“I think, therefore I am”, an axiom by Rene Descartes seen as an essential component of human life. People take this dogma for granted, as they continue living their daily lives without standing still at their own existence. As you play the role of the protagonist of Citizen Sleeper, you start to challenge that dogma, as you search to find your place in your new body, your new home, and your new way of existence.
You start entirely from scratch as you arrive at the remote space station known as Erlin’s Eye. All you have on hand are your memories and your talents, not even your body can be seen as your own. You are a Sleeper, one who sold their flesh and whose soul devolved into strings of ones and zeroes, inhabiting a metal body developed by Essen-Arp. That corporation values its property, and as such your body deteriorates, with only them selling the antidote.
Welcome to your new home Sleeper. Will you seek to escape, or make a home for yourself?
As a game based on table-top RPGs, Citizen Sleeper’s story is ultimately yours to tell. While the start of your tale is written in stone, you are free to choose how your journey ends, no matter how you wish to see your future unfold. But no matter how your journey through Erlin’s Eye turns out, you will meet many of its inhabitants. Some are locals, others fellow travellers from beyond the stars. Combined with the stellar, expressive writing that makes it feel like the game is your GM, the world completely comes alive, with the quality of the text making up for the lack of visuals. This game is a perfect example of “tell don’t show” done right. Everyone is the protagonist of their own story in Erlin’s Eye, and it’s up to you to make your ending a happy one.
The world housed by Erlin’s Eye is alive, with thousands of unique individuals living through their harsh realities. Who will you try to connect with?
At the start of your new life, you need to choose what mechanical body you wish to inhabit. Each body excels in one skill while lacking in another. There are 3 classes to choose from even though there are 5 skills, which seems like a missed potential. You need not fret too much about this choice, as your initial class only gives you a head start, as the rest of the skills can be upgraded during your stay on the Eye.
Your past is catching up with you, will you opt for fight or flight?
To carve out a life for yourself, you need to familiarize yourself with your new home. Erlin’s Eye houses many locales that are traversed through the map. Navigating it can feel a bit slow sometimes, especially if you are going to and from the isolated Greenway. When you arrive at your destination, you need to spend your resources wisely, and every action comes at a cost, whether it be cryo, the local currency, or time.
As planets and moons cycle around stars, so does Erlin’s Eye revolve around its central hub, creating Cycles that simulate a day-and-night cycle. Every Cycle you are allocated up to 5 dice, dictating how many activities you can do. Every action that uses a die has a chance to have a positive, neutral, or negative outcome and the quality of the die determines which you get. While each type of outcome is color-coded when selecting a die, it isn’t as clear as when you fulfilled the action, making it relatively difficult to see what happened at a glance. The text message is yellow, usually corresponding with a positive outcome. As a result, I often thought I had a positive one at first, though, in reality it ended in disaster.
Will you dive into the Eye’s datascape to learn its secrets?
Even while having escaped its confines, Essen-Arp’s curse haunts you every cycle. Your condition constantly degrades, threatening your being and reducing the quality and quantity of time dice at your disposal. Technically, only Essen-Arp can halt your deterioration, but luckily, the Lowend doctor Sabine has you covered. Still, Stabilizers don’t come cheap. Cryo, the local currency, lies at the core of this society. Spending it is easier than acquiring it, so any earnings are valuable. Even your silicon body requires food, and neglecting that bodily need hurts your condition even more.
Your resources are limited, how will you spend them?
Luckily, anything has its price on the Eye. By scouring the map, you’ll find many opportunities to make some cash. You can find jobs to either earn funds or favors. You can also harness your digital existence to dive into the grand network that lies at the foundation of Erlin’s Eye. Some nodes can be hacked by parting with a specific time die, which rewards data that can be exchanged for diverse awards.
Every inhabitant of the Eye has their own story, being haunted by the past or dreaming up a new future. Eventually, your journey will align with theirs. They will require help, and it’s up to you whether to lend a hand or not. They will offer Drives, which serve as Citizen Sleeper’s quests. You need not heed their call, but some of their Drives offer you a way out of your misery, leading to the game’s many endings. Even if one version of you escapes the Eye or even your mortal coil, you may reload your save file to experience alternate routes your Sleeper may go.
What goals will you pursue in this chaotic society?
Before you can see the curtain call on your journey, Drives will still offer you significant benefits. Completing one awards you with an upgrade point that can be used to hone your talents. The sharper your skills are, the better your odds are when consuming time dice. You may also acquire unique abilities, that range from gaining some spare change from certain actions or letting you recover from physical troubles on your own. Your Sleeper class of choice will form a base to build your talents upon, but it won’t restrict your future potential. Eventually, you can become a multi-talented Sleeper, so you won’t experience the concept of “builds” on your journey.
Which specialty will you prioritize?
Even in the chaos of the Eye, beauty can be found throughout. The color palette perfectly conveys both the horrific realities of this capitalistic, metal hellscape as well as the dreams of those looking up to the stars. The character portraits do not disappoint either, perfectly conveying each citizen’s background and personality. The soundtrack perfectly captures the somber yet hopeful atmosphere, making the Eye truly feel like a flawed home. However, we cannot the most important medium through which you experience your new body: the writing. As mentioned earlier, Gareth Damian Martin’s expressive writing pulls you into their world. Because of this, Citizen Sleeper often feels like a novel, or as if an actual game master tells you a tale.
Will you ponder the nature of your own existence?
If you can think, you can build your future. Citizen Sleeper is an immersive gem of a game that masterfully submerses you in the bleak yet colorful Erlin’s Eye. Getting around the space station might not be easy, and more varied ways to truly make your body your own would have been great. Luckily, the resource management is sure to keep you on your toes. But even if the gameplay doesn’t hit it for you, the world will surely drag you in. The gorgeous art style, believable characters and excellent writing turn this game into an instant classic. The Sleeper may not have a soul, but Citizen Sleeper certainly does.
Citizen Sleeper gets a 9/10.
