Citizen Sleeper

What to Know

Critics Recommend

Average Score

Total Reviews: 23

Play It

Although simplistic and short, Citizen Sleeper offers a rich experience, with impeccable narrative that is full of history, personality and charm. Play this game.

Play It

Critics Recommend

Critic Reviews: 23

Critics Consensus

# Reviews: 23

Although simplistic and short, Citizen Sleeper offers a rich experience, with impeccable narrative that is full of history, personality and charm. Play this game.

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Critic Reviews for Citizen Sleeper

Critic Reviews

Score Distribution

23

Reviews

Average Score - 81/100

81%

Ranges

Recommended

Chris Tapsell (Eurogamer)

Citizen Sleeper is speaking to you, but in this case I really recommend you simply listen – not least because there’s depth to be found in your own silence, and because the things it does have to say are absolutely worth hearing.

May 5, 2022 |

Full Review

An absorbing mix of tabletop inspirations and sci-fi storytelling, that makes for one of the most unique and well-written games of the year.

May 3, 2022 |

Full Review

8/10

Adam Starkey (Metro GameCentral)

9/10

Wesley LeBlanc (Game Informer)

In the end, though, Citizen Sleeper is less a critique of capitalism itself, which in its defense has been done countless times in the cyberpunk genre, and more an opportunity to showcase how those under its thumb persevere and succeed despite it. 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.

May 23, 2022 |

Full Review

Chris Tapsell (Eurogamer)

Recommended - (Read Review)

Adam Starkey (Metro GameCentral)

8/10 - (Read Review)

An absorbing mix of tabletop inspirations and sci-fi storytelling, that makes for one of the most unique and well-written games of the year.

Wesley LeBlanc (Game Informer)

9/10 - (Read Review)

**Read all 23 critic reviews on the desktop version of VSG.

Read the Reviews (23 total)

