The basic conceit of Beholder is a fairly simple one. Here, I’ll show you the letter that kicks off the game:
Dear Carl Stein:
We are happy to announce you’ve been appointed the landlord of a Class D apartment block on Krushvice 6.
You must go there immediately and begin working. We have given you and your family an apartment on the first floor.
The experimental drug we injected into your system during your medical exam suppresses your need for sleep. Thus, you will be able to spend more time serving your motherland.
Welcome to the elite official rank.
Ministry of Allocation
As the opening cutscene shows you and your family taking the bus to your new apartment, it also shows the previous landlord going through a somewhat harsh debriefing and exit interview at the hands of the local authorities. He is frogmarched out as you and your family move in.
Your boss is there to give you your keys and walks you through your responsibilities… keep tabs on the people in the apartments, send in reports about them, and install cameras to make sure that they’re not violating any directives (new directives will be coming in regularly, you see).
And now your job is to have friendly and pleasant conversations with your tenants, learn about their habits and hobbies, and report on them to the government.
You start with a building that has only three occupied apartments:
And your first mission is to learn about Jacob Manishek, the unemployed guy in apartment 2. And, yes, get him arrested.
And then you have the straightforward task of getting his apartment rentable to others, opening up the empty apartments above, and updating your reports on your new tenants.
At the same time, your family has needs that are going to cost money (eldest boy, for example, needs expensive textbooks for his schooling) and you’ve got to figure out how to balance your job as landlord/Stasi agent with your duties as a father. Lucky for you, you don’t need to sleep anymore.
Oh my gosh, this game is dark as heck. And it has not one but *TWO* sequels.
So… what are you playing?
(Featured image is the menu screen for Beholder. All screenshots taken by the author.)
As of 10:30 PM Colorado Time on 4/15, GOG will be giving away Iris and the Giant for the next 32 hours.
I reviewed that game back here. If it intrigued you at all, know that “free” is a dang good price for a game that is worth beating once.
Go for it.Report