Typically, if I’m holding my breath while playing a game, it’s because I’m focused on the rhythm of say, an intense combat sequence or platforming section. The tension stems from the precise, real-time input needed to triumph in those situations, a perfectly-aligned leap or parry. Citizen Sleeper 2: Starward Vector, an RPG in which the main mechanic is placing dice into a slot at your leisure, does not require the lightning fast touch of a button, and that in itself is a testament to how exhilarating the game can be.

Citizen Sleeper 2 is the sequel to 2022’s Citizen Sleeper, and a compelling evolution to the first instalment that introduces new characters, stories and mechanics. You don’t necessarily need to have played the first game, but it does help in understanding the nuance and complexities of the unforgiving, dystopian world that Citizen Sleeper is set in. While the first game often felt like an isolated journey where helping yourself was often a zero-sum game, Citizen Sleeper 2 introduces a crew system, alongside some other clever new features, allowing your Sleeper to become the quirky, unappointed protagonist of your very own episodic sci-fi adventure.

Mechanically, the sequel feels fresh but familiar. Like the first game, Citizen Sleeper 2 is driven by ‘Cycles’, and at the start of each, you’ll roll a set of six-sided dice that will determine your output during any given Cycle. These dice will then slot into numerous activities, and the higher the roll, the higher the chance of success. Where Citizen Sleeper 2 builds on this is in a brand-new ‘Glitch’ system, a quirk that can debuff one or multiple of your dice rolls substantially, and the ‘Push’ system, which allows you to decrease the risk of using a specific dice to accrue Stress, another new feature. 

Stress is an exchange, letting you exchange short term success for further complications later on like ‘breaking’ a die, rendering it useless for a Cycle. This system forces you to gamble, to analyse whether success in the moment is worth whatever damage you’ll do to yourself in the long run. This is where those tense, exhilarating moments come into play, Citizen Sleeper 2 is at its best when a critical success or punishing failure hinges on an unpredictable dice roll.

It’s a much more engaging system, turning the act of simply rolling dice into a wider risk/reward system that enables you to essentially push through a difficult situation and pay for it later. Citizen Sleeper 2 is effectively a game about being alive in a body that doesn’t quite work as you’d like it to, and its mechanics are masterfully built to force you to wrestle with that at all times, yet it never feels a burden to play.

Another new addition that impacts how you play is the class system, which introduces three distinct Sleeper archetypes with their own strengths and weaknesses. Each class starts with strength in one skill, with the ability to unlock points and build out other skills as you play. However, each of these has one skill completely blocked off, you’ll not be able to build on it and will always be at a disadvantage on activities that require it. For example, I went with the Machinist role, a pragmatic archetype that excels with the ‘Engineer’ skill and falls short with the ‘Engage’ skill. In short, great at fixing things, not so great at socialising. It’s a balanced system, but one that drives a natural instinct to play a role, which will also impact how you build your party, another excellent addition to Citizen Sleeper 2.

As you progress, you’ll meet new characters that can be recruited as part of your crew, and each of these new additions comes with their own skills. This changes the dynamic of Citizen Sleeper 2 dramatically – you’re no longer only dependent on your own dice rolls, your crew members can contribute additional die in certain moments. 

However, these characters are more than just tactical additions to your tabletop arsenal. Citizen Sleeper 2‘s colorful cast is compelling to follow, because they’re not merely compelled to follow you. They’re individual personalities, each with their own drives and dreams. Sometimes, crew members will be indisposed on errands of their own making, and sometimes their actions will put you in interesting positions, and sometimes those situations may conflict with how you have chosen to roleplay your Sleeper. These characters are not written to be necessarily “good” or “bad” personalities, but everyone you meet has been molded by the dystopian landscape they all share in some way. There’s moral ambiguity in characters that have been shaped by loneliness, conflict and desperation, and there’s a muted cordiality in everyone just trying to survive.

One thing to really heed is that there is no right or wrong way to play Citizen Sleeper 2. Progression is not confined by the binaries of success and failure here, there is no “game over” if you find yourself stumbling through a run of bad luck and poor dice rolls. The decisions that you or your crew decide or deign are the ones that truly matter, and your priorities may change as you uncover new threads to pull on. 

The main story of Citizen Sleeper 2 is propelled forward by Major Drives, main missions that’ll advance the plot, but you’ll also pick up Minor Drives, side quests that are optional but will uncover integral additions such as new crew members and valuable items, some of which will pertain to the personal goals of your crew members. However, the new Contract system is where Citizen Sleeper 2 really shines in its homage to the episodic television format the game draws influence from. Contracts are little missions that your crew can embark on with their own engaging narratives and rewards, and they’re also where camaraderie with your crew is key to survival. Opportunities are often shrouded behind inconspicuous interactions that require good use of every skill, and not just your own.

Contracts are accessed via a new map layout, which allows your crew to travel freely between several locations. Citizen Sleeper 2 is far less linear, some Minor Drives will take you to new locations, or you can just choose to spend a few Cycles exploring a place with no specific goal. While its predecessor kept you isolated and tied to one place, Citizen Sleeper 2 extends an open invitation to explore a sprawling galaxy, as long as you have the supplies to get where you’re going.

There is, however, a constant clock running in the background as you partake in all of this wild-eyed wandering. The next narrative beat will often be forced upon you after a certain number of Cycles, and the way to keep failure at bay is to always be moving around. Again, this isn’t a pending failure, but a persistent reminder that there are consequences to your actions in this unrelenting universe.

Citizen Sleeper 2 constantly dances on the line between a calm, controlled stroll and a high-octane sprint. While you may be engaging in some non-important churn, taking your time with its many engaging dialogue sequences, the everpresent thrum of danger is always creeping up to you, making sure you can never truly relax wherever you are. It’s a masterful feat of thoughtful worldbuilding, where your success is often either clutched through chaos or entirely incalculable, which is also a salient question that Citizen Sleeper‘s world poses about existence: What if everything just went wrong anyway, and that was okay?

Citizen Sleeper 2: Starward Vector is out January 31 for Xbox Series X|S and Xbox One, and is available day one with Xbox Game Pass.