Citizen Sleeper

 PC
Citizen Sleeper Image
Metascore
82

Generally favorable reviews - based on 18 Critic Reviews What's this?

User Score
7.4

Mixed or average reviews- based on 36 Ratings

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  • Summary: Live the life of an escaped worker, washed-up on a lawless station at the edge of an interstellar society. Inspired by the flexibility and freedom of Tabletop RPGs, explore the station, choose your friends, escape your past and change your future.
    LIFE ON ERLIN'S EYE
    An abandoned station    Live the life of an escaped worker, washed-up on a lawless station at the edge of an interstellar society. Inspired by the flexibility and freedom of Tabletop RPGs, explore the station, choose your friends, escape your past and change your future.
    LIFE ON ERLIN'S EYE
    An abandoned station on the edge of a system in crisis. Run down, chaotic, unruly, and alive—it was founded by idealists in the shadow of a corporate collapse. Now it is held together by anarchic alliances, ramshackle factions and a shared desire to be free from the gravity of corporate control.

    DO THE WORK. GET PAID. SURVIVE.
    Every cycle you get up and choose what to do with your time. Toil in the yards, or take a bar shift. Search the markets for rare components or grab some street food. Make or break alliances, uncover truths and escape those that hunt you. Learn to survive and ultimately thrive, one cycle at a time.

    TURN UP FOR YOUR FRIENDS
    The station plays host to characters from all walks of life, trying to eke out an existence among the stars. Salvagers, engineers, hackers, bartenders, street-food vendors, each has a history which brought them here. You choose which of them you wish to help, and together you will shape your future.

    ACCESS THEIR SECRETS
    Hack into the station’s cloud to access decades of digital data, uncover new areas and unlock secrets. This is your unique power, and with it you can change your future. Corporate secrets, rogue AIs and troves of lost data await those willing to dive into the depths of the station’s networks.

    YOU WERE MADE TO DIE
    Essen-Arp: to them you are just property, one more asset in a portfolio that stretches across the stars. You are the product of an abusive system, in a universe where humanity’s expansion is marked by exploitation and extraction. Escape the makers of your decaying body, and chart your own path in a richly imagined, deeply relevant sci-fi world which explores ideas of precarity, personhood and freedom.    … Expand

Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 17 out of 18
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 18
  3. Negative: 0 out of 18
  1. PLAY! Zine
    Jul 13, 2022
    95
    Citizen Sleeper is an amazing piece of sci-fi media and an even better TTRPG game that will have you glued to your seat to the early hours of the morning, reading and trying to figure out how this world and its colorful characters work. If you love adventure and story in games you mustn’t pass on this one.
  2. Destructoid
    May 4, 2022
    90
    The Eye isn’t perfect and, in the end, it wasn’t my home. But it is the place where I discovered a different one. Citizen Sleeper elicits feelings like that incredibly well, while providing a practically catered experience that will stick with me, long after my departure from Erlin’s Eye.
  3. Softpedia
    May 13, 2022
    80
    Citizen Sleeper creates a strong universe and gives the main character an engaging story with plenty of choices. Erlin’s Eye feels like a small part of a well-designed narrative space that can support more exploration. The visual design fits in with the wider themes of the game and the characters never become preachy. The problem is that the developer also cares about gameplay and the concept of investing for a result. The dice system is adequate enough, but everything takes so long and requires too many clicks. Citizen Sleeper would have probably worked better as a more classic visual novel, with the resources assigned to mechanics re-routed to deliver more story.
  4. Inverse
    May 4, 2022
    80
    The story of Citizen Sleeper is one of the most thoughtful and emotionally satisfying I’ve ever played. Your story will be different, and I wholeheartedly recommend that you find out what it is.
  5. IGN Italia
    May 22, 2022
    80
    Despite its simple gameplay, Citizen Sleeper still captivates players thanks to its intriguing cyberpunk story and its rich and detailed setting, full of history, personality and charm.
  6. RPG Fan
    May 15, 2023
    80
    I get excited and optimistic every time I experience games like Citizen Sleeper, Disco Elysium, and Pentiment. These RPGs draw as much on the design ideas of tabletop RPGs as they do from their digital counterparts. They focus on imparting their players with a desire to roleplay—to inhabit a particular world and character while feeling your way through interactions and choices—while having the self-confidence to do without combat or other easily gratifying genre conventions. Systems and mechanics are there to support the roleplaying experience rather than simply add to it. These games won’t necessarily be for every RPG fan, but they are helping expand our idea of what a digital RPG can be, and I’m here for it.
  7. RPGamer
    Aug 2, 2022
    70
    Overall, Citizen Sleeper is the kind of game one has to be in the right mood for. The setting is cold and alienating, while the overall mood for much of the game is a desperate struggle for survival against stacked odds. Once the stress of this abates, however, there are some genuinely lovely moments of characterization and storytelling that are absolutely worth it to experience. The challenging dice-based tabletop gaming experience is stressful at first, but loses some of its challenge as situations are dealt with, giving way to lovely and thought-provoking story interludes. With the developer supporting the game further with several pieces of free DLC, there’s a good amount of worthwhile sci-fi to experience here.

