Chat about Citizen Sleeper with us in RPS Game Club today

Welcome all! We'll be kicking off our Citizen Sleeper Game Club liveblog in just a few minutes, so settle into your space container and grab a cup of hot mushroom soup. We'll be starting shortly.

So how did everyone get on with Citizen Sleeper this month? Was it what you expected?

I first played Citizen Sleeper at the end of last year during a week's holiday. I think played it for about three days on the trot, but by the time I reached my first ending, I felt like I'd been on the Eye for three months. Absolutely loved it.

Dez says: I wouldn't normally have played it, but thanks to the RPS Game Club, gave it a shot, and I loved it.

Glad you enjoyed it Dez! What was the most unexpected thing about it for you?

Hey all! I've obviously raved about Citizen Sleeper before, but I had no expectations when I first played. Someone just said it was a bit TTRPG-y, so I went for a look and then lost an entire weekend. There's just something about rolling dice that gets me...

I loved its take on dice-rolling as well. A very different kind of system to last month's Game Club pick, Betrayal At Club Low, but applying them to different tasks certainly captured the same kind of thrill.

Dez says: I liked that you received a set of dice for a cycle and chose what went where instead of every action being completely unknown. I could place stronger dice on actions where I'd want a better outcome and less dice where it didn't matter as much.

Yes! This was my favourite thing about its action dice, too.

Godwhacker says: It's alright. For something so reliant on the written word I was hoping for something with a bit more wit

Interesting! I have to ask: did you encounter the character Neo-Vend?

Overall, I reckon Citizen Sleeper's writing is very much in the same vein as In Other Waters, which Jump Over The Age made first a couple of years ago. It's very earnest, but that's what I like about it. I love the images it conjures, and the way the writing lingers in my brain once I've read it.

I_have_no_nose_but_I_must_sneeze says: I played it a few months ago and then revisited it more recently for the DLC, which worked well as a conclusion. It's probably the most engaging visual novel I've played, and a lot of that is thanks to the mechanics of dice rolling, condition maintenance and the representation of the passage of time.

Did you manage to complete all three episodes of the DLC? I only managed the first chapter, so still got Refuge and Purge to go!

I_have_no_nose_but_I_must_sneeze says: I played it a few months ago and then revisited it more recently for the DLC, which worked well as a conclusion. It's probably the most engaging visual novel I've played, and a lot of that is thanks to the mechanics of dice rolling, condition maintenance and the representation of the passage of time.

I think how Citizen Sleeper represents time is one of my favourite things, too. Using the few dice you get and counting down the cycles to various milestones really makes the limited actions you can take feel precious.

Godwhacker says: It felt like it didn't have much to say beyond "Capitalism, yeah?" whilst constructing a world where capitalism is unforgivably shit with no upsides for anyone, so they never have to analyse it more than that

This is certainly a big theme of the game, and a lot of the main storylines do revolve around it, 100%. But I'd argue there was a lot of humanity to be found in the way each character dealt with their respective situations as well. For me at least, the nuance came from how they've ended up being affected by it.

Dez says: My Sleeper went through many endings, but I consider only one of them canonical in my playthrough (leaving with Lem & Mina). What were your canonical endings?

This was my first ending, and probably still my favourite of the ones I've found so far. I did enjoy Bliss / Ankhita's ending as well though!

Agreed, Lem and Mina is absolutely canon in my mind. The way it describes their journey at the end really pulled on the heartstrings.

I_have_no_nose_but_I_must_sneeze says: As long as there are cats, capitalism is bearable. There was a cat.

THE CAT! I was waiting for something strange to happen with this and... nothing ever did? I just made friends with a cat?

I_have_no_nose_but_I_must_sneeze says: As long as there are cats, capitalism is bearable. There was a cat.

This is very true. And what a good cat it was too.

I_have_no_nose_but_I_must_sneeze says: Hayden, you mean the cat didn't reveal its true nature to you? Time for a replay! I'm kidding. Or am I?

I could very easily be convinced to replay just in case there is something I'm missing. I'm 99% sure the cat is actually some weirdo scientist that transferred their consciousness into their pet or something. They just gave me a "I'm actually a hooman" vibe.

Dez says: @Katharine, I had difficulty forgiving Ankhita...

