Introduction

From Warm Lamp Games and Alaware comes Beholder, a RPG adventure game. This is an adventure game that takes place in a dystopian universe with a totalitarian government. You (Carl Stein) must juggle the demands of the state, as well as the needs of your tenants and your family.



This game is available on PC and it is also available for both Apple and Android mobile platforms. I enjoyed playing the mobile game on the Android platform. The game has multiple ending options and many moral dilemmas that keep players engaged and interested as they play.

Synopsis

You live in a totalitarian dystopia where the government controls every aspect of the lives of its citizenry. You received a job from the Ministry of Allocation to be the landlord of the dilapidated Krushvice 6 apartments; you must move there immediately with your family. Once you arrive, you gaze upon the previous landlord, whose beaten body is dragged by the police to custody. Bruno Hempf, deputy chief of the Ministry of Order, teaches you how to spy for the state and how to set up cameras and where to get them. He gives you the key to all the tenants’ rooms. He also mentions that failure will result in the fate of the previous landlord…or worse.



Features



Reputation points: This form of currency is used to buy cameras from the State shop and to wrest information from your tenants and to avoid arrest from the police when you steal. Reputation points can be earned by doing favors for your tenants, your family and some assignments from the Ministry. Cameras: These can be purchased in the state shop by spending your hard-earned reputation points. These can be used to spy on your tenants and can be sold on the black market for additional money.

Money: Obviously, money can be used to buy items off the black market, and it is needed to complete certain quests in the game. Money is also used to pay bills and to bribe government officials and tenants. Profiles: These reports are created when you either talk to your tenants or when you enter their apartment and search their belongings. You earn money when you send profiles to the Ministry of Order; you earn $125 per discovered characteristic of tenants. This is also where illegal activities and substances are documented, and you can choose to either report them to the State or blackmail them.

Tasks: These usually sit on the left-hand side of the screen while Carl is waddling around the apartment installing cameras and snooping on apartment dwellers. Failure to complete quests in the allotted time can result in being either fined or arrested for negligence by the Ministry or Order to even the death of your family in some cases; completion of tasks will result in reputation points, money, and various items needed to complete other tasks. Completion or failure of tasks has an impact on the ending of the game.

Pros

Story: The story is interesting because the decisions you made in the game have a direct impact later in the game. This mechanic makes multiple replays possible due to each decision you choose has an impact later in the game. This mechanic also encourages multiple replays. Music: The musical score of this game adds an additional sense of eeriness as you search through the belongings of tenants. Its soft, miserable tone also adds an additional despondent feel to the already miserable setting.

Cons