Cults, Sleepers, and disposable journalists

Hello everyone, I hope that you are surviving this week. Waking up every morning to some kind of new tragedy or political mishap is already starting to take a toll, so to all of you, I hope you are getting by!

This week we wrapped up our Game Club playthrough of Citizen Sleeper. I rarely visit games a second time, but coming back to Citizen Sleeper after a few years has been an absolute treat. The way it has crafted a narrative that instantly makes you feel like you are part of a community, but everyone is using you for their own gains, and still makes you feel like you are "home" is quite impressive. I think Pat from our Discord nailed it in our discussion:

It was such a good time. I learned a lot. I found some endings and stories that I missed my first time around. And now I am more than primed for the sequel!

Anyways, let's take a look at what's good this weekend!

And what games came out this week?

The Headliners

Developer: KAFI
Steam rating: Very Positive
Store page

In the latest spin on the Lethal Company / Content Warning / let's make a game about making content genre, this week we have The Headliners arriving on Steam.

New York (or the Big Apple as locals like John from our community like to call it) is under attack by mysterious creatures. The only way to inform the public is to fly into the hotzone, getting all those delicious scoops and reporting them to the news networks.

The standard 1-4 co-op adventure with laughs and mystery awaits. This actually looks like a lot of fun, and I am infinitely jealous of every one of you lovely readers who gets a chance to play this. No way I can make time for these kind of shenanigans right now.

Kiosk

Developer: Vivi
Steam rating: Very Positive
Store page

Keeping on with the horror vibe, Kiosk is a neat little "serve-em-up" that mixes the pressures of Overcooked with a weird horror experience. You are a night shift worker at a small food kiosk. Your boss has vanished mysteriously without a trace, and during your shift weird stuff starts to happen. Piece together the clues and find out what happened, all while cooking bacon and eggies for the hungry masses who visit you in the middle of the night. Oh, and why is it always raining?

Keen to see where this one goes. It has a Story Mode, and Endless Mode with online leaderboards, and a Relax mode. I might make use of that third option during the late night shifts.

Eternal Strands

Developer: Yellow Brick Games
Steam rating: Very Positive
Store page

If climbing beasts is your jam, then you might want to put Eternal Strands on your radar. This beautiful fantasy action game is the debut title from Yellow Brick Games based out of Canada, founded by industry veterans. That probably means that they got some funding because DAMN does this game look like a AA joint.

The ideas on display here are pretty cool too. The combat is based around using powerful magic and parts of the world as your weapon. Heat and fire spreads, and ice chills and immobilizes foes, and you can hurl environmental hazards at your foes using telekinesis.
The big example they show is climbing onto a dragon mid-flight, and freezing it's wings so it crashes down into a ball of pain. That's super neat. Oh, and you can climb beasties, just like Shadow of the Colossus (I assume, I have never played it).

This is unexpected, and looks really great. I hope this is a win for the new studio. We need more games playing in this AA space.

Citizen Sleeper 2: Starward Vector

Developer: Jump Over The Age
Steam rating: N/A
Store Page

Quick disclaimer - I used to work at Fellow Traveller, and I did work on Jump Over The Age's first release, In Other Waters. However that was years ago, and when a game is just this good, I can't not recommend it, you know?!

You saw above that we did a Game Club playthrough of the original, and tomorrow Citizen Sleeper 2: Starward Vector is launching on all platforms, including Game Pass. What you will find here is more of the same incredible writing, but almost everything else about the game is transformative in a good way.

The mechanics are still the same. Each day (called a Cycle) you roll some dice, and you can then assign them to do different tasks. Unlike the first game, you are not locked down to a single hub area. In Starward Vector you will be flying around the stars, visiting new stations, and taking on new contracts as your ragtag crew fight to make their way in this harsh existence.

Yeah, you have a crew this time! They bring with them special skillsets, and it is a super dynamic addition to the gameplay that I have been enjoying a lot. The game is also harder, with more consequences, which forces you to be more strategic with your choices. If you're just here for the story though, don't worry, there's a difficulty setting for that.

I'm only a few hours in, but after just finishing the original again I can safely say that Citizen Sleeper felt like the beginner's guide to a single-player tabletop RPG. It had all the building blocks, and it kept it simple to ease you into the mechanics and intricacies of the world. Citizen Sleeper 2 feels like the GM just bought the core rule book and some of the expansions and is throwing new things at you thick and fast, and I love it. If you missed the first game don't worry, the sequel is a self-contained story. I highly recommend picking this one up if you are into narrative, or sci-fi at all!

Whispers of the Eyeless (Early Access)

Developer: Venris, Evil Gingerbread Studio
Steam rating: Positive
Store page

Coming from a team that has created a bunch of Total War: Warhammer mods is Whispers of the Eyeless, a strategy RPG where you are raising a cult in the bowels of a crumbling city. As you gain followers in the name of Wrath, Desire, or Madness, your cult will amass unspeakable powers that will help face the darkness of the city.

It has a strong Darkest Dungeon vibe, but with a lot more culty-madness rather than straight up Lovecraftian influence. The devs claim that there are various play styles that will allow you to either focus on the building and management aspect if that's more your jam, or creating powerful teams to venture out and tackle the darkness. It seems pretty promising, and has earned a spot on my wishlist for when I am feeling like something a little more strategic.

Adam Boyes talks about the future of the industry

I listen to the Jeff Gerstmann Show every week, and while I can totally appreciate why some folks may not tune in to what is usually a solo podcast, I find his measured cynicism towards the industry to be just the right amount. This week he had former PlayStation Indie boss Adam Boyes on the show, who is currently spinning up a new consultancy looking to combat the trash fire that is the AAA space right now.

Obviously he is trying to sell his takes on the new consultancy, but he has A LOT of great takes about how we got here, and why it is a problem. There are so many misconceptions about how we "fix" the industry from armchair developers, and a lot of them are bad. I am not saying I have all the answers, but I do know that it is not as easy as piling up more live service fodder for the graveyards, or cancelling Fortnite or whatever. Anyways too many good moments to pinpoint, so just give the whole show a listen when you get a chance.

That's a wrap

Thanks as always to everyone who read the newsletter. If you liked it, please share it with someone else. If you REALLY liked it, consider dropping a few dollars into our Ko-Fi cup. There's a chance that I might not be able to get a dispatch out next week, but we will have a conversation piece hitting so if I can't make the dispatch happen, I will send that out to the Substack feed instead.

Stay safe, and see you next week!