Deal | This political sim, loved by 91% of players, is now 70% off on Steam

Beholder: Conductor is Alawar's spin-off set within the same dystopian universe as its Beholder series, and it is currently 70% off on Steam, priced at $4.19 through August 3. This is also the lowest price tag the game has seen since its April 2025 launch.

The game puts players in the role of Winston Smith, a newly appointed conductor aboard a train called the Determination Bringer. You're tasked with checking tickets, addressing passenger needs, and reporting suspicious behavior to the ruling Ministry. As with prior entries in the series, the main tension point is morally ambiguous choices: whether to report a passenger, look the other way, or use information for personal gain, all under a totalitarian regime where loyalty translates to survival.

Reception on Steam is solid, very solid in fact. Beholder: Conductor is sitting at "Very Positive" across roughly 4,600+ user reviews, and even higher marks among reviews from the past month. Critics have been very split, though. Some outlets loved the moving-train setting for delivering a steady stream of new characters and dilemmas. In their opinion, this keeps the political-thriller premise from growing stale across its runtime. Others were somewhat harsher. They criticized the game's linear structure and repetitive gameplay loop of inspecting luggage and waiting on passengers, and that it undercuts the illusion of choice the series is known for. A sizeable portion of the Steam community has also noted the change to a brighter pixel-art style feels like a mismatch for the franchise's traditionally bleak, black-and-white aesthetic.

Still, at just over $4, it's a simple way to sample the Beholder formula in a new setting, though those expecting the moral complexity of earlier entries may find this spin-off's execution a little more unconventional. You can check Beholder: Conductor out on Steam here.

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