Citizen Sleeper (2022) is a resource management CRPG released by indie developer Gareth Damien Martin in their solo studio Jump Over the Age with artwork by Guillaume Singelin and music by Amos Roddy. Now, in 2024, Martin is gearing up for the release of Citizen Sleeper 2: Starward Vector – announced in June of 2023 – after the success of the first installment in their game. Development for the Citizen Sleeper series has been constant: after the release of the first game, Martin also released three DLC “chapters” for the first game in, respectively July 2022, October 2022, and March 2023.
The “Actual Play” stream, as entailed by the official X post, will premiere on May 7th, 2024 9 AM EST in celebration of the two-year anniversary of the first Citizen Sleeper game. The actual play is in collaboration with Quinn’s Quest, Quintin Smith’s channel focused on TTRPGs. Smith is also a collaborator on other groups such as Shut Up & Sit Down (a games podcast), and People Make Games (a game dev journalistic group who presents their findings in video format).
An actual play is commonly defined as TTRPGs that are broadcasted to an audience through web shows or podcasts. Thus, the actual play is not direct gameplay of Citizen Sleeper 2, but a TTRPG adapted in the universe of Citizen Sleeper 2. It’s a similar callback to how Martin created Citizen Sleeper by exploring the design question of how TTRPGs could be adapted into a digital format.
Citizen Sleeper 2 follows a similar format to Citizen Sleeper, where the player acts as a Sleeper – an android with planned obsolescence – except the player is in a new location and is given a ship and crew. The official Steam page also teases “bringing fresh ideas, characters, and systems into the mix” for the second game. The same crew, composed of Martin, Singelin, and Roddy, will contribute to the game.