Info about Orwell: Keeping an Eye On You: Official game description: Coming soon =========== Season 2, Orwell Ignorance is Strength is out now! ================================================== Check out the store page for more information... About the Game ============== Big Brother has arrived - and it’s you. Investigate the lives of citizens to find those responsible for a series of terror attacks. Information from the internet, personal communications and private files are all accessible to you. But, be warned, the information you supply will have consequences… Orwell is a new governmental security program that has the power to survey the online presence of every person in The Nation. It can monitor all personal communications and access any computer. To preserve the privacy of citizens, human researchers examine the data Orwell finds and decide which pieces of information should be passed on to the security forces, and which should be rejected. Selected from thousands of candidates, you are Orwell’s first human researcher. And when a terror attack rocks the Nation’s capital city of Bonton, Orwell, and you, are immediately put to the test. Starting with a single person of interest, you'll help the security forces build out and profile a network of potential culprits. But are these people really terrorists? What does the information you reveal to Orwell say about them? What if you find out things about them that not even their loved ones know? What is the real price of maintaining the security that the Nation is yearning for? Key Features ------------ **Investigate the digital lives of citizens.** Search web pages, scour through social media posts, dating site profiles, news articles and blogs to find those responsible for a series of terror attacks. **Invade the private lives of suspects.** Listen in on chat communications, read personal emails, hack PCs, pull medical files, make connections. Find the information you need to know. **Determine the relevance of information.** Only the information you provide will be seen by the security forces and acted upon. You decide what gets seen and what does not, influencing how the suspects will be perceived. **Secure the freedom of the Nation.** Find the terrorists so the citizens of the Nation can sleep safe, knowing Orwell is watching over them. **MATURE CONTENT WARNING** Please note, Orwell includes mature language at multiple points throughout the game as well as mature themes and is not suitable for younger players. Release date: Oct 27, 2016 Categories: Surveillance, Investigative Gameplay, Narrative-driven Gameplay, Moral Decision-Making, Point-and-Click Adventure, Visual Novel, Choice-based Narrative, Political Simulation Feature scans: - Wiki: score 50; verdict: Needs Improvement; summary: The game presents a mixed experience with notable frustrations around its complex mechanics and slow pace. Players often need to refer to external guides to progress, which can detract from the overall enjoyment. The narrative and exploration aspects are appreciated but may require additional effort to fully understand and enjoy. - Hardware Profile: No data Feature extractions: - Community Price: - Community fair range: $3.00 - $9.99 - Reasoning: The evidence consistently mentions the game being worth the price especially when on sale. The full price is often considered a steal, and specific mentions of the game being worth $3 USD on sale help to establish a lower bound. The upper bound is supported by the current base game price of $9.99, which is considered reasonable even without a sale. - Playtime Metrics: - Game completion: 5.0h - Story completion: 5.0h - Session length: 4.5h - Endgame: N/A - Reasoning: The evidence provided includes multiple mentions of the game's length and session times. Players frequently mention completing the game in one sitting, which suggests a session length of around 4-5 hours. The total playtime for a full completion is consistently cited as approximately 5 hours, indicating that the game completion and story completion times are similar. There is no specific mention of endgame content, suggesting it might be minimal or non-existent. - Time-to-fun: - Summary: The game starts with a simple tutorial and interface, but the fun builds gradually as more information is revealed and the story progresses. The addictive gameplay mechanics and deliberate pacing contribute to an engaging experience. - Stance: Fun then builds - Anchor: Story progression and information revelation - Time to anchor: 0h 30m - Friction: Simplistic and repetitive mechanics; Slow pacing at the beginning - Unlock drivers: Story progression; Information revelation - Conditions: Engaging with the story; Making choices that alter the truth - Player Archetypes: - Ethical Investigator (buy) - Motivation: Engaging with moral dilemmas and narrative depth - Playstyle: Thoughtful and deliberate, focusing on the consequences of their actions - Experience: familiar - Purchase stance: buy - Labels: franchise fan; story-driven player - Reference games: Papers, Please; Beholder - Casual Nostalgic Player (sale) - Motivation: Enjoying simple and nostalgic gameplay - Playstyle: Relaxed and casual, focusing on the enjoyment of the game mechanics - Experience: mixed - Purchase stance: sale - Labels: old-school player; casual gamer - Reference games: The Operator; Do Not Feed the Monkeys - Dystopian Enthusiast (buy) - Motivation: Exploring dystopian and political themes - Playstyle: Immersive and narrative-focused, enjoying the game's themes and story - Experience: veteran - Purchase stance: buy - Labels: dystopian fan; political game enthusiast - Reference games: Beholder; Papers, Please Below are summaries of things people say about the game per category. Each point is assigned a weight that represents how often it is mentioned across all reviews. What players like: - Engaging and immersive story (weight 0.74): The game features an engaging and immersive story with moral dilemmas, twists, and well-written characters. Players appreciate the brilliant and thought-provoking narrative