Orwell: Keeping an Eye On You Reviews

I liked it. If you like games like 'The Roottrees are Dead' you'll probably like this too. Love games where you dig into documents and piece together profiles on people, map out relationships, timelines, etc. There's a fair amount of content as well which I liked. My only issues with it (no story spoilers): [list] [*]It's a little... handholdey. It marks all documents/etc in your doc view that have outstanding clues, then highlights those clues inside the docs. So for big sections of the game you can just switch your brain off, click the marked docs, scroll down until you see a clue and action it. It doesn't entirely ruin things but I wish there was a way to switch it off [*]It brings in the concept of junk 'clues' you have to sift through. Sometimes this is done well - someone has a picture of a dog as their profile picture, it's pretty safe to assume you don't need to add that to their file. But sometimes it gets a little nebulous - people's likes and dislikes for example. Maybe if someone says they don't like watching movies, then later someone was like 'I watched a movie with them' it would be helpful? Instead you just get snark from your supervisor for having the balls to pollute the file [*]For the conflicting info, I wish it was possible to change your mind - I added the wrong info for someone at some point, immediately realised it was wrong, couldn't do anything about it, and then it got acted on. They explain it in the game as 'once you submit the info it immediately gets sent out' which is fine, but I feel like they would be less annoyed by me 'immediately sending out' an update than acting on false info [/list] A solid 7-8 out of 10 for me. Not perfect, but will def be picking up the second one.

More a story than a game. End is frustrating, morale is a bit childish. But it was kind of nice to read through

I love the idea of being the brains/background detective behind the screen. It's like working from home, except I do feel some kind of way that there is only one case per game, and I'm going to have to download the game's sequel to continue playing this game. Though, the fact that this game has more than one ending is lovely. The way the game has 4th wall breaks is quite lovely, and the way you are truly logging in to a job is quite fantastically new to me, and I love it. Don't speak to me of GTA and it's role-playing jobs, I mean where the job itself in the game is sitting behind a screen. Great stuff.

A great premise that certainly gets you invested, with certain pieces of information you choose to upload affecting the outcome. Whether that's for better or for worse - that's kind of up to you to decide which side of the fence you fall on. The game leaves it very ambiguous about which side is better - the agency you work for, or the people you are surveilling. Tapping phone calls and trawling social media pages lead seamlessly into conflicting news articles into further conflicting text messages - leaving you unsure what to trust as you decide what you should and shouldn't upload in the mismatch of information (because like House says, "People lie", right?) Some areas are a little point and click, and the call & text dialogue could definitely do with a skip through feature for fast readers. However the story is very immersive and genuinely does have you wondering if you made the right choice. There are three possible endings, but also a number of outcomes for the characters within that based off your decisions. A solid game (as is its sequel) for the price of ~£7 that has you questioning the price of surveillance for safety.

Before I talk about the positive side of Orwell and it's sequel, I think it's important for those reading to understand this game is far more limited than the store page tells you it is. You don't get to view CCTV cameras, you don't select data unless the game has designated it for you, and the storyline is linear with alternate paths. I initially thought this was about being an analyst in the day to day life of a nation that employs such surveillance, so I was a little surprised to find that wasn't the case. Anyway, that being said, I think the storyline was very interesting, had me thinking, and surprised me. It's clear a lot of effort went into the little details and the storyline, so thumbs up for that. To be clear; the storyline is the only thing impressive about this game.

Recommended because the premise is great and story is interesting, but leaving almost no real choice to the player left and a constant buggering with a pop-up at the level of the Windows Paperclip annoyance makes this really tedious to play - but because of the premise and what its all about - totally, give it a shot.

Orwell works best when viewed through the lens of a choices matter visual novel. As a story, there are plenty of red herrings and good twists as you uncover who set bombs off in The Nation. The concept is interesting and pretty poignant given the state of the British government. The detective work is pretty simple and easy to navigate but there are multiple endings to see. Takes about 3 to 4 hours for the full story.

Fun game. Interesting story. I replay it once every few years.

Reviewing (mostly) every game (or DLC) in my library, part 312: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️☆ (9/10) [i]Orwell: Keeping an Eye On You[/i] is a tense, thought-provoking surveillance thriller that does more with a few browser tabs and text files than most games do with entire cities. It casts you as a government contractor sifting through personal data to uncover a growing threat—and forces you to wrestle with how much “truth” you really need to keep people safe. It’s slick, unsettling, and surprisingly emotional. [b]🪬 Pros:[/b] [list] [*] Brilliant UI that doubles as storytelling. The whole game takes place inside a simulated desktop, with tabs for social media, chat logs, police records, and more. But it’s not just aesthetic! It feels like doing a job. Every click, every search result, every drag-and-drop data point creates tension. The interface is intuitive, immersive, and sinister. [*] Deep moral ambiguity in every decision. Do you report that someone once expressed violent thoughts in a song lyric? Do you include their real name in a classified file? What about the context? The game forces you to make hard calls on limited info, and the consequences are immediate. You’re not just playing detective—you’re becoming part of a system that can destroy lives. [*] Tightly written and emotionally resonant. Despite being mostly text, the characters come alive through their messages, posts, and private calls. You start to see their contradictions, their fears, their humor. It’s intimate in a way that hits hard when you're the one deciding what gets flagged—and what gets buried. [*] Great balance of investigation and puzzle-solving. The game isn’t about cracking codes or hacking firewalls: it’s about connecting dots. Who knows who? What’s fact, what’s hearsay, and what might get someone arrested? You feel clever when you catch a subtle connection between a dating profile and a news article. It’s simple but deeply satisfying. [*] Fantastic pacing and structure. The game unfolds over five episodes, each building tension and complexity. Just when you think you know what’s going on, it flips your assumptions. It’s rare to find a game this compact that still manages to feel complete and impactful. [/list] 👁️ [b]Cons:[/b] [list] [*] Limited replay value. While your choices do have consequences, the story arc mostly funnels toward the same endpoint with slight variations. It’s a brilliant one-time experience, but it may not have the branching depth to support multiple playthroughs. [*] Some plot twists feel a bit on-the-nose. The writing is mostly subtle, but a few characters and twists lean heavily into dystopian clichés. It's forgivable, especially for a debut game, but occasionally the nuance slips. [*] A bit short. For players used to longer visual novels or narrative-driven games, [i]Orwell[/i] might feel more like an extended episode than a full series. That said, it’s tightly packed and doesn’t waste your time. [/list]

pretty disappointed at how limited the game is. it doesn't seem like it really wants you to read and make choices. you just open documents and select pre-highlighted phrases. i thought this would go away after doing the first day/tutorial but it didn't. i wanted to add stuff i was finding while reading different pages of websites, identifying patterns, etc. but it wasn't interact-able. i couldn't move photos to certain profiles when identified photos of them on the schools website or add info about their jobs. it really only let me pick out what it wanted me to, the game didn't really let me think for myself. obviously haven't completed it fully but given that a lot of the other reviews mention the game is centered on this first case and fairly short i'm really not interested after the first couple of days.