Know when to hold ’em, know when to roll ’em
Dice are fairly commonplace in tabletop roleplaying, but Citizen Sleeper is finding some virtual applications for them. The futuristic narrative RPG sees you trying to survive in an interstellar capitalist society, and dice are how you do it.
Revealed during yesterday’s PC Gaming Show for E3 2021, Citizen Sleeper is the latest game from In Other Waters developer Jump Over The Age. It also features character art from Guillaume Singelin, and wow, does the art pop in this trailer.
As a sleeper—a digitized human in an artificial body, owned by a corporation that wants it (you) back—you have to manage life aboard Erlin’s Eye, a ruined space station with people just trying to get by in interstellar life. It’s chaotic and restless, but there are many ways to spend your time; hit the bar, work the yards, or just get to know people, making it by one cycle at a time.
Every cycle you roll dice, and then get to assign their value to various actions on the station. Each decision determines your way forward, and affects those around you as well. Clocks track your progress and influence, while “drives” let you pick and choose the stories that matter most to you, shaping your skills in the process.
It sounds really rad, like a mix of Dicey Dungeons and tabletop concepts with the social management of games like The Yawhg. Citizen Sleeper is currently slotted for a 2022 launch, and its Steam page is open for wishlisting here.