Interesting! For me, I felt like Ankhita's initial storyline resolved slightly unsatisfactorily for me - I thought I'd biffed it, and that I'd made a mistake in how I handled it. So it was nice to see her again and get some closure this month. I might have also slightly forgotten exactly what went down with her when I played through her storyline last year, but sssh).

Either way, I did play out both sides of her ending, and found both of them to offer the right kind of full stop on everything.

I feel like the cat would be good pals with the cat from actual Stray.

Godwhacker says: I did find Neo-Vend; the Hunter / Killer stuff a bit interesting but a bit shallow. Universal Paperclips I feel deals with the same subject matter in a more interesting way, and that game was mostly intended as a joke

I agree that the Hunter/Killer stuff lacked something. I usually found it disruptive actually, like it was interrupting the stuff I really wanted to focus on. It hooked me more towards the end of that storyline, but early on it didn't really keep my attention.

I_have_no_nose_but_I_must_sneeze says: Regarding endings, I always chose to stay behind and fight for my place on the Eye. I enjoyed developing a network of contacts that I could perhaps someday call friends. There is the allure of new ventures in outer space, yet here I remain.

Yes, I did feel a pang of regret about leaving all my cool friends behind when I did Lem and Mina's ending. I almost wish there was an option to initiate a kind of farewell dialogue option before upping sticks...

Dez says: Plus outer space adventures start with a long travel time. Stay on the Eye and one can continue having immediate adventures. Up to a point, I suppose. But leave for places beyond, and you're on a ship for a long time.

A looooooong long time in Lem and Mina's case, too!

I_have_no_nose_but_I_must_sneeze says: Regarding endings, I always chose to stay behind and fight for my place on the Eye. I enjoyed developing a network of contacts that I could perhaps someday call friends. There is the allure of new ventures in outer space, yet here I remain.

Did anybody else choose an ending that took them away from the Eye, and then struggle to revisit that save to continue with the additional DLC stuff? It felt like a disservice to my story, like I was overwriting the real ending, so I pushed myself to start again to experience the new content.

Hayden says: Did anybody else choose an ending that took them away from the Eye, and then struggle to revisit that save to continue with the additional DLC stuff? It felt like a disservice to my story, like I was overwriting the real ending, so I pushed myself to start again to experience the new content.

I actually went through this exact process on returning to my save for Game Club! I felt like Lem and Mina's ending put a neat full stop on my time with Citizen Sleeper, so to go back and choose not to go with them felt weird and strange. In the end, though, I was glad to carry on, as I really did in fact want to spend more time with everyone else.

How did everyone feel about mushrooms by the time they came to the end of their time with the game? A new respect for the shroom? Or can you now not bear to look at one ever again?

(I had partly forgotten that mushrooms were more or less the only viable food stuff in this place when I came back to it, not gonna lie. Cannot even stomach the thought of drinking distilled mushroom liquor... Brrrr)

RaraAvis says: I literally just started this game like an hour ago - really really cool so far.

Hooray! Hope you continue to enjoy it!

I still hate shrooms, personally. The texture is just grim. I had a cheese and mushroom pasty last night and it wasn't great.

I_have_no_nose_but_I_must_sneeze says: The developer and I see eye to eye on mushrooms. Their culinary prominence pleased me.

Hahaha, excellent.

Matthew (RPS in peace) also disagrees with the texture of mushrooms. I love fried mushrooms as part of a breakfast, though, so that just means more mushrooms for meeeeee when we go out for brunch sometimes.

Dez says: I'd try Girolle wine. At least once.

This is true, I'd probably also try it once. Or at least have a sip. Just to see.

Godwhacker says: I don't recall anyone on the station ever saying that "Sleepers" were ethically bad or that they'd voted in favour of outlawing iSlaves

That's an interesting point, people don't really acknowledge the ethics of it. I quite like that, though? Everyone just seems very welcoming to the idea of you ditching your body and wants to help you get away from the bad corpo that's on the hunt.

I really like the concept of Sleepers. I think it centers the conflict between wanting to escape 'the system' and our reliance on it to survive, it's something I latched onto to tie myself to my Sleeper and put a little bit of my personality in them.

caff says: I wonder if the devs will make a sequel? Or use the same mechanics in a new story world? Any clues, RPS sleuths?

Now that I've gone back to do the DLC again, I'd actually be perfectly happy with more DLC-style stories emerging now and then. But the devs did also tweet this the other day, so ??? Tune in to cheery RPS fanzine PC Gamer's PC Gaming Show next weekend to find out, I guess! I certainly will be!

