Citizen Sleeper Review – Quality Literature and Entertainment Board

I wake up on a space station that has a life of its own. Here everyone has their own interests, few people do something for me for free. I have to work only for the people at the station. I get involved in interesting destinies, including others with which it would be better if I had nothing in common. I’m losing hope for a normal life, I prefer to explore the virtual network, which is also fraught with many secrets. I find friends. In the process, I have to deal with a purely practical issue. Like some sort of cyborg, I’m still somebody’s property. And someone wants me back.

• Platform: PC, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, Xbox Series S and X (peer review)
• Publication date: May 5, 2022
• Developer: Jump over the age
• Publisher: Companion
• Genre: RPG
• Czech/Slovak localization: Not
• Multiplayer: Not
• Data to download: 2 GB
• Game time: 10 hours
• Price: 569 CZK (Xbox), game available on Game Pass subscription service.

Captivating world, captivating stories

At first, the theme of the game may fit into one of several cyberpunk boxes. The cyborg is looking for humanity, the virtual world, gangs and factions are fighting for power together. But as you begin to explore the world closer, this is done almost exclusively through dialogue, and you understand the laws of what is happening on the station, a complex network of unique characters begins to form in front of you.

Gareth Damian Martin is an extremely accomplished writer.

Blame it on the fact that the de facto single author, Gareth Damian Martin, is an extremely skilled writer. More than once I thought that it would not be possible to turn the story into a book with things with such well-written texts – not only dialogues, but also descriptions of the environment, characters and events. Or maybe a series. This, in turn, is evidenced by the number of storylines that sometimes connect with each other, but more often stand on their own.

Alea iacta est

The basic principle of the game is simple. One day at the station means one detour. At the beginning, you roll a certain number of dice, depending on the current state, and you can work with the dice during the round. There is one die for each event, the better number you find on it, the higher your chances of success. Energy still goes into the game, which you have to supplement with food or special events, but this is rather a trifle. In any case, you will have to repeat most of the actions to achieve the desired result, and this is the tactical level of the game, where you need to plan a limited number of dice with different favorable numbers.

The RPG system also interferes with the execution of actions, but you don’t have to worry about any complexity. Basically, it’s about increasing the likelihood of success in five different types of activities. Over-assigning dice to actions can get lost over time – especially when the action itself is only “on paper”. Even at the end of the game, like ten hours later, tons of dialogue will break your automated gameplay. In addition, the game time is just enough so that the relatively monotonous gameplay does not bore you forever.

Beauty in simplicity

It’s amazing how you can draw a world represented by text, music and a few pictures. It doesn’t need movie sequences, complicated animation, or even dubbing. The last element mentioned would definitely benefit the game, on the other hand, it cannot be expected due to the size of the game, and the author skillfully replaces the character narrative with what – as I already mentioned – these are not written dialogues, but full-fledged literary stories.

The comic stylization is good and suits the changeable, sometimes light, sometimes quite serious atmosphere. The music is also great, which can conjure up different scenes in front of your eyes, from breathtaking to almost meditative. Perhaps it’s a pity that what I was able to observe is not very adaptive, and does not always fit so perfectly into the situation in which the player finds himself.

Balanced Experience

Citizen Sleeper works mostly as a holistic experience. Like a story tactical board that is a little confusing at first, but soon you will come up with rules and mechanisms, then reward you for the right strategy, and finally the end will come at the right time (there are, of course, several for you to choose from). A somewhat complex control does not change anything on the gamepad either (for example, maps that the player navigates between locations with actions).

Humility, whether in storytelling or game mechanics, doesn’t hurt the game, but it does.

There are many stories in the game, each one unique, with interesting characters that speak to you – maybe a little “without the game” – only through text and modest illustrations. Best of all, modesty, whether it’s storytelling or game mechanics, doesn’t hurt the game, but it does. The theme is interesting, but the design is even more impressive and must be experienced. On the other hand, the publisher has a nice price and the availability of the game in Game Pass.