See all 22 Critic Reviews

User Reviews

Write a Review
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 9 out of 12
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 12
  3. Negative: 1 out of 12
  1. BasedAF
    May 28, 2022
    10
    A simple, charming, compelling game that delivers a sci-fi experience driven by story. The .... crowd is going to hate this one, whileA simple, charming, compelling game that delivers a sci-fi experience driven by story. The .... crowd is going to hate this one, while functional people who contribute to society will enjoy it.… Expand
  2. Hats_on
    Dec 12, 2022
    10
    This has better writing than (at least in my humble opinion) Fallout: New Vegas and has supplanted that game's position as likely my favoriteThis has better writing than (at least in my humble opinion) Fallout: New Vegas and has supplanted that game's position as likely my favorite videogame. My only criticism of the game is that it's just not long enough, and for that reason, I cannot recommend it more.… Expand
  4. MalFet1999
    Jul 19, 2022
    10
    Citizen Sleeper delighted and surprised me. Its evocative writing and character design bring the story to life, and the tabletop-rpg-styleCitizen Sleeper delighted and surprised me. Its evocative writing and character design bring the story to life, and the tabletop-rpg-style resource systems reinforce the feeling that your character is barely scraping by in a cyberpunk dystopia on the frontier of space. I find myself daydreaming about the situations and people I met along my first journey on Erlin's Eye, and I can't wait to start another. Don't miss this one.… Expand
  5. sploruxus
    Oct 1, 2022
    9
    After putting in some hours into this game, i can say that i love the artstyle, the storytelling and the gameplay. The last can sometimes feelAfter putting in some hours into this game, i can say that i love the artstyle, the storytelling and the gameplay. The last can sometimes feel a bit repetitive though.… Expand
  6. CodaHensley
    Mar 26, 2023
    8
    Came for the premise, stayed for the stories. The gameplay of this game isn't exactly my typical bread and butter, but the artstyle and ideasCame for the premise, stayed for the stories. The gameplay of this game isn't exactly my typical bread and butter, but the artstyle and ideas conveyed hooked me. While I have to admit that the game doesn't exactly hold the stressful decision making that the first few hours demands of you, the stories this game tells are gripping and emotional, well worth the time spent investing into them. The stress of decision making is somewhat damped once you realize that all possible stories are available to approach at any time you see fit, the worry that you have to rush to complete these quests in a timely manner fades to the background. Certain quests require you to complete them in a certain amount of time, but these are very rare. Overall, an incredibly satisfying sci-fi adventure, packed with heart and emotion. Well worth the play.… Expand
  7. philzlz
    Dec 17, 2022
    8
    Citizen Sleeper is a sci-fi role-playing action-adventure game. Onboard a space station this narrative game lets you meet a diverse set ofCitizen Sleeper is a sci-fi role-playing action-adventure game. Onboard a space station this narrative game lets you meet a diverse set of characters all with their own problems. Every morning a set of dice is rolled (rpg tabletop style), the higher the dice, the higher the chance to complete quests and events of your choosing. While you do not have to complete every quest and help all the characters, I thought the game is written well enough to want you see all different stories.

    The music and art style are very atmospheric and fit the game perfectly. Unfortunately, the game felt a bit short and after a few days I was over leveled with skill points and money, the struggle of the first few days easily forgotten.    … Expand
  8. xxxkombajnxxx
    May 31, 2022
    3
    I like the artstyle, the mechanics are fun. However the ideological hammer that beats you in the head is a bit difficult to miss.
    The evil    I like the artstyle, the mechanics are fun. However the ideological hammer that beats you in the head is a bit difficult to miss.
    The evil capitalist corporation, that owns everything including your body (you get it?! Not your body, not your choice!) Fights the good physically strong women. It's too blatant for good storytelling and makes it more like a fairy tale than cyberpunk. There are no gray-area for your morals. Everything is black or white, good or bad. A bit lazy story..    … Expand

See all 12 User Reviews

Awards & Rankings

64
#64 Best PC Game of 2022

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