The Watcher is an upcoming surveillance thriller in which players work for a totalitarian state, monitoring residents of an opposite apartment block for suspicious behaviour. Rock Paper Shotgun finds its core premise appealing—combining voyeurism, deduction and moral choices—but is concerned that the game’s trailer makes it seem overly talkative and tonally uncertain.

Players will build and upgrade a surveillance room, gather photographs, video and audio recordings, and assemble evidence on a board; reporting decisions can affect residents’ lives and raise questions about the reliability of the information. Developed by indie studio Yesterday’s Sandwich, the game uses unsettling eyeless mannequin-like characters, though the article hopes its final version focuses more on quiet tension than the protagonist’s commentary.