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Have you ever wondered what it was like to sell your consciousness to a corporation? What if that consciousness went rogue? You'll get to live this experience in Fellow Traveller's new RPG, Citizen Sleeper, which follows a humanoid robot discovering independence from their former human self.

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Citizen Sleeper follows your existence as a citizen of The Eye, an outpost in the depths of space. You'll need to go through the toils of everyday life like finding a job and going to the doctor, all while being tracked by corporate bounty hunters. Here's what you need to know to stay alive.

Relegate Low Number Dice To Safer Actions

Citizen Sleeper's Dice Action Tutorial breaks down the probability of each die.

The primary gameplay of Citizen Sleeper is straightforward. Your character will equip one to five dice each cycle based on your condition. Dice are applied to complete actions around The Eye. The number on each die indicates the probability of success. Here's a review of the chances of each die:

Die Number

Probability

One

50% Neutral 50% Negative

Two

50% Neutral 50% Negative

Three

25% Positive 50% Neutral 25% Negative

Four

25% Positive 50% Neutral 25% Negative

Five

50% Positive 50% Neutral

Six

100% Positive Result

Furthermore, each task has a risk rating from SAFE to DANGER.

  • SAFE tasks have no chance of lost condition, energy, or cryo.
  • RISKY tasks decrease cryo or energy if you incur a negative outcome.
  • DANGER tasks decrease condition if you incur a negative outcome. Furthermore, a neutral outcome can also cause cryo or energy loss.

As you can see, chance and probability play a significant role in Citizen Sleeper. While some situations warrant reckless play, we recommend keeping your task bets as safe as possible. Therefore, if you have a six die and a two die, you should apply the six to a dangerous task like stealing a gun and apply the two to everyday tasks, like working a noodle making shift at the local takeout restaurant.

Use Class Skills To Your Advantage

A breakdown of the Operator Class's skills and perks in Citizen Sleeper.

There are three classes of sleepers that you can be in your adventures on The Eye. Each class starts the game with different skills and perks. Class skills add or subtract from the number die applied to tasks of the same category. Perks give your character bonuses when performing specific tasks. Here's a quick breakdown of your options:

Class

Skill Effects

Perks

Machinist

+1 to ENGINEER tasks -1 to ENGAGE tasks

Efficient Extractor: Chance to gain RANDOM SCRAP ITEM on ENGINEER actions.

Operator

+1 to INTERFACE tasks -1 to ENDURE tasks

Transfer Intercept: Chance to gain CRYO on INTERFACE actions.

Extractor

+1 to ENDURE tasks -1 to INTUIT tasks

Photosynthetic Skin: 'Sunbathe' DICE ACTION allows ENERGY recovery at home.

Throughout the campaign, especially when starting, making choices that fit your class strengths makes sense. For instance, if you are an Extractor, focus on ENDURE tasks and avoid INTUIT tasks. Furthermore, use Photosynthetic Skin to recover energy without losing cryo.

When you complete drives, you'll receive Upgrade Points that you can exchange for stat improvements. Therefore, you can adjust your stats to suit the actions and storyline best for you. In other words, your initial strengths and weaknesses ingrained in your class are temporary.

Make Use Of Skills And Tasks That Boost Energy

Your character can sunbathe at their home, a storage container, in Citizen Sleeper.

One of your primary responsibilities in Citizen Sleeper is maintaining your energy level. You can store a maximum of five energy stocks, and this allowance drops by two every cycle. Once your energy stocks hit zero, your condition will drop at an increasingly rapid rate. Therefore, it's imperative to avoid starving at all costs.

Speaking of costs, maintaining your energy reserves costs cryo. For instance, a three energy block meal from Emphis's fungus stand will set you back fifteen cryo. Even ration orders from the Overlook cost ten cryo. These charges can build up throughout a few cycles. Considering that Stabilizer costs 100 cryo a dose, these charges could negatively impact your condition in the long run.

Luckily, you can take actions that will boost your energy without hurting your wallet. For instance, you can upgrade your ENDURE skills to earn the perk Photosynthetic Skin and gain energy at home by sunbathing. Another example: the owner of the takeout restaurant we mentioned earlier gives employees a free meal. In this case, you could earn cryo and boost your energy in one action!

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Stay On Top Of Your Stabilizer Regimen To Maintain Your Condition

Your character meets Sabine in their medical practice in the Bright Market in Citizen Sleeper.

Your condition is a vital metric in Citizen Sleeper. The lower it gets, the fewer dice available per cycle. Plus, once your condition depletes to zero, you will die. The only way to repair yourself and replenish your condition gauge is with a regular stabilizer dosage.

One of your first drives in Citizen Sleeper, Survive, tasks you with finding a doctor before your condition depletes. You'll find the doctor in question, Sabine, practicing out of the Hab Block in the Bright Market district. They'll provide your first dose of stabilizer for free. From that point on, you'll need to re-purchase the stabilizer from the Hab Block at the cost of 100 cryo a dose.

There is a three-cycle waiting period between your first meeting with Sabine and the first time they give you a stabilizer dose. Therefore, it is imperative to find Sabine in the first few cycles and keep your energy up to avoid jeopardizing your condition by starving.

Many drives will cost money to complete, whether the task involves paying a ferry toll or buying the tools needed to manufacture a shipmind. Still, none of these tasks should take priority over your stabilizer. After all, as the adage goes, 'you can't run on empty.'

Track Your Drives To Accomplish Missions

The Drive Tracker keeps tabs on the Escape On The Sidereal drive in Citizen Sleeper.

The drive tracker is an essential tool because it helps you navigate The Eye's overwhelming map. For example, it's often unclear where you should go when starting a new drive. Sometimes, the game will purposely hide target locations as part of the drive's challenge. However, most drives can get tracked step-by-step.

To track a drive, first, open the drive tracker and select Active, then open the drive you wish to track. You will see a button that says Toggle Tracking under the drive description. Click on this to change the tracker's focus to that drive. With your drive set for tracking, you'll notice locations relevant to the drive marked with a yellow pinpoint.

You Cannot End A Cycle Without Finishing Active Scenes

Tala, the Overlook's bar owner, defends you in a heated scene in Citizen Sleeper.

You may notice that sometimes the game won't allow you to end a cycle. Instead, a message below the option states that you still need to complete an active scene. So, what does this mean? Active scenes are text events between you and other characters that progress the story. Therefore, to finish your cycle, you need to visit the location of the active scene and play through it first.

Active scenes are simple to find. When you look at The Eye's map, any highlighted yellow locations have an active scene. You can also use your drive tracker to find active scenes since most relate to active drives.

There Are Multiple Branching Endings And Storylines

Your character and Lem get screwed out of a life-changing space voyage at the shipyard in Citizen Sleeper.

As you progress through Citizen Sleeper's campaign, you'll learn that there are a lot of places to go and people to meet. All of these people hold different possibilities for your sleeper. The more you engage with one person, the more the story will shift in a given direction.

Therefore, we recommend you play through the game multiple times and make new choices. There is a lot to discover, and you'll likely finish your first playthrough with plenty of loose ends. This malleable experience full of deviating paths makes Citizen Sleeper much more fulfilling.

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