Beholder

Wow, this game has been a heck of a ride! So many different pathways to take, some better than others. Some even deadly! It’s the perfect mix of dystopian and surreal. It’s got a great storyline and lots of cool features. The art is very cool, too! It might take a few goes to learn all of the different things you can do as the main character, Carl. You might kill him a few times, but you can always load your last checkpoint and try something less deadly next time. All in all, it’s a fantastic game! Well worth the money. The only issue I had is with the English grammar/pronunciation on a few of the words, but it’s not even worth docking a star because it’s so few and far between that it doesn’t impact the game at all.

This game is absolutely incredible. The setting is a totalitarian government who pretends to benefit the people. The gameplay is great and works phenomenally with the touch screen. There’s no awkward fake joystick fiddling, mostly tapping. Don’t let that fool you, this game is one of the deepest experiences you could have on IOS, second only to My Child Lebensborn. The style and character interactions are dripping with atmosphere, the dystopia effects all of them. It also has the Papers Please quality of constant moral choice with it being really hard to make the right choice. You are a landlord working directly for the government. You have a number of lives in your hands, including your family’s. You need money, and it’s pretty hard to get and hold on to. It’s not impossible to always make the right choice, but it’s difficult. You often have to choose between supporting your family or making the world a better place. Sometime though, the choice kicks you in the stomach and you essentially wasted your money. It’s impossible to tell when this happens, and it really adds to the feeling that you’re living in a cruel world where your voice is lost. Despite that, it’s still a tremendously engaging experience, and I found myself attached to some of these characters which are essentially black splotches. Get this game.

Played it on pc, and was thinking it would be so nice to play it on touch screen, and there it is! I find it much more easier to play this way than clicking the mouse like crazy. Also, I think the simplified filing/blackmailing/reporting system is a BIG improvement. The time pauses when you are looking through things, which is nice too. The only suggestion I would make is the save/load system, I wish we could be able to control the timing somehow, e.g. it's a pain if i just forgot to pick up the box left by the tenant before repair but had to start from before taking the quest! Looking forward to more!