Good effort and yea it does look like the work of a beginner.

Papers Please looks like the work of a seasoned artist. If a programmer wants their game to have a polished look like Papers Please, he has to put in the time into becoming a better artist (not just pixel artist, a general one, because asking for pixel art only is asking how to be a good Android programmer only)

That's why hiring an artist is reasonable advice, it will take years to become good yourself.

Absolutely. Being good takes a lot of time and dedication. Had my main goal been making money, I'd surely have hired an artist. Good thing is for us, programmers, games can be relatively easily reused with new art on top of it.

I guess it is the same as programming. You can get your friends teenage kid to write something in PHP that will work, but if you want quality, you are better off with an experienced professional.

That's pretty awesome! As an artist, the only thing I would really do is add some lighter/darker browns to emphasize shadows and areas in the light. The same goes with grays on the flag.

Thanks! Note taken. I'll try to add a few more colors to it as soon as I have some free time.