Citizen Sleeper 2: Starward Vector

Between musings of transhumanism, capitalism, power, and technology are human stories about real people. No space wizards, no ship shootouts, no heroes. Just the everyday reality of folks trying to survive. It’s incredibly grounded, and something I wish we would see more of in sci-fi. Citizen Sleeper’s world belongs to its junkyard scavengers, grubby engineers, repair technicians, cargo haulers, and everyone else on this ramshackle asteroid belt. I don’t want the glitz and gloss of Starfield, Star Wars Outlaws, or Cyberpunk 2077. I want grounded, punchy stories about nobodies, and that’s what Citizen Sleeper 2 is. What a fantastic start to 2025.

With a new found sense of tension, and showpiece Contract missions, Citizen Sleeper is transformed. This follow-up has improved the RPG formula in every way.

Citizen Sleeper 2 shakes up its own already stellar formula in a way that’s fresh and innovative whilst also dialing the stress to 11. Its scope is larger and more ambitious but also maintains that fragile beauty of the world and its inhabitants. There's a lot to uncover here for new and existing players, but be careful, this time around it doesn't hold your hand but leaves you flailing around in space. But once you find your feet, you’ll find that you can never tire of Citizen Sleeper’s world.

Citizen Sleeper 2: Starward Vector is a fantastic sequel that expands upon its core concepts and gameplay mechanics while delivering an even more emotional and thrilling story. A true masterpiece and yet another GOTY contender from the talented team at Jump Over The Age.

Citizen Sleeper 2 is phenomenal, evocative, and haunting. The minimal visuals are flawlessly supported by the writing. Gut-wrenching expressions and touchingly lonely scenes flow out of the masterful descriptions. The audio design had me rocketing from dawning dread to heart-pumping motivation. And in the end, I was forced into the hero’s dilemma in a way that cemented this game as one of the year’s best.

Citizen Sleeper 2 doesn't overturn the formula of its predecessor, but it improves it in every way. The story is better paced and broader in scope, thanks to the possibility of exploring the Starward Belt far and wide. The cast is larger and the characterization of the characters is deeper, so much so that it is impossible not to develop a deep empathy with all the supporting characters, starting with Serafin. The game mechanics are more immediate, thanks to the purging of the less effective elements of the predecessor and a cleaner interface. The constant sense of having someone on your tail, of being stuck in a ruined body and of not having time and resources, provides further pathos, gluing you to the screen for hours and amplifying the emotions felt. If all this were not enough to make Citizen Sleeper 2 a small masterpiece, we can add a harsh and subtle social criticism, deep and sharp, but not without shades of optimism.

Despite fundamental similarities between the two games, Starward Vector builds on its predecessor in a way that feels perfectly logical: a reframing and culmination of the design philosophy that defines the series thus far. You could easily look at screenshots of either Citizen Sleeper game and think them a niche interest, but I don’t think that’s true. It may resemble a visual novel in some ways, but the overall experience it offers feels like a full-fledged RPG. As long as you aren’t opposed to reading a lot of good writing, Citizen Sleeper 2 is an indie investment worth considering. With an endearing and well-rounded cast, tight and expressive game systems, and a visionary sci-fi world to get lost in, this is an early frontrunner for 2025 RPGs.

It’s remarkable that Citizen Sleeper 2: Starward Vector was primarily created by just three developers, with Gareth Damien Martin at the helm. Despite its indie roots, the game outshines many AAA titles. The narrative and world-building are strong, but what makes the game truly special is how its themes are integrated into the gameplay itself. Every decision you make feels important, the consequences of those choices stick with you, and its mechanics reflect the anxieties of living in a system that commodifies individuals. It becomes a deeply personal experience that constantly makes you consider, and sometimes overthink, your actions. Admittedly, the heavy reliance on text may deter some players, and the minimalist presentation occasionally dulls the impact of its more harrowing moments. Yet, beneath its understated surface lies a novel (pun intended) experience—one that digs into your skin and demands introspection.

Citizen Sleeper 2: Starward Vector is a great game for anyone who appreciates a complex science-fiction universe, well-rounded characters, and existential musings. The new Sleeper is a great protagonist and the rest of the cast, even those with small roles, are well-written. The dice-focused gameplay has been enhanced with new mechanics, some designed to increase the challenge level, that sometimes feel unnecessary. Players annoyed by the dice rolls and the peril associated with them should play on easy and enjoy the narrative. The game, especially when players aren’t focused on one of the major drives, uniquely mixes story, tension, and a sense of discovery. Citizen Sleeper 2: Starward Vector doesn’t offer massive innovation but perfects an already effective combination of narrative and gameplay.

