The System [Early, Early, Early Pre-Build] 0.05

The hiss of electronics and tubes being vacated of the substances that they had housed is what jars you from an unnatural sleep into consciousness.

This is an extremely short game where you play as a criminal in a harsh, dystopian world governed by an entity only known as "The State."

As indicated in its title, The System [Early, Early, Early Pre-Build] 0.05, the game is in early stages of development. It's also over a decade old and unlikely to ever be completed.

Nonetheless, I will acknowledge the time and effort the author put into the game because it's kind of fun.

Gameplay
This is a Quest game. However, it only uses links, no text input.

The game begins with you being extracted from your cryo-pod. There are roughly half a dozen choices in the game, and they mostly revolve around learning about the story through conversation.

It’s clear that the game is under development. Gameplay consists of (Spoiler - click to show)being led through a facility until you end up in a room with an ominous-looking chair. You are then told to sit. Game ends.

An abrupt and disappointing end, but it’s worth playing for the atmosphere.

Story/Characters
As a prisoner, you are in a "cryo-stasis" program and have been woken after (Spoiler - click to show)142 years of being frozen.

People convicted of crimes are sent to prisons where it's every person for themselves. Do or die. Sink or swim. Prisoners’ memories are also erased to prevent them from remembering their supposed crimes.

Those who come out on top are cryogenically frozen because The State believes their ability to survive a harsh prison environment makes them good candidates for… who knows? The game ends before we learn what the protagonist is going to be used for.

The State is also looking to cut on costs, which means its prisoners are especially disposable. There are other story tidbits to be found, but I'm going to encourage you to play the game if you want to know more. It only takes 3 minutes to play.

Visuals
I enjoyed the art.

A lot of it looks like generic, public domain sci-fi art, but most of it suits the game just fine. The art for the facility (or is it a spaceship?) was successful at establishing a grim, dystopian atmosphere. I will say, the (Spoiler - click to show)blood splatter GIF (used if the player tries to fight the guards) was kind of lame.

Final thoughts
I was conflicted about rating this game because it's so underdeveloped, but since it appears to be abandoned, I'll rate it according to how much fun I had (usually my ratings aren't this simple). Besides, the game shows promise. While its story doesn't bring anything new to the table, I've found myself wanting to know what happens next.

3 stars. I was reasonably entertained.