that holds their attention. - Positive overall gameplay experience (weight 0.71): The gameplay is described as addictive, enjoyable, and worth playing. The game is recommended for its low price and engaging story, with solid and straightforward mechanics. - Impactful player choices (weight 0.69): Players' choices significantly affect the narrative and have real consequences. The game features ambiguous moral choices and multiple endings based on decisions, providing a sense of freedom and replayability. - Thought-provoking themes and gameplay (weight 0.61): The game offers thought-provoking content with ethical dilemmas and commentary on surveillance and justice. The gameplay is simple yet engaging, encouraging deep thinking about surveillance, freedom, and privacy. - Intuitive and well-designed UI (weight 0.24): The user interface is intuitive, responsive, and well-designed. Menus are simple and effective, contributing to a sleek and clean UI with rich design elements. Common complaints: - Unconvincing and unsatisfactory narrative (weight 0.63): The game's story is widely criticized for being unconvincing, with weak final chapters and an unsatisfactory ending. The narrative is frustrating and unengaging, especially on subsequent playthroughs. - Boring and repetitive gameplay (weight 0.49): Many players find the gameplay boring and uninteresting, with repetitive mechanics that make the game less exciting over time. - Lack of dialogue skipping (weight 0.36): Players are frustrated by the inability to skip or fast-forward dialogue, which causes pacing issues and makes replaying the game tedious. - Short game duration (weight 0.27): The game is criticized for its short duration, with a playtime of about 4-6 hours, leading to a lack of replayability and content. - Clunky and inconvenient UI (weight 0.2): The user interface is described as clunky and inconvenient, with non-intuitive features that make the game unpleasant to interact with. - No manual saving (weight 0.19): The game does not allow manual saving, requiring players to restart from the beginning of a chapter if they make a mistake, which is frustrating. - Bugs and technical issues (weight 0.16): Players report various bugs, including issues with information collection and display, which negatively impact the gameplay experience. - Tedious achievement replay (weight 0.16): Replaying the game for achievements is considered tedious and boring, adding little value to the overall experience. - Lack of voice acting (weight 0.13): The game is criticized for its lack of voice acting, which affects the immersion and overall experience. - Poor localization (weight 0.1): The game's localization is criticized for being poor, with translation issues that affect the overall experience. - Slow pacing (weight 0.1): The game is criticized for its slow pacing and story progression, which can make the game feel tedious. Gameplay feedback: - Surveillance and investigation theme (weight 0.74): Players take on the role of a digital detective or investigator using a dystopian surveillance system to uncover the truth behind a suspected terrorist attack. The gameplay involves surveillance, data analysis, and spying on people. - Choices with consequences and multiple endings (weight 0.54): Players' decisions have significant consequences, influencing the story progression and leading to different endings. The game emphasizes moral choices and the impact of decisions on the narrative. - Simple and effective gameplay mechanics (weight 0.43): The gameplay is simple, involving decision-making and straightforward controls. It is not very challenging, with most important text already highlighted for easy progression. - Interactive narrative and decision-driven gameplay (weight 0.38): The game features an interactive narrative where players can choose their own story paths. It is a detective game with non-linear storytelling and choice-driven gameplay, emphasizing interactivity and mystery-solving. - Text-heavy and narrative-driven experience (weight 0.35): The game is text-heavy, requiring players to read and analyze text. It is a narrative-driven experience with a focus on character-driven stories and interactive text gameplay. - Data gathering and analysis mechanics (weight 0.35): Gameplay involves gathering and sorting information from various sources, collecting evidence, and analyzing data to progress the story. - Storyline and plot development (weight 0.25): The game emphasizes storyline and plot development, including plot twists and character development. The narrative is driven by player choices and investigations. - Character profiling and interaction (weight 0.19): Players engage in character profiling and interactions, using a system called 'The Profiler' to gather information on characters. The game features dialogue systems and NPC interactions. - Visual novel elements (weight 0.14): The game incorporates visual novel elements, making it more of a visual novel than a puzzle game. Players interact with the story through visual novel mechanics. - Point-and-click investigative gameplay (weight 0.13): The game features point-and-click mechanics, with players interacting with the environment through a simple browser interface. Performance notes: - Few or no bugs (weight 0.15): Many players reported experiencing few or no bugs while playing the game, indicating a generally stable experience. - High and consistent frames (weight 0.05): Many players reported high and consistent frame rates, contributing to a smooth gaming experience. - Check system requirements (weight 0.04): Some players suggested checking if your system can run the game, indicating potential issues with system compatibility. Recommendations: - Recommended for narrative adventure fans (weight 0.26): This game is highly recommended for players who enjoy narrative-driven games with deep stories and investigative gameplay. It is particularly suited for fans of games like Beholder or Papers Please. - Good value for price (weight 0.21): The game is considered a good value for its price. Some reviews suggest