title . ▁Pope ▁used ▁the ▁H ax e ▁programming ▁language ▁and ▁the ▁N ME ▁framework , ▁both ▁open - source . ▁He ▁was ▁able ▁to ▁build ▁up ▁structures ▁he ▁and ▁his ▁wife ▁developed ▁for ▁Hels ing ' s ▁Fire , ▁an ▁iOS ▁game ▁they ▁developed ▁after ▁moving ▁to ▁Japan , ▁as ▁this ▁provided ▁the ▁means ▁to ▁set ▁how ▁much ▁information ▁about ▁a ▁character ▁could ▁or ▁could ▁not ▁be ▁shown ▁to ▁the ▁player . ▁This ▁also ▁enabled ▁him ▁to ▁include ▁random ▁and ▁semi - random ▁enc oun ters , ▁in ▁which ▁similar ▁events ▁would ▁occur ▁in ▁separate ▁games , ▁but ▁the ▁imm igr ant ' s ▁name ▁or ▁details ▁would ▁be ▁different . ▁Much ▁of ▁the ▁game ' s ▁design ▁was ▁about ▁the ▁pur pos ely - " cl unk y " ▁user ▁interface ▁elements ▁of ▁checking ▁paper work , ▁something ▁that ▁Pope ▁was ▁inspired