At the same time, their basic body condition is in perpetual decline, which will result in a state of Breakdown if not repaired or treated - a system purposely installed in their body by the Essen-Arp corporation as a failsafe measure should a Sleeper ever escape its imprisonment.įood and medicine, however, are scarce, and cost cryo chits, which are extremely limited. Each day-like cycle that passes on the Eye causes the Sleeper’s Energy levels to decrease, requiring a regular supply of food to prevent them from entering a state of starvation. The Sleeper has innate biological drawbacks that persistently threaten their existence. Life aboard the Eye is difficult, and death and survival seem constantly balanced on a razor’s edge. The game scratches that Blade Runner-esque itch.
Whether simply trying to survive the station’s cruel streets of Lowend, becoming a laborer to earn passage on a colony cruiser, joining a local farming commune, or infusing their life savings in a burgeoning business venture, there are plenty of options for how it can all play out. The game is fairly open-ended, and the Sleeper’s ultimate fate, and how to reach it, is up to each individual player. This time, however, things take a different turn, as this Sleeper stows away aboard a space freighter and escapes into the deepest reaches of Space, hoping to experience true freedom.Īfter drifting in a coffin-like cargo container for months, the Sleeper finds themselves aboard the space station known as Erlin’s Eye, home to a broad spectrum of the galaxy’s most unfortunate and forgotten souls (as well as a wretched hive of scum and villainy). Normally, this means a life of indentured servitude for the newly born Sleeper, working in a corporate-owned colony until such time that its artificial body expires and the original human is reawakened. A Sleeper is what awakens when the memories and consciousness of a human are copied and implanted into an artificial body while their original owner is put into a dreamless sleep. Players take on the role of an unnamed Sleeper, a being struggling against the defined role placed upon them by their makers. It does this via powerful characterization and thought-provoking prose that shine through the game’s uneven pacing.
Part die-rolling tabletop emulation and part choice-based visual novel, the game asks heavy philosophical questions about the nature of existence and sentience while stacking the odds against players in a brutal battle for survival. Dick novel that it draws its inspiration from won’t need much in the way of an introduction to the oppressive dystopian vibe permeating Jump Over the Age’s Citizen Sleeper. Those familiar with Ridley Scott’s sci-fi classic Blade Runner or the Philip K.
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