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Play Overview
Citizen Sleeper (2022) is a role-play game set in the ruins of interplanetary capitalism. You are an escaped worker exploring a lawless space station, making friends, and (ultimately) trying to escape your past. Each cycle you roll dice and decide how to spend them, on work, on society or on surviving with more power for the next loop. It's a game that asks how it's possible to be a person in a system that subjugates and commodifies personhood in favour of profits.
You are a sleeper, a digitised human consciousness in an artificial body, owned by a corporation. You escape and are thrust amongst the colourful inhabitants of the Eye - an abandoned, run-down and unruly space station held together by anarchic alliances, ramshackle factions and a shared desire to be free from corporate control. To survive you'll need to build friendships, earn money and navigate the political factions.
You play in cycles where you roll a set of dice that can then be spent on specific activities. The higher the number of dice you use, the better the outcome of that activity. Do you work in the yards or the bar? Or perhaps search the markets for rare components? Grab some street food, maybe? The choices you make each cycle affect you and the world you live in. You can make or break alliances, uncover truths, and learn to survive one cycle at a time.
As you progress you meet characters from all walks of life: salvagers, engineers, hackers, bartenders, and street-food vendors. Talking to them uncovers their rich history which brought them here. Or you can learn things by hacking into the station's archive to find new areas and unlock secrets. Your choices slowly shape your character's five skills (Engineer, Interface, Endure, Intuit and Engage), unlocking perks and bonuses that reflect and change how you choose to live in this world.
The result is an intricate game that feels like a Dungeon & Dragons adventure. On each loop, your careful allocation of dice and conversation decisions affect the story and the world. Along the way the game deftly engages with themes of the commodification of people, abusive systems and exploitation by corporations. Like the Westworld TV series, can you escape the makers of your decaying body and chart your own path in a future you choose?
Our examiner, Andy Robertson, first checked Citizen Sleeper 23 months ago. It was re-examined by Jo Robertson and updated 6 weeks ago.
You are a sleeper, a digitised human consciousness in an artificial body, owned by a corporation. You escape and are thrust amongst the colourful inhabitants of the Eye - an abandoned, run-down and unruly space station held together by anarchic alliances, ramshackle factions and a shared desire to be free from corporate control. To survive you'll need to build friendships, earn money and navigate the political factions.
You play in cycles where you roll a set of dice that can then be spent on specific activities. The higher the number of dice you use, the better the outcome of that activity. Do you work in the yards or the bar? Or perhaps search the markets for rare components? Grab some street food, maybe? The choices you make each cycle affect you and the world you live in. You can make or break alliances, uncover truths, and learn to survive one cycle at a time.
As you progress you meet characters from all walks of life: salvagers, engineers, hackers, bartenders, and street-food vendors. Talking to them uncovers their rich history which brought them here. Or you can learn things by hacking into the station's archive to find new areas and unlock secrets. Your choices slowly shape your character's five skills (Engineer, Interface, Endure, Intuit and Engage), unlocking perks and bonuses that reflect and change how you choose to live in this world.
The result is an intricate game that feels like a Dungeon & Dragons adventure. On each loop, your careful allocation of dice and conversation decisions affect the story and the world. Along the way the game deftly engages with themes of the commodification of people, abusive systems and exploitation by corporations. Like the Westworld TV series, can you escape the makers of your decaying body and chart your own path in a future you choose?
Our examiner, Andy Robertson, first checked Citizen Sleeper 23 months ago. It was re-examined by Jo Robertson and updated 6 weeks ago.
Kids not old enough for this yet? There are lots of games similar to Citizen Sleeper. Here are some similar younger-rated games:
Play Style
This is a Communication and Narrative game with Adventure, Point-and-Click, Role-Play and Sequencing elements. This is a single-player game.
You can play this game in the following styles:
Benefits
This game is good if you want to:
Age Ratings
In the US, ESRB state: As players follow the story, they make dialogue and action choices that influence the outcome of events. Some scenes contain descriptions of violent acts (e.g., “Then the shot rings out…A bullet hole smokes in the wall beside your head”; “…You scramble to your knees behind Ethan's body and fire”; “You fire again, and again, and again until the clip is empty and all that is left are clicks”; “She pushes Sabine to their knees, plunging the crackling end of the baton towards their chest”). The words “sh*t” and “a*shole” appear in the game.
Skill Level
11+ year-olds usually have the required skill to enjoy this game. Still, it's important for parents and guardians to consider the maturity required to process the game content. You need considerable comprehension skills to parse a large amount of writing and make sense of the layered story. You also need to be able to consider the unintended implications of choices. Finally, being able to prioritise your dice and cope with failure is crucial.
Costs
Citizen Sleeper usually costs £16.75.
There are no additional in-game purchases, loot boxes, adverts or subscription costs.
Citizen Sleeper
 | PC | £16.75 | – | – |
 | Xbox One | Free | – | Free Xbox Game Pass |
| Xbox X|S | Free | – | Free Xbox Game Pass |
| PC | Free | – | Free Xbox Game Pass |
 | Switch | - | ||
Game Details
Release Date: 05/05/2022
Out Now: PC, Switch, Xbox One and Xbox X|S
Skill Rating: 11+ year-olds
Players: 1
Genres: Communication, Narrative (Adventure, Point-and-Click, Role-Play and Sequencing)
Accessibility: 24 features
Components: 2D Side-On, Cartoon, Dice, Grid and Text
Developer: Jump Over The Age (@JumpOverTheAge)
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Written by parents for parents, the database complements the in-depth discussion about video game addiction, violence, spending and online safety in the Taming Gaming book. We are an editorially independent, free resource without adverts that is supported by partnerships. |
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