Alawar announces Beholder IV, moving the surveillance series into a ministry

A new role inside the ministry

Alawar has announced Beholder IV for PC, ten years after the first game in the series. The studio is developing it with the creators of the spin-off Conductor, according to Gamekult.

Earlier games put the player in the role of a building superintendent who watched tenants. The fourth entry moves the action into a ministry. The player is a young civil servant who appears loyal and is marked for promotion, but works for the Resistance.

By day the job means processing citizens' files, signing mission orders and climbing the ranks. Away from superiors, the game turns to espionage: entering restricted areas, forging documents, planting microphones, blackmailing colleagues and taking confidential information out of the building.

The ministry and the Resistance make conflicting demands. One example from the report: the ministry orders the player to hunt a mole, while the Resistance asks the player to help that same mole escape. The choices open several narrative paths, from a corrupt oligarch to a committed revolutionary leader.

The police at the door

The main addition is managing the player's own home. State police can knock at the end of the working day, starting a timed sequence in which the player has seconds to hide stolen documents under a mattress, in an air duct, or destroy them before the search begins.

If a compromising item is found, the player can try to talk or bribe their way out. The report says the pressure grows with each investigation.

Alawar has also added a romance system. The player can court four women, who belong either to the state apparatus or to the Resistance, which the report says complicates the decisions further.

Comic and a price cut

Alongside the announcement, Alawar released a digital comic, Beholder: The Landlord's Handbook, priced under 5 euros. The first game in the series is discounted by 90% on Steam.

No release window for Beholder IV has been announced.