In 1984 by George Orwell things were rather bleak for the populace.  Specifically Winston Smith, one of those people that are just trying to survive day to day life.  Anyone that has not read 1984 should do so at their earliest convenience.  Beholder is basically 1984 in game form and you are not the good guy.  In Beholder you are playing the role of the landlord and your boss is the state.  This brings interesting challenges to how you play versus your personal morals. 

Beholder casts you as Carl, the landlord of the building.  Just doing his job of getting the apartments under his control ready for the next tenant quickly turns dark for Carl.  The State wants information from your tenants and it is your job to deliver it.  Now, how you get that information is all up to you.

You need to satisfy the needs of your boss, the State.  This means wiretapping phones, eavesdropping on tenants and even setting listening devices in their apartments are all fair game.  What is this information being used for?  Why you are building tenant profiles and turning that into the State via local authorities.  The main thing you are looking out for is any kind of activity that might be bad for the State.  Such as tenants that may be connected to militant groups or just in general hate the State government regime.  Both are bad for the tenant and require immediate notification of authorities.

The underlying moral questions you face, like moral values, are what will make Beholder unique for each player.  When faced with turning in tenants for infractions against the State you can sometimes save one by negligence on your part.  The question is, who do you save and who do you send the gallows, or worse?

Beholder by Warm Lamp Games
Genre: Adventure
Platform: Windows via Steam Digital Distribution Service
Available November 2016.