In a 2019 New York Times video interview, "The Sopranos" creator David Chase is asked what he thinks of when he thinks of the show he created and executive produced over the span of ten years and six seasons. He answers, "cold."

When I think of my time with Citizen Sleeper, I think, "click." Click click click. Clicking squares, clicking and dragging squares. Click click click. Moving up the map, scroll scroll scroll.

The spirited and often inspired prose and worldbuilding of the game is the player's reward for trudging through the incessant minutia of its UI design. Refilling your food bar, crossing the completely unnecessary gap in the middle of the map, hacking for data- these dull tasks that the player is asked to complete nearly every cycle drained my excitement for the compelling stories that game presents, and I think that's particularly unfortunate given how short the game is. Fantastic writing does not a good gameplay loop make.