Citizen Sleeper is a Cyberpunk themed point-and-click game that plays almost more like a visual novel than anything else. The gripping story will unravel depending on both player luck and choices as the expansive world around them, along with all the crooked and interesting characters inhabiting it, are revealed. Players can pick from three main classes of Sleeper: Operator, Extractor, and Machinist. Each of these comes with unique bonuses and drawbacks, but all three classes share the same primary skills.
The skills are split into five main categories: Engineer, Interface, Endure, Intuit, and Engage. How and when these skills are used will depend upon different missions and how players approach them, but there are some skills that are more useful than others, particularly early in the game.
5 Correcting Deficits
The first thing newer players in Citizen Sleeper should do is to make up for any deficits in their skills tree as soon as possible. These will vary depending on which class is chosen at the beginning, so the deficits will be different for each Sleeper. They can be seen in the character Perks and Skills menu and will display a negative number, usually only -1, indicating that these skills are severely lacking.
While it may seem inconsequential at first, nothing truly is in Citizen Sleeper. Sooner or later, a task will emerge requiring a certain skill and if it is still in the negative there is very little likelihood of achieving a successful outcome.
4 Predictive Reasoning
Being a human soul in a robot body does have some benefits, mainly regarding calculation, which is exactly what Predictive Reasoning provides. As the first skill on the Inuit progression tree, it will be of enormous benefit to events and tasks that require this skill. In addition to this, none of the three classes will start with this perk activated, so using it early will provide an immediate advantage.
Once unlocked, this perk will display rewards and penalties for each task, which are otherwise hidden, and can give players a much better idea of how to manage their energy, stability, and currency in the game. With this additional knowledge, players can make better-informed choices about where and when to use their dice.
3 Obsessive Haggler
The second tier perk in the Engage skillset, Obsessive Haggler will grant a 20% reduction in all Cryo actions, essentially offering a discount on everything players can purchase within the game. Particularly in the early hours, this can be extremely useful since players will be short on money as well as indebted to a Bounty Hunter (if they are lucky).
Survival on The Eye is not easy and nothing comes cheap, so this bonus will help save extra cash to be spent on food and access to further areas of the game world. Particularly when buying expensive items, or paying off the bounty hunter's tab at a local bar, this discount can provide valuable time which can be better spent on other activities rather than gambling on the Ort Exchange in hope of a bullish stock.
2 Self Repair
As players will know, Sleepers are in a state of continual degradation and require Stabilizers in order to prevent a complete shutdown. This not only allows players to expend a less valuable resource in Scrap in order to heal, but it also frees up dice that would otherwise be used for this process and allows for it to be put to better use elsewhere.
In order to unlock this second tier perk, players will need to have already unlocked the Efficient Extractor perk, which will grant additional scrap with any Engineering tasks. Since engineering tasks are readily available in the early game, it is sensible to upgrade the Engineer skill and unlock this perk sooner rather than later in order to reap the maximum benefits.
1 Instant Karma
One of the central mechanics in Citizen Sleeper is its use of dice to determine how successful a player's action may be in any given task. The Instant Karma perk, which is the second perk in the Intuit skill tree, offers players the chance to get a re-roll of the dice if they are dissatisfied with the hand they are dealt. This perk can be invaluable since so much in the game depends upon the roll of the dice.
Each number corresponds to a different degree of success, with higher numbers more likely to result in a positive outcome to any action they are applied to. Meanwhile, lower numbers are more likely to result in negative outcomes such as the loss of Cryos or Energy. The key benefit of this perk lies in its versatility since dice will be used for a range of different tasks and usually for tasks of greater importance. Successful rolls resulting in positive outcomes will also have a positive effect on other in-game currencies such as Energy and Cryos, so having the dice as an ally rather than an opponent is an excellent early step to take in the game.
Citizen Sleeper is available on PC, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.