Beholder

One of my favourite games, fun and unique gameplay plus amazing storytelling. Loved how tough the choices with their own consequences and how each tenant had their own unique stories, well worth the price imo.

я прошел игру рекомендую

It's basically Turkiye simulator

Recommended by a friend, love it

GG

This is the perfect SS sim y gonna find out .Always for the motherland.

My whole family died on my first playtrough, 10/10 very realistic game

За одну игру ты станешь сапером, вором, полицейским, мошенником, героем, родителем и сдохнешь. Рекомендую

yes if youre good with time management

6/10

++ interesting mechanics
+ different endings

- too much stressful: no time, no money, and several quests at a time
- no manual save option
- repetitive

This game is successful with giving one strong emotion: HOPELESS DESPAIR.

You will feel sadness and sorrow with every decision you make, and even if you are trying to be kind, the game will break you in every imaginable way. Trying to be on people's side? Well, then your family will die. There is no way to remain the observer: you will break people's lives. You will disappoint your family. The government will not care about your fate.
To earn a good ending, you'll need to steal, snitch and kill. There is no "good" path here.

Since this game is made by Russian developers, I can assure you: they knew where to take inspiration from, and it was not just reading Orwell. I don't get the hate from my fellow Ukrainians here: the game delivers the message. In the best way possible.


The atmosphere is unique and heavy. What about gameplay?

Essentially, the game is a series of quests without any hand-holding.

1. The quests are connected to various characters.
2. The quests are limited by time.
3. There are events that are happening on two "timelines": based on your current progress and based on current date.
4. There is total freedom with how you build your relationship with characters.


With these points, you will constantly shoot yourself in the leg: you might be too fast with your progression, and will fail a quest because the next point will be triggered too late in the game; you might be too slow and will miss the opportunity and would not even realize what was missing; you will not have a character that is needed for a completion of the quest; etc.

The game won't tell you what's wrong. Sometimes it's the not-so-obvious dialogue line, sometimes you have to steal, sometimes you have to blackmail, sometimes you have to be a friend, but most often you have already failed something without even knowing it. The game is flexible and it will allow you to fail.

This game design is clear: to "beat" the game you have to play it tens of times. You have to know the game first. And I was not successful with it: I found myself rather confused with some quests while being pressured by time, reputation and money. I have used guidelines to understand what I was missing, but even then you have to be careful with the pace of the game.

Finally, after seeking help from online resources, I know how to actually play the game more efficiently, but it has also killed the joy, so... I would recommend taking this game slowly. It will be punishing, confusing and difficult. If you are okay with replaying the game again and again without getting bored - this would be definitely for you.

While I have spoiled 1st game in the series, I would have another look on Beholder 2 later with the right expectations in mind.

Short, fun, but multiple plays needed for the 100%. Though what was satire when it released now looks like it's some kind of future prediction. The real crime of this game is the lack of a manual save. English translation contains some minor errors, but nothing gamebreaking.

This game has a lot of potential, but for how long it's been around, they should have fixed a lot of very simple aspects that make the game more work than fun.
1. The controls are terrible, whether you use keyboard/mouse or controller. At the very least, you should be able to pause the game with the spacebar, but you can't.
2. The tutorial leaves out some key aspects of playing the game, like where to click to document evidence.
3. There's way too much going on simultaneously to make the game fun. It feels stressful trying to get even simple things done, especially when people walk so slow.
4. You can't skip through a lot of the cutscenes.
5. The volume controls don't work. I basically have it on mute, and the sound is still way louder than I want it to be.

Nothing like being paid to be a noisy neighbor

People take 2 hours to get to the door.

I enjoy the main campaign since it portrays an unfair world that makes you pick between ethics and your family, and even then you will often lose at least one member of the family. After a few playthroughs and a you'll know how to avoid almost all pitfalls, but the impact from that first playthrough sticks with you.

svsdv

:]

one of those games I played for a short time but missed the refund window
won't be playing again and can't recommend it

Very fun and varied characters, keeps the moral choices genuinely hard with how limited the resources are. Keeps you emotionally invested despite how silly the overall game is.

its the kind of game where you need to know whats going to happen in the future, to ensure you make the right (un-intuitive) decisions. a pet peeve for me.

I really want to enjoy this game and I've tried, but it's so vague in what it wants you to do that you end up losing and having to restart constantly.

If you lose, you lose. That's pretty much it, back to square 1.