Outlet	Author	Score	Date	Quote	Read
Checkpoint Gaming	Chantelle McColl	8 / 10	05-04-2022	With its emotional story and complex management mechanics, Citizen Sleeper is a game you don’t want to sleep on. You’ll be swept away by its beautiful and harrowing world-building and fall for the characters that breathe life into this already intricate world. You will die and the learning curve is steep, however it is all worth it for the philosophical story Citizen Sleeper intends to tell.	Read review
Destructoid	Eric Van Allen	9 / 10	05-04-2022	What Citizen Sleeper achieves in a fairly short hour count, though, is a sci-fi story that sticks.	Read review
Eurogamer	Chris Tapsell	Recommended	05-05-2022	There is real anguish and intimacy here, real experience, real softness, pensiveness, complexity of thought, from the deeply clever, immaculately balanced systems to its extraordinarily well-realised art, static drawings of those characters that each feel like a glossy, coffee table magazine cover of their own, such is the incredible texture, colour, posture, pain behind the eyes. Citizen Sleeper is speaking to you, but in this case I really recommend you simply listen	Read review
Everyeye.it	Andrea Sorichetti	9 / 10	05-18-2022	Citizen Sleeper is a breath of fresh air for a genre like science fiction, increasingly inclined to self-cite and enhance its aesthetics, leaving the content partially in the shadows. Its settings, although not directly observable, are alive, pulsating, and inside it is possible to intertwine with the stories of the inhabitants of Erlin’s Eye.	Read review
Game Informer	Wesley LeBlanc	9 / 10	05-23-2022	In the end, though, Citizen Sleeper is less a critique of capitalism itself, which in its defense has been done countless times in the cyberpunk genre, and more an opportunity to showcase how those under its thumb persevere and succeed despite it. 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.	Read review
GameSkinny	Bryn Gelbart	9 / 10	05-12-2022	Citizen Sleeper crafts a gorgeously written and thoughtfully conceptualized Cyberpunk world using RPG mechanics inspired by the best in tabletop gaming.	Read review
GBAtemp	Prans Dunn	8.3 / 10	06-07-2022	With its well-executed TTRPG-inspired mechanic and an intricate narrative that fleshes out its universe, Citizen Sleeper brings a fresh outlook on the cyberpunk genre in video games.	Read review
Guardian	Lewis Packwood	4 / 5 stars	05-04-2022	A decaying cyborg with a human mind struggles to survive aboard a space station in a superbly written, if not exactly original, slice of scuzzy sci-fi	Read review
IGN Italy	Stefano Castagnola	8 / 10	05-21-2022	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.	Read review
Jump Dash Roll	Iain Blank	8 / 10	07-01-2022	An excellent genre-defining game that breathes new life into popular and thought-provoking sci-fi tropes. The fact there’s more content to be released in the coming year makes it even more appealing.	Read review
Metro GameCentral	Adam Starkey	8 / 10	05-03-2022	An absorbing mix of tabletop inspirations and sci-fi storytelling, that makes for one of the most unique and well-written games of the year.	Read review
Nintendo Life	Mitch Vogel	8 / 10	05-09-2022	We’d give Citizen Sleeper a strong recommendation to anybody who liked Disco Elysium or any general role playing games with a heavy emphasis on the role. A synthwave soundtrack, strong writing, and high-pressure gameplay make this a game that’ll be tough to put down once you get into it.	Read review
NintendoWorldReport	Jordan Loades	8.5 / 10	05-25-2022	undefined.Citizen Sleeper allows for multiple playthroughs, and even when looking through screenshots during my review there are characters and locations I never once encountered within my first playthrough. Because of the heavy story-driven nature of Citizen Sleeper, your enjoyment will be contingent on your appreciation of the sci-fi genre as well as how much brain space is occupied by thoughts of Turing Tests. While that itself will denote that Citizen Sleeper isn’t for everyone, for those that have even a slight interest in the genre, you don’t want to sleep on this one.	Read review
NoobFeed	Kurtis Seid	70 / 100	05-25-2022	Citizen Sleeper can be some great solo fun for those who have played a similar Powered by the Apocalypse game. But, the game doesn’t offer enough to entice newcomers with no experience. Even then, it can be a little difficult to resist just cheating the system by min-maxing on certain skills.	Read review
PC Gamer	Jody Macgregor	80 / 100	05-06-2022	An evocative life-sim RPG you won’t want to wake up from.	Read review
Polygon	Alexis Ong	Recommended	05-03-2022	When I finally decide to end the game, I leave my Sleeper in the Greenway, where I imagine they can keep on going about their quiet, private routines. I’m not sure I’ll come back to the Eye again, because even if I make different decisions on another run, Citizen Sleeper’s most potent power lies in that first playthrough, when you arrive with nothing, and know even less. This isn’t so much about “replay value” as it is about the singular experience of a journey that — in keeping with the fiction of being a ragged Sleeper trying to survive — is very much a one-way street. Did I do right by my Sleeper? I don’t know. But all things must come to an end, and I feel like they would understand.	Read review
Press Start	Kieron Verbrugge	9 / 10	05-04-2022	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.	Read review
Rock, Paper, Shotgun	Brendan Caldwell	Recommended	05-03-2022	A swish sci-fi RPG full of decent folk and just the right amount of scum.	Read review
RPGamer	Pascal Tekaia	3.5 / 5 stars	08-02-2022	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.	Read review
Screen Rant	Rob Gordon	4 / 5 stars	05-03-2022	Overall, Citizen Sleeper is fantastic. It’s a deep and well-crafted narrative experience with a fascinating setting, and is filled with plenty of challenging questions for players to ponder over. This is a game that gets cyberpunk right.	Read review
Softpedia	Cosmin Vasile	8 / 10	05-13-2022	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.	Read review
TechRaptor	Lee Mehr	8 / 10	05-19-2022	From its interesting design ideas to its rich world-building, Jump Over The Age’s Citizen Sleeper is one of 2022’s best surprises.	Read review
VGChartz	Paul Broussard	7 / 10	05-16-2022	Citizen Sleeper is a very compelling experience, with an enticing story supported by some solid strategy gameplay and barebones but still competent RPG mechanics. If you’re open to a Disco Elysium-esque visual novel that’s a bit lighter in tone (despite the dystopian setting) and emphasizes resource management more, it’s safe to say you’ll enjoy this.	Read review

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Game Info

Game Description / Storyline:

Roleplaying in the ruins of interplanetary capitalism. 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 TTRPGs, explore the station, choose your friends, escape your past and change your future.

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