Citizen Sleeper

 Xbox Series X
Citizen Sleeper Image
Metascore
85

Generally favorable reviews - based on 9 Critic Reviews What's this?

User Score
7.7

Generally favorable reviews- based on 15 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: 9 out of 9
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 9
  3. Negative: 0 out of 9
  1. GameCritics
    Jun 6, 2022
    100
    Citizen Sleeper isn’t harsh or punitive despite the pressures and perils the player might face. No, it ultimately feels like a slow, incremental triumph over adversity in a way that I wish was as easy to accomplish in the real world. This genius array of interlocking circles and Swiss watch gears is flawlessly synchronized with every piece spinning as it should, and it ultimately delivers not only a top-tier Sci-Fi tale, but a larger commentary on community, friendship, and the experience of life itself.
  2. Press Start Australia
    May 3, 2022
    90
    It's not often that a game grabs me in quite the way Citizen Sleeper has. By stripping a video game adventure to its barest components and then manipulating those components to create just the right balance of hope and despair it successfully conveys the drama and danger of its small slice of sci-fi storytelling. Top-notch writing, impeccable narrative design and inviting tabletop mechanics accompanied by gorgeous art and music serve only to elevate it even more. Play this bloody game.
  3. Game Informer
    May 23, 2022
    90
    Its hopeful and inspiring message is backed by a branching, heartfelt narrative, and a great gameplay loop, making it tough to put down. Add in its enriching visual style and my favorite musical score of 2022 so far, and Citizen Sleeper is a game I'll be thinking about for years to come.
  4. Slant Magazine
    May 3, 2022
    80
    Citizen Sleeper works very hard to ensure that it remains a story of perseverance rather than failure.
  5. Guardian
    May 4, 2022
    80
    It helps, too, that the music is superb, vaguely reminiscent of Blade Runner’s Vangelis soundtrack at times, and it changes subtly with the decisions that you make. It’s just a shame that Citizen Sleeper fizzles out at the point where it’s set to explode. There are far more stories to tell in this fascinating universe, and this is some of the finest video-game sci-fi writing out there.
  6. Pure Xbox
    May 6, 2022
    80
    Much like In Other Waters, this is a game you simply need to sit down and play in order to fully appreciate, as no screenshot or explanation will fully do it justice, and having it release on Game Pass is just the ticket to entice interested parties to try their hand. We urge you to dive in here, as this is a game of real style and substance with multiple endings to mop up as you peel back layers and dig deeper into Eldin's Eye and its inhabitants. Citizen Sleeper is a unique and thought-provoking adventure that's truly taken us by surprise.
  7. TheXboxHub
    May 4, 2022
    80
    Citizen Sleeper is a rather niche game. The gameplay itself is minimal, but there is a massive amount of storytelling to be taken in.

See all 9 Critic Reviews

User Reviews

Write a Review
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 7 out of 8
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 8
  3. Negative: 1 out of 8
  1. Jgitw
    Feb 1, 2023
    10
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. A memorable, touching game. The coldness of space, and the harshness of life as a refugee contrasts with the feeling of finding community, and carving out a life. The soundtrack adds a wonderfully dreamy layer of atmosphere, and the mechanics are well-judged and compelling. I played for a while after I'd exhausted all the story, just growing food, manufacturing medicine, earning money, sleeping, and repeating. I didn't want my time on the Eye to end. 10/10… Expand
  2. Redboo
    May 24, 2022
    10
    This game is wonderful. I started playing it thinking I would’ve got bored immediately seeing the type of gameplay. Instead it sucked meThis game is wonderful. I started playing it thinking I would’ve got bored immediately seeing the type of gameplay. Instead it sucked me completely inside of the story making me love every character and leaving me sad of finishing the game.
    Please do a favor to yourself and play it    … Expand
  4. Z1SS
    Jun 5, 2022
    10
    Amazing game.
    I couldn't stop until I went through all the endings of this game. Music in this game brilliant ❤️
  5. royalguy07
    May 16, 2022
    8
    Wonderful sim that feels like a real moving board game that you get to play. Engaging characters and storylines with dense and detailedWonderful sim that feels like a real moving board game that you get to play. Engaging characters and storylines with dense and detailed writing. Very good musical choices and cues to play off the emotions of the scene. Could of used maybe some twists or a sharp difficulty spike towards the end.… Expand
  6. dan-man
    Aug 16, 2022
    8
    The best thing about this game is the music and the writing. The art can be pretty nice too. The progression, levelling up, interface andThe best thing about this game is the music and the writing. The art can be pretty nice too. The progression, levelling up, interface and characters can be hit or miss though. It is also very woke with all female characters being inherently good or strong and all male ones being bad or inherently weak (unless they are coloured). But this game is a lovely little sojourn and well worth your time, especially on gamepass.… Expand
  7. RatchetClank111
    Jul 4, 2022
    8
    Saw this game on gamepass, and it definitely exceeded my expectations. This game i would give a score of 8.5/10 overall.

    Pros - Good    Saw this game on gamepass, and it definitely exceeded my expectations. This game i would give a score of 8.5/10 overall.

    Pros
    - Good aesthetics
    -Music fits the sci-fi mood
    - Lot of different characters with different personalities that can aid you in your quests
    - the rpg elements and using dice to complete tasks was done quite well
    - additional benefit of choosing different character types with different perks and benefits, and being able to apply points to perks adds more depth to the game
    - various endings for the story

    cons
    - I get the game has limited budget, but I think there should of been some voice acting. Even if they said some phrases or words, at least some effort should of been put into this with there being so much dialogue
    - sometimes the game gives the illusion of choice in dialogue, but ends in same result, wish you had more dialogue choices, instead of just picking a phrase or just say nothing.
    - I may of missed it, but the game goes way fast regarding the tutorial and explaining stuff, and I could not find anything to refer back to that initial tutorial.

    Overall, very solid game. Didn't run into any bugs, good story.    … Expand
  8. Broyax
    Oct 16, 2022
    0
    Voici une saloperie d’énième étron indé comme on peut en trouver par dizaines (de milliers) dans les les poubelles et les bennes à orduresVoici une saloperie d’énième étron indé comme on peut en trouver par dizaines (de milliers) dans les les poubelles et les bennes à ordures numériques… C’est bricolé rapidement et n’importe comment avec le moteur 3D pour les incapables et les crevards, à savoir Unity !

    Ici évidemment en -peut-être- 256 couleurs, voire un peu plus ou un peu moins, selon ce que vous arriverez à compter à l’écran… mais vous vous endormirez en comptant ou pire encore, en essayant de jouer à cet étron vidéo-pas-ludique qui n’arrête pas de vous noyer sous des tonnes de blabla à lire (une sorte de roman de gare à deux dollars en somme, plus ou moins interactif…).

    L’interface est complètement ratée et aussi peu pratique que possible : elle constitue un défi aux lois de l’ergonomie de base les plus élémentaires qui soient… c’est dire si c’est putain de nul à chier ! Le pire du pire cependant, se situe dans l’agenda woke et SJW surchargé, le racialisme racialisé, le tout dans une propagande typique de mange-merde d’extrême-gauche ! mais de toute façon, pas un mot de français là-dedans : tout est en rosbif intégral, alors passez votre chemin…    … Expand

See all 8 User Reviews

Awards & Rankings

12
#12 Best Xbox Series X Game of 2022
66
#66 Most Discussed Xbox Series X Game of 2022

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