RIOT: Civil Unrest

Riot - Civil Unrest portrays a political firestorm based on personal experience. It challenges players to make tough choices in hard times, ushering in uncontrolled anarchy despite its shallow gameplay.

Starting at $0.82Buy now

Get on Steam

RIOT: Civil Unrest is a real-time strategy game that simulates political protests and riots around the world. Players can choose to lead protestors or police forces, using non-violent or violent tactics to achieve their goals. The game features four campaigns based on true events, with multiple levels and objectives to complete. It also includes a level editor for players to create and share their own scenarios.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Reviews

51%

Audience ScoreBased on 1,393 reviews

gameplay67 positive mentions

stability90 negative mentions

The game has a unique concept that explores real-world protests and riots, providing an interesting narrative.
The pixel art style and sound design are praised for their quality and ability to create an immersive atmosphere.
The game allows players to experience both sides of a conflict, offering different strategies and gameplay styles.

The controls are clunky and unintuitive, making it difficult for players to manage units effectively.
The game is riddled with bugs and performance issues, including crashes and lag during gameplay.
There is a lack of tutorials and explanations for mechanics, leaving players confused about how to progress.

gameplay
299 mentions
22 % positive mentions
66 % neutral mentions
11 % negative mentions
The gameplay has received mixed reviews, with many players highlighting significant issues such as clunky controls, vague mechanics, and a lack of clear tutorials, which lead to confusion and frustration. While some find the core concept intriguing and the potential for fun exists, the execution is often marred by bugs and unresponsive mechanics, making the experience feel tedious and unbalanced. Overall, the game struggles to deliver a satisfying gameplay experience, overshadowing its artistic merits and interesting themes.
- “The gameplay is great and the depictions are actual events.”
- “Gameplay is pretty simple, but that just makes it more accessible, and the way it feels both as the police and the rioters leads to a great sense of balance.”
- “Overall, solid game to have a few hours of fun gameplay on.”
- “To be more precise with gameplay, it seems that whatever I do, nothing changes. If I'm aggressive, I spam grenades and shots or just stay there, nothing happens.”
- “The controls are lacking, and the gameplay ends up feeling like you're fighting yourself more than the opposing side.”
- “Unfortunately, the gameplay destroys the game's potential, and now that the game has been fully released, any hope I was holding out for it is gone.”
story
258 mentions
16 % positive mentions
78 % neutral mentions
6 % negative mentions
The game's story is based on real-world events, providing a backdrop for missions that often feel repetitive and lack depth, with many players noting a very short campaign length. While some appreciate the immersive storytelling and the political dynamics at play, others criticize the gameplay for being buggy and frustrating, with AI issues that detract from the experience. Overall, the narrative aspect is seen as having potential but is hampered by execution flaws and limited content after completing the main storyline.
- “The storylines are awesome, based on real world events.”
- “A big plus goes to the storytelling which is quite immersive for such a game and really gives you insight on local conflicts that you never get in touch with otherwise.”
- “It is very original and the fact that the story mode is based on real conflicts adds a lot of flavor.”
- “The overall length is very short and there is a lack of variety in the missions offered.”
- “Finished the story mode in 18 minutes... it really doesn't offer much in the way of content.”
- “At the end, there are too many cons and too few pros... sadly this is not the game promised a couple of years ago... it is average, not intuitive, not clear strategy, with no story at all.”
graphics
189 mentions
41 % positive mentions
51 % neutral mentions
8 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game receive mixed reviews, with many praising the unique pixel art style and overall visual presentation, which effectively conveys the game's atmosphere. However, some players criticize the execution, describing the visuals as muddy and incoherent, with technical issues such as glitches and performance drops detracting from the experience. Overall, while the art style has its admirers, it also faces significant criticism for its quality and the impact on gameplay.
- “The graphics are nice, and the art style conveys the atmosphere wonderfully.”
- “Amazing game, amazing gameplay, amazing design, amazing graphics style.”
- “In terms of graphics, the pixel art, animations, music, detail... the whole presentation is fantastic.”
- “I've seen better pixel graphics than this.”
- “The graphics are not pixels; they are actually badly drawn characters that are then 'pixelated' to simulate pixel graphics.”
- “Visuals are muddy, incoherent, and an eyesore, by far the worst take on the over-saturated pixel art style I've ever seen.”
stability
90 mentions
0 % positive mentions
0 % neutral mentions
100 % negative mentions
The game's stability is widely criticized, with users reporting numerous bugs, glitches, and crashes that significantly disrupt gameplay. Many players describe it as an "absolute buggy mess," highlighting issues such as unresponsive units, broken mechanics, and a lack of optimization, particularly in the user interface. While some acknowledge the game's potential and enjoy the core experience, the overwhelming consensus is that it remains poorly polished and unstable, even after several years of development.
- “However, the game itself is a hot, buggy mess.”
- “The mechanics are rough at the best of times, the game glitches to the point of breaking at least once per level, and the game takes very, very little care with the subject matter.”
- “The reason I can't give it a positive review is because it is an unoptimized, buggy mess.”
optimization
46 mentions
9 % positive mentions
65 % neutral mentions
26 % negative mentions