Citizen Sleeper 2 is a timely story about hope in the face of collapse and how the inevitability of endings can’t negate nobility, sacrifice, or human connections. Although it doesn’t offer as much narrative freedom as suggested by its expansive maps, the strength and depth of its stories more than recommend a play. It’s dark in space, but the points of light we find and nourish can guide us.

Even if you haven't played the first game, Citizen Sleeper 2: Starward Vector is a rousing sci-fi adventure. It features complex but fun dice mechanics, a choose-your-own-adventure playstyle, and many memorable characters to interact with. If you're able to push through the initial learning curve, you'll find a worthy and long-lasting VN experience.

Citizen Sleeper 2: Starward Vector is beautiful, but no cake-walk. It will challenge you, with sudden decisions, genuinely difficult dice rolls, and the inability to just save-scum your choices. You’ll fail things and roll with the consequences, which in turn has the power to change how you approach the game. Sometimes you may just find that the easy route is more attractive, even if it ultimately dooms the people around you. This, like the first title, is a special game, one that will shape itself around your decisions and map your fate by chance as much as choice. It may test you, it may frustrate you, but my advice is to stick with it, because until you reach a fail state there’s always a way to keep going, keep exploring, and keep surviving in the harsh, unforgiving vacuum of space.

Citizen Sleeper 2: Starward Vector is the perfect sequel to a great experience.

Like Citizen Sleeper before it, Starward Vector feels like a tremendous coming together in so many senses. The marriage between the original’s core concepts and the new mechanics feels natural, while the motley crue you take to the stars with, their stories included, are an exceptional cast of characters whose place in my sleeper’s own journey I’ll never forget.

By the end of my adventure, I’d questioned so much about friendships, how society treats each other, and how emotions shape our outlook on the world. I was sad when it ended, I could have stayed here for many more hours. Citizen Sleeper 2 asks big questions, but never bludgeons you over the head with subtext, it simply asks you what you’d do in a certain situation, playing a chosen role. It does so, bolstered by a robust dice-rolling system, and some genuinely astonishing writing, as if you were playing a TTRPG with your best friend guiding your hand.

Citizen Sleeper 2 is everything you could want from a sequel, building on its predecessor's strengths in storytelling and character design while also bringing new complexity to the dice and clocks that govern its capitalist dystopia.

Citizen Sleeper 2: Starward Vector tells a powerful story that, combined with a soft thought-provoking soundtrack, will leave you ruminating long after the credits roll.

Starward Vector’s more itinerant nature means it doesn’t quite achieve the tidy perfection of the first game, but it still leaves us with plenty to chew on.

Citizen Sleeper 2: Starward Vector is a valid sequel that shares its predecessor’s compelling setting and some of its characters, while also introducing new mechanics. Stress could perhaps have been better handled, being essentially negligible most of the time and nerve-wracking during the new time-limited contracts, but that’s pretty much the only real criticism I can move at the game.

A worthy sequel that maintains a high level of story and art. Worth playing, even if, for some reason, you are not familiar with the first part.

Citizen Sleeper 2: Starward Vector is a solid sequel, but without the surprise factor of its predecessor, the end result isn't quite as compelling.

I really enjoyed Citizen Sleeper 2: Starward Vector, especially travelling between different locations. The new dice system is a bit too much, though, and little would have been lost if only one of the broken or glitched dice concepts was used. The story and writing are still great, though being spread across a wider setting means it does lose some of the magic of the original.

This sequel refines and expands the original's mechanics, offering deeper role-playing systems, a compelling cyberpunk narrative, and more freedom with ship and crew management. However, its text-heavy nature and lack of localization may make it difficult for some players to fully engage.

Man, machine or both? Citizen Sleeper 2: Starward Vector tells the story of its protagonist with great linguistic skill and an ingenious dice mechanic.

Starward Vector expands on the Citizen Sleeper formula not just with gameplay features, but how they connect to the narrative. You’ll experience higher highs and lower lows in ways that will surprise even aficionados of the original. When I finished Citizen Sleeper’s multiple endings, I felt a sense of ease, as if I’d seen all that the game had to offer. The opposite is true of Starward Vector. Your decisions, actions, successes and failures all feel as if they have stark outcomes on story beats going forward. If you want a great story, I urge you to play Starward Vector, even though your experience won’t be the same as mine.