Beholder Review – A Grim Look at Surveillance and Morality
Rating: 6/10

Beholder puts you in the shoes of a government-installed landlord, tasked with spying on tenants, enforcing strict laws, and deciding whether to follow orders or help those suffering under an oppressive regime. The game gives players moral choices, each affecting how the story unfolds. Every character has their own personality, struggles, and secrets, making your decisions feel meaningful—at least at first.

A Dark and Unforgiving World
The game’s themes of surveillance, blackmail, and personal sacrifice create a unique and tense atmosphere. It’s heartbreaking when you’re forced to betray innocent people just to survive, especially when missions require you to tear families apart. The pressure builds as you struggle to balance following government orders, keeping your family alive, and making difficult choices that shape your fate.

Repetitive and Frustrating Gameplay
While the early game is engaging, things start to fall apart after a while. You’ll spend a lot of time grinding for money, whether to buy illegal items, pay off debts, or afford medicine for your sick daughter. Most quests only have one "good" solution, which forces you to replay parts of the game multiple times just to get the "right" outcome.

The biggest issue is the limited save system—the game only saves at the start of missions. This means you can lose hours of progress if you make a mistake or fail a task. By the time you figure out the best way to play, you’ve already replayed the same sections over and over.

I tried the DLC, but after five minutes, I shut it off—it felt like more of the same repetitive mechanics with little to offer.

Final Thoughts
At its core, Beholder is a short, thought-provoking game about politics, surveillance, and tough moral choices. It’s challenging at first, but once you get rich and no longer worry about money, the tension disappears. A little more randomness in the story could have made it more engaging instead of relying on trial and error.

Pros:
✔ Unique and thought-provoking premise
✔ Strong moral choices with real consequences
✔ Dark and tense atmosphere

Cons:
✖ Repetitive gameplay and quest structure
✖ Limited save system can be frustrating
✖ Becomes too easy once you have enough money
✖ DLC adds little to the experience

Final Score: 6/10

A game of morals - do you have them or not?

I'm enjoying the different pathways I can follow throughout the game. I am a terrible landlord and keep dying in multiple terrible ways - as do my tenants!

No issues so far with glitching but it did take me forever to get the hang of the controls when searching for evidence. It's not immediately obvious what needs to be noted so suggest you read some of the other reviews to give you the gist of it.

I don't know if I'll stay alive long enough to finish the game or this review. I feel like I'm being watched. In case of my death can you please remember to....................................

I saw my family crying. So my wife got a life sentence and my son was shot by the Kee Gee Bee

I didn't expect to kill or to be killed in a game like this. I'm merely a landlord. How could I possibly be killing almost every tenants in my building? This game has a dark sense of humor.
DLC Blissful Sleep is epic, a must buy. Can someone please lock Khan up? This person has to be the state most wanted criminal.
Blackmailing your tenants is your main source of income. It is an interesting concept but may feel repetitive later in game. This is my only complaint. I wish there were more ways to earn money.
Overall, I had a good time playing.

One of my favorite indie games out there. Great story, great characters and unique gameplay.

Very realistic simulator of the Russian life, reality and society.

I bought this game 5 years ago and stopped playing because of pandemic craziness. But I finally picked it up again and finished it this year. I highly recommend a guide to help with figuring out strategy and how you want to explore the many options/consequences in the game.

I turned in all my tenants and committed murder for an extra day's living.
Feel like shit, but I suppose it was for the greater good.
TEAR DOWN THAT CITADEL

My game has no in game text for some reason. Nothing on the main menu, nothing in the speech bubbles in game. Is there a fix for this? Nothing I have found online seems to help.

Addictive gameplay loop that is simple to pick up and increasingly stressful to perfect. Featuring a lot of genuine comedy to make the hopeless moral decisions more tolerable, the game never veers into full despair. Still, in an era of increasing surveillance, decreasing rights, and no clear path forward, this game feels both retro and depressingly ahead of its time. The way an authoritarian governments begins whittling down rights, from drug use and free speech, to apples and blue ties, is particularly effective in (current year).

Still, the most important thing is that the game is fun and replayable. And while some decisions feel 'unfair' that is the nature of the beast, and the game is short enough that you never feel truly shafted for an unforseen consequence.

NKWD referencja????

This game was a completely new experience for me and I have to say that I enjoyed it a lot after playing for almost 40 hours.

A fun little experience, pick up on sale though definitely not worth $14.

