Dystopican - PC Review

A TV screen displays a stylized eye inside a monitor icon above the word "DYSTOPICON" in bold letters; a remote control is visible in the foreground.

How would you manage your time if all you had to do was sit and watch TV to earn money? Dystopicon is a new, dark time management game from Palitroque.

Now available on Steam for – should you add Dystopicon to your library? Read more to find out.

Sit down, put your feet up and make money watching TV. What are you doing? No. Don’t look out the window!

Video game scene of a blue-toned room with a TV, kitchen, stove, and a stats screen showing spending categories and health indicators. — Plenty of channels to choose from

Gameplay

This dystopian life sim uses point-and-click mechanics to make your way through the game. Your job is to watch tv, make money to survive and comply with the authoritarian regime that controls the world. It really is as simple as that. Earning money is easy but managing it is a whole other issue. Aside from napping, everything costs money. Eating is $2, washing is $4 and other upgrades get added to your apartment as time passes, all costing more money.

Your Citizen Rating also decides your fate. Being a good Citizen means you progress into nicer apartments, a lower ratings mean that you go back into reeducation. Police and neighbours repeatedly check in on you, offering the opportunity to increase your citizen rating.

A female puppet-like character stands in front of a blue background. There is a lot of text on the screen:"I am the president of this apartment block and a first-class citizen. I am responsible for making sure everything is in order and for managing neighborhood votes." There are two response options for the player: "Hello, neighbor!" or "In other words, you're a parasite." — Even in a totalitarian state there’s a nosy neighbour

Mouse Controls

As a point-and-click game, the most important part of the gameplay is ensuring that the player can easily click on the elements that need to be clicked. Unfortunately, when playing Dystopicon, there is an issue where the cursor doesn’t appear unless hovering over something players can interact with. It ends up being really annoying because you’re trying to do things quickly and you just can’t do it. It gets even worse in the later rooms when they’re sparser and you have to unlock furniture again.

Game screen informing the player they are a First Category Citizen with suspended permits and a new job as President of Housing Block 49. — Definitely nothing to question here.

Unfortunately, it’s even worse when you have to catch the rats that like to scurry around because you just have to spam and hope that you hit them. Hopefully this is something that they fix pretty quickly; otherwise it will 100% take you out of the game and become a frustrating experience.

Graphics & Audio

The audio for Dystopicon focuses predominantly on ambient sound rather than a dedicated soundtrack, but it does it extremely well. There are times in the game where events occur outside your window and it really feels like they’re just outside. A normal music soundtrack wouldn’t have worked for this game and the lack of one only emphasises the themes of the game. Similarly, the graphics are relatively simple. This is to be expected when the game focuses on the limited life a person would live in a dystopian universe. Dystopicon’s graphics and audio go beyond just design for the game and only further the plot. It is done in a really clever way and I thoroughly enjoy it.

View of a retro-styled virtual room with a bed, old TV, computer, bathtub, chair, and status indicators on screen. — What a cosy apartment to sit and rot in

Longevity

There are a number of endings available in Dystopicon giving it plenty of replayability. The first one that I unlocked was dying from lack of fun which feels a little bit too real. There are a number of apartments to work through as well as reeducation. All in all, Dystopicon has plenty of replay value. The story – as hidden as it can be – is intriguing enough to keep players going back to find more information about the world. It’s simplistic enough in gameplay that sinking time into the game is easy. It would be even easier if that cursor issue is resolved because it can get so frustrating.

Illustrated comic showing a UFO beaming lights on a city, catching fire, crashing, and exploding in a pink blast against a green background. — Ah yes, as expected… aliens.

Final Thoughts

Dystopicon is a really fun little simulator game. It’s story telling is whacky but interesting. It never feels like you’re sat waiting for the time to pass. The management elements of the game are really well done. I’ve given in the Thumb Culture Silver Award simply because the lack of the pointer really did ruin the experience for me. I’m sure this will be something that is fixed in future updates but for the time being I’ll have to leave it at that.

Disclaimer: A code was received in order to write this review.

Dystopican – PC Review