They also tweeted ahead of the Citizen Sleeper anniversary celebrations that they and the Citizen Sleeper composer and artist were working together again "on a new project":

Citizen Sleeper Anniversary Week Announcement 001:
| The team is back.
| Me, @guinoir and @ToyxTree are working together again on a new project.
| FULL REVEAL SOON 👀 pic.twitter.com/qF78p49yfu

— Gareth Damian Martin | Jump Over the Age (@JumpOvertheAge) May 1, 2023

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Either way, I'm well excited.

Talk of something new has made me immediately excited, I had no idea about any of this.

Dez says: Sequel: You're a stray cat, subsisting on crackers and mushrooms, tolerating the humanoid creatures around you.

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Dez says: Sequel: You're a stray cat, subsisting on crackers and mushrooms, tolerating the humanoid creatures around you.

I feel like I should raise that I am terrified of cats, and playing Stray was absolutely enough for me. I'm perfectly happy with Citizen Sleeper's cat on a windowsill wanting treats and nothing more. I'm most comfortable when I can just nervously nod at cats from a distance.

Godwhacker says: Is there any way to resolve the need to inject the Space Steroids every few days?

Not as far as I'm aware, alas, although I think having this as an ongoing tension (along with your energy levels) is integral to its sense of risk-and-reward with your dice rolls. If you always had five dice all the time, I think the game would lose a lot of the weight behind your decision making.

Dez says: So if the Sleeper's here on the Eye, where is the original body? Is that still with Essen-Arp? If the Sleeper is presumed deactivated, what happens to the original human? Could there be multiple Sleepers from the same human?

I guess it must be! Every now and then the game will remind me of my Sleeper's original body still being locked away somewhere, and I wonder what Essen-Arp will eventually do with it...

Cat aside (who is obvs the best character), did anyone have another favourite character they just enjoyed hanging out with? I think my mushroom man Emphis was probably my favourite pal by the end.

I think Emphis is up there, Tala as well I reckon. Hanging out at either place makes me happy, because I think my Sleeper would be happy in their company.

Yeah, Tala was a good friend as well (even if I did feel like I was lying about liking the girolle wine!)

I_have_no_nose_but_I_must_sneeze says: Anyone collect favourite bits of writing? I wrote down a couple. Someone described the toll work took on their colleagues: "They crumbled in on themselves like paper lanterns". During a moment of shared silence: "It is not like there is nothing to say, it is that sometimes, in the moments after something, speaking breaks the spell".

I have a lot of screenshots of my fav bits of writing, but there are so many good lines I think I'd find it hard to narrow it down to a handful of favourites!

I_have_no_nose_but_I_must_sneeze says: Anyone collect favourite bits of writing? I wrote down a couple. Someone described the toll work took on their colleagues: "They crumbled in on themselves like paper lanterns". During a moment of shared silence: "It is not like there is nothing to say, it is that sometimes, in the moments after something, speaking breaks the spell".

I didn't, but I love this idea so much! I might need to go back for one more playthrough and do this.

Also, just before we bring this liveblog to a close (as it's 5pm and therefore RPS Treehouse home time), I must make special mention of Amos Roddy's soundtrack. It's become my go-to soundtrack for more or less everything ever since I played it last year. I love it to bits.

I_have_no_nose_but_I_must_sneeze says: Emphis is solid. Lem and Mina. Cat. Castor is intriguingly sinister. Who's the person who owns a bar? That one.

That's Tala!

Any other soundtrack likers out there? You can listen to it all on Spotify, if you're unaware!

Dez says: @Katharine, but then I can't play the Hi-Fi Rush soundtrack at the time, if they're both on Spotify.

Hahaha, this is very true.

Well, I hoped everyone enjoyed playing Citizen Sleeper this month, even if it didn't end up being your exact cup of tea. We'll be taking a break from dice rolls for June's Game Club game, you'll be pleased to hear, so keep an eye out for an announcement post next week!

Thank you to everyone who joined in today's liveblog discussion as well! I'll be sticking around for a little while longer to answer any other questions you might have, but otherwise I hereby draw this month's Game Club blog to a close. Thanks all! And have a great weekend.

Yup, I'm off to watch Spider-Verse and then slay some demons! Thanks for the fun chat, everyone, and enjoy the weekend!