Difficult in the beginning and unapologetic about it, fits with the theme though and I found it fair once I got the hang of things. Can be quite hectic and some of the decisions were engaging enough. Got the regular ending and was satisfied enough. Won't be doing any of the others.

Screw the political truck section though. If your game encourages me to mute all of my damn audio just to not listen to it, I would not necessarily call that a good idea.

Jak dla mnie, jedna z najlepszych gier, jakie miałem okazje zagrać. Ścieżka dźwiękowa, jak i fabuła to same plusy tej gry, chodź i fabuła dobra to niestety krótka.

gg

Good game

Game is obviously good enough it had a number of sequels but I just simply didn't really enjoy it. Maybe the easier difficulty is more enjoyable but when normal is written as "the way it's meant to be played"; and you feel rail roaded into demoralising options, it's just not fun. This is compared to Papers, Please! or This War of Mine, which I found more enjoyable but similar themes.

Overall rating probably 6-7/10?

PROS:
-Really neat concept.
-Gameplay enjoyable if incredibly difficult.
-Great character writing. Lots of good emotional moments.
-Interesting plot. Liked the development of things.
-LOVE the artstyle and music.
-Overall, I had a good time playing. My qualms are more minor issues.

CONS:
-It's a little TOO difficult. Like, I genuinely do not know how you are meant to deal with the early on bit where you're required to pay 35,000 in-game money.
-...Translation issues? I don't know if they were specifically meant to come off that way ala Papers Please, but there's a lot of awkward phrasing.
-Protagonist is an asshole in ways that aren't relevant to the story. I'm fine with the robbery and blackmail and everything else, but the random bullying of the mute tenant and being sexist towards the feminist tenant was a bit of a weird moment.
-Ironic considering current events, but the evil government becomes kind of unbelievable at times. That last one is a very minor suspension of disbelief quibble, and is more referring to the government banning fish and apples.

Pretty fun storyline, and also a bit challenging. DLC really adds to it

i like it

Ah yes, Beholder, the ultimate feel-good game where you get to live out your dream of being an overworked, underpaid, morally bankrupt landlord in a totalitarian regime. Who doesn’t love the thrilling experience of spying on people, reporting them for owning a book, and deciding whether to let your own family starve or sell out an innocent tenant for a quick buck?

.

yes

Interesting narrative.

Played Papers, Please to death and want something else that's similar? This is the game for you. While the comparisons with P,P are rightfully earned, this game does something radically different, with you being the administrator of an apartment building instead of a border control officer, so you will have to spy on your tenants and report any illegal activity, forcing you to be creative (install cameras, peek through keyholes, plant evidence and blackmail people) and not get into a flow-like routine of checking papers like with P,P.

But for all its creativity and uniqueness, sadly it's very much a diamond in the rough compared to P,P. My biggest gripe is that there is no manual saving at all, which WILL cause unwinnable situations, forcing you to start a new game, which is always annoying. However, I can't deny the rush you get from coming out on top in a difficult choose-between-two-evils-kind of situation by effectively beating Beholder at its own game, and ending up with everyone happy, by exploiting mechanics and save scumming like there's no tomorrow. Make no mistake, this is definitely not how the game was supposed to be played or enjoyed (it's a game about tough, impossible choices and having to live with the consequences after all), however I feel that there will come a point where you will just say "To hell with it" and start reloading saves, because the game just keeps beating you, so keep that in mind. Another criticism I keep hearing is that the game doesn't explain stuff very well to the player, which isn't true in my opinion: the game explains the fundamental mechanics to you, the rest is up to your creativity and outside-the box-thinking (for exapmle, when I discovered that you can sell the cameras you get from the state on the "black market" for big sums I felt like a genius).


So in conclusion, this game is worth your time. It has soul and passion behind it, and it nails the 1984 totalitarianist vibe just keep in mind that it isn't as refined mechanically as Papers, Please.

P.S. Sorry if I compared the game too much to P,P, it's just that it's the most similar mainstream to game Beholder on the market

Not my game, certainly too dark for my taste, and I would also argue that the game does not do a very good job in explaining what to do. Very easy to mess it up. I can see how someone with a darker taste could like this game, but this was a reality for tons of people (even if it weren't, I don't like to play evil/"someone forced to do evil" roles), so it's just not sits with me well.

Absolutely horrid game. Beyond being a kind of weird political piece. It does not feature a proper way to save the game on demand, so you can be locked into an unwinnable game state due to how the game autosaves and be forced to replay the entire game up to that point. Just for that I could never recommend this to anyone.