Starward Vector is at its best when it tackles modern problems and expertly blends them with science-fiction concepts. Workers unionising, the gig economy, overbearing family members. The writing is as striking as it is illustrative, which is so important in a text-based game. The RPG mechanics have been fleshed out, iterated, doubled down upon. It’s Citizen Sleeper, but more. I’m just not sure if I wanted less.

Yet the characters are also the game’s greatest strength, and throughout they are expertly drawn, both literally (with comic book artist Guillaume Singelin once again providing some gorgeous portraits) and in terms of their compelling and heartfelt backstories. Despite its bleakness, the world of Citizen Sleeper 2 is full of compassion, and it’s a joy to return to the universe Gareth Damian Martin has created.

For any attempt at a sequel, Citizen Sleeper 2 now stands as a benchmark. It passionately builds upon the elements that made its predecessor a success—sharp storytelling, dice-based gameplay, and a unique audiovisual atmosphere—while introducing numerous innovations that expand its scope. Filled with tension and tough choices, thanks to a narrative driven by brilliant writing, Citizen Sleeper 2 particularly excels in its gameplay, which is deeper, bolder, and less forgiving. So much so that, beyond its well-earned status as a narrative RPG, we might be tempted to label it with a touch of survival, which suits it well. The meticulous mind might regret a certain lack of clarity regarding the potential consequences of some decisions and a slight overload of simultaneous quests. However, these minor flaws are far from enough to prevent Citizen Sleeper 2: Starward Vector from being a great experience for discerning players who enjoy a bit of reading—provided you understand English (at least for now).

Everything that I loved about Citizen Sleeper is present here in Citizen Sleeper 2: Starward Vector. The music and art are as stunning as they ever were, the quality of the writing is exceptional and there is no shying away from complexity when it comes to the questions posed and the sometimes painful, but often beautiful conclusions drawn from them. While it doesn’t engage with its core theme as extensively as I might have liked, I found myself enjoying every moment I spent in the Starward Belt, and I was captivated by everything I saw through the Sleeper’s eyes.

Citizen Sleeper 2: Starward Vector does not stray too far from what made the first one a cult hit, but it doesn’t need to. It tells a rich and poignant story about the complex nature of control on one’s self when that self is a machine that can be rebooted and hacked, finding and enriching community in the face of overwhelming odds, and expressing personhood both to oneself and to others. It’s visual novel-like presentation is heavy on reading and dice rolling, so its not exactly pulse-pounding, but the retooled character classes and stats, new crew missions, and stress mechanics provide just enough feedback and create a sense of precarity throughout that it stays engaging.

Citizen Sleeper 2's broader scope stretches its mechanics thin, even while its story flourishes.

Citizen Sleeper 2: Starward Vector is a smart sequel in that it takes everything that worked from the stellar first and expands, but the novelty of the original – which was quietly transformative for anyone interested in the genre – is a difficult lightning to capture in a bottle twice. It works, and works well, but the success of Citizen Sleeper also set the bar impossibly high.

Insightful writing and tightly controlled tabletop RPG pacing makes this new expanded sequel worth your time, even if you're new to the Citizen Sleeper universe.

Citizen Sleeper 2: Starward Vector is a narrative RPG full of choices, risks, and survival. The dice and stress mechanic add tension, while the strong writing and layered choices enhance the story. Not for everyone, but fans of narrative RPGs will feel right at home.

This is a wonderful, expansive piece of sequel-craft that has already drawn us in for a second go-around at a higher difficulty, with no fear that we've scraped the ceilings of its systems and stories. For something like that, we'll take a bit of instability any time. [Issue#407, p.90]

Citizen Sleeper 2: Stairward Vector represents a step forward from the previous game and once again adheres to the canons of classic tabletop RPGs. While this will please purists, others may have some impatience with the static nature of the action, which despite the additions offers little dynamism and a really significant amount of text.

Fans of the original will surely enjoy this — keeping what I’ve said in mind — while those that are intrigued by its concept should get out the original first. Engage accordingly.

This all adds up to a game that feels deeply divided. Any time I was on a contract, I was captivated. The palpable tension of every dice roll left me with sweaty palms and a racing heart, wondering if this would be the job that finally got the better of me. But in slower moments, what takes up the majority of the game when you’re not on the clock, Citizen Sleeper 2 never quite clicked with me. It’s still a stunningly well written game, full of prose that took my breath away, but with a story that overall seems listless and unfocused. There are shining moments of Citizen Sleeper 2 that I’ll carry with me, but in the end it’s much like its protagonist, searching for the core of its own identity and coming up short.

Citizen Sleeper 2: Starward Vector balances survival stress and transhumanist optimism, even if those ideas are sometimes at odds with one another.