buying it on sale for even better value. - Appeals to Orwell and dystopia fans (weight 0.15): The game is recommended for fans of George Orwell's works and those interested in psychology, social studies, and dystopian themes. It is also suggested for players who enjoy mystery and detective games in the format of visual novels. - Worth replaying for endings (weight 0.13): Players find the game worth replaying to experience different endings and event variants. It adds to the game's replayability. - Interactive moral dilemmas (weight 0.1): The game is described as an interactive reflection on surveillance, power, and moral dilemmas, making it a unique experience. - Play in segments (weight 0.06): Some reviews suggest playing the game little by little or one chapter at a time to fully appreciate the experience. - Better than Orwell 2 (weight 0.05): A few reviews mention that this game is better than its sequel, Orwell 2: Ignorance is Power. - Suggested hard mode (weight 0.04): There is a suggestion for adding a 'hard' mode without hints to increase the game's challenge. - Play in original language (weight 0.04): Some reviews recommend playing the game in its original language to avoid translation errors and fully experience the narrative. - Linear narrative experience (weight 0.04): The game is recommended for those looking for a mostly linear narrative experience. Other player notes: - Translation guide available (weight 0.05): Players noted the availability of a text translation guide. - Received game as gift (weight 0.04): Some players mentioned receiving the game as a gift. Emotions: - Frustration (weight 0.12): Players are frustrated by a variety of technical issues, including bugs that hinder progress, game freezing, and lack of essential features like dialogue skipping and saving. The gameplay mechanics, such as repetitive tasks, lack of challenge, and tedious surveillance mechanics, also contribute to this frustration. Additionally, the story elements, including bad endings, unrelatable characters, and moral dilemmas, add to the overall dissatisfaction. - Enjoyment (weight 0.11): Players enjoy the engaging story and gameplay mechanics, particularly the research and investigative aspects. The unique blend of different mechanics and themes, along with the immersive atmosphere and interesting moral dilemmas, contribute to a fun and addictive experience. - Disappointment (weight 0.09): Players feel disappointed due to the lack of depth in gameplay and narrative, with expectations not being met in terms of story and puzzle-solving elements. Issues such as translation problems, lack of meaningful choices, and unsatisfactory endings also contribute to this disappointment. - Excitement (weight 0.05): Players are excited by the unique and engaging gameplay mechanics, including the narrative twists and immersive experience. The thrilling story elements and the desire to explore multiple endings add to the overall excitement. - Engagement (weight 0.05): Players are engaged by the immersive story and realistic scenarios, which keep them invested in the game. The moral dilemmas and thought-provoking themes, along with the impact of player choices, contribute to a deeply involving experience. - Satisfaction (weight 0.05): Players feel satisfied with the thought-provoking narrative and complex characters, as well as the engaging gameplay and story. The game's ability to meet expectations and provide a well-designed experience contributes to this satisfaction. - Disappointed (weight 0.04): Players are disappointed by the lack of voice acting and gameplay depth, along with the game not meeting their expectations. Issues such as repetitive gameplay, narrative flaws, and limited player choices add to this disappointment. - Frustrated (weight 0.04): Players are frustrated by UI and operation flaws, as well as the lack of traditional gameplay elements. Bugs preventing progression and translation issues, along with limited gameplay mechanics, contribute to this frustration. - Thoughtful (weight 0.03): Players find the game thoughtful due to its deep themes and moral dilemmas. The message about surveillance and the moral complexity of choices provoke deep reflection and emotional engagement. - Joy (weight 0.02): Players experience joy from the engaging story and unique gameplay mechanics. The enjoyable narrative and the game's ability to keep players gripped and thoughtfully engaged contribute to this joy. - Excited (weight 0.02): Players are excited by the emotional impact and engaging gameplay mechanics. The immersive story and the desire to replay the game to discover different endings add to this excitement. - Interest (weight 0.02): Players find the game interesting due to its engaging story and unique mechanics. The connection to real-life implications and the investigation aspect keep players interested until the end. - Satisfied (weight 0.02): Players are satisfied with the good value for the price and the engaging story. The well-designed gameplay and the layered themes contribute to a satisfying experience. - Positive (weight 0.02): Players have a positive experience due to the enjoyment of the game's unique aspects and engaging story. The game's concept and interactive elements are highly praised, contributing to this positivity. - Approval (weight 0.02): Players approve of the game's deep narrative and thought-provoking themes. The effective portrayal of a surveillance society and the strong narrative contribute to this approval. - Appreciation (weight 0.01): Players appreciate the game's setting and themes, as well as the strong and beautiful message. The depth of the story and the multiple endings are highly valued. - Surprise (weight 0.01): Players are pleasantly surprised by the interesting and detailed storyline. The surprising plot twists and the engaging narrative contribute to this sense of surprise. - Anger (weight 0.01): Players feel anger due to the unconvincing narrative and unlikable characters. The frustrating ending and the inability to sympathize with certain characters add to this anger.}