The Citizen Sleeper series is celebrating its third anniversary this week. The first video game in the series launched to critical acclaim on 5th May 2022, with a sequel – Starward Vector – then releasing earlier this year.
As part of its anniversary celebrations, developer Jump Over The Age has released a free to download solo tabletop game known as Spindlejack.
Spindlejack “puts players into the seat of a courier on the space station Far Spindle, a familiar location from Starward Vector. Players will navigate the station, earn Cryo, build their reputation, make their mark on the courier scene, and try to survive in a hostile system”.
As shared by Jump Over The Age, the free tabletop game mirrors “the hard decisions and emergent storytelling that fans have come to know and love from the series”. If that all sounds like your thing, you can download Spindlejack here.
In addition to releasing a new Citizen Sleeper tabletop game, the developer has also shared some interesting Citizen Sleeper-related stats. Since the series debut in 2022, the games have welcomed over two million players.
26 percent of the first game’s players joined a commune, while 19 percent made bootleg booze from mushrooms (actually assumed this would be higher). Six percent went on to become a part of the fungal network and 1.5 percent left Lem and Mina waiting on the dock as they instead set off for a new life alone. To quote Jump Over The Age, “you monsters”.
As for the second game in the series, 29 percent of Starward Vector players adopted a stray cat. Again, I really assumed this would be higher. 35 percent of the sequel’s players got lucky with a glitched dice, 18 percent allowed Surya to turn their ship into a flying billboard and 1.5 percent managed to complete the game on dangerous difficulty. “You heroes,” says the Citizen Sleeper team. Can confirm, I am absolutely not part of that 1.5 percent.
In addition to the above, the developer has said it will be adding French, Japanese, and Simplified Chinese localisation to Citizen Sleeper 2: Starward Vector later this year.
Citizen Sleeper received very positive reviews on its release, and was nominated for a number of BAFTAs. Its sequel similarly received positive reviews, with our Bertie calling it “terrific”.
“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,” reads Eurogamer’s Citizen Sleeper 2 review.