The game's optimization has been widely criticized, with players reporting frequent crashes, performance issues, and significant lag, even on lower-resolution graphics. Many users express disappointment over the developers' inability to address these problems, leading to a frustrating experience that detracts from the overall enjoyment of the game. Overall, the consensus is to wait for improvements before purchasing, as the current state is deemed an "un-optimized, buggy mess."
- “Reading the reviews, I noticed a frequent answer from the devs: they are grateful for the feedback and promise performance improvements.”
- “As cool as this is and as much fun as I did have, I would have to recommend waiting until the game is more optimized.”
- “The reason I can't give it a positive review is because it is an unoptimized, buggy mess.”
- “I have been waiting for years, but the optimization is just terrible.”
- “The game's performance, particularly for a two-dimensional game with deliberately low-res graphics, is surprisingly poor, particularly when aiming abilities - it goes without saying that trying to drop a molotov on top of a charging police line before they run out of its landing zone is already challenging, and it becomes impossible when the framerate drops into the low single digits.”
music
45 mentions
56 % positive mentions
38 % neutral mentions
7 % negative mentions
The music in the game receives mixed reviews; while many players praise the soundtrack as "dope" and fitting for the game's atmosphere, they express disappointment that it is largely limited to cutscenes and not present during missions. The overall presentation, including the music and pixel art, is highlighted as a strong point, but some players feel that the lack of music during gameplay detracts from the experience. Overall, the soundtrack is appreciated, but its limited use leaves players wanting more.
- “The soundtrack and art style are absolutely amazing, and are one of my favorite parts about the game.”
- “In terms of graphics, the pixel art, animations, music, detail... the whole presentation is fantastic.”
- “The music is pretty dope for the game and I'm happy with it.”
- “It's like if you were at a concert but there was no music and everyone is trying to be obnoxiously loud by chanting their songs.”
- “Brah, it doesn't even have music.”
- “Even though the opening has music and sound, the levels do not have music, or maybe I didn't waste my time to find out.”
atmosphere
32 mentions
44 % positive mentions
47 % neutral mentions
9 % negative mentions
The game's atmosphere is widely praised for its stunning graphics and sound design, effectively capturing the chaotic and chilling essence of protests and riots, earning high ratings from users. However, some players feel that the gameplay lacks depth and variety, which detracts from the overall immersive experience. While the atmosphere is a standout feature, the game's execution in other areas has received mixed reviews.
- “The overall atmosphere is 10/10.”
- “This and the sound create a great atmosphere of tension that is really outstanding.”
- “As someone who has actually been in a protest, I can say this game pictured that atmosphere perfectly.”
- “The gameplay is generally lacking atmosphere, and I feel like every mission is just the same thing time and time again, regardless of which side I play as.”
- “But apart from the concept and the atmosphere (the sound effects are top-notch), this game does not deliver in any way, even though it is in early access.”
- “I love the concept, the look, the atmosphere, the setting, but the whole controls as well as managing your teams is kind of poorly implemented.”
emotional
18 mentions
89 % positive mentions
0 % neutral mentions
11 % negative mentions
The game effectively evokes strong emotional responses, particularly through its immersive sound design and pixel art, which enhance the chaotic scenarios it portrays. However, some players feel it lacks a deeper emotional connection, suggesting that while it succeeds in its intended emotional impact, it still has room for improvement in gameplay mechanics. Overall, it presents a compelling concept that resonates emotionally, yet struggles to fully engage players on a deeper level.
- “I get that this game tries to emulate a chaotic and tense, frantic, hard-to-overlook emotional situation in an immersive way.”
- “The sound is immersive, and I highly recommend playing this with headphones; it might just cause you to be more emotionally invested in the well-being of your sprites.”
- “Starting off on the rioter side in the Arab Spring scenario, I found that the game succeeded in evoking a strong emotional response while also being suitably challenging.”
- “heartbreaking”
- “heartbreaking”
grinding
15 mentions
7 % positive mentions
40 % neutral mentions
53 % negative mentions
Players consistently express frustration with the grinding aspect of the game, describing it as tedious and time-consuming, often requiring an excessive investment of hours. While the initial gameplay can be enjoyable, it tends to become monotonous, leading to a sense of boredom over time. Overall, many feel that the grinding detracts significantly from the overall experience.
- “You'll need a second life for grinding.”
- “The hardest seems so broken and just tedious.”
- “I wish I hadn't spent 60 hours on this game but I did. The game is pretty fun for the first time playing, but it slowly gets boring and tedious. The gameplay is pretty poor, like how you move your crowds or use your weapons, and how your opposing team can murder your crowds. If you even think about looking at the cops the wrong way, you will be punished.”
- “I'm pretty sure if you're going all out police state, you're going to be firing a lot more indiscriminately without such tedious clicking.”
replayability
10 mentions
20 % positive mentions
50 % neutral mentions
30 % negative mentions
Overall, the game's replayability is considered limited, with some reviewers noting that while the ability to play as both rioters and police offers variations, the four campaigns provide only about an hour of playtime each. Many players express concerns about the game's graphics, controls, and mechanics, which further detract from its long-term replay value. Despite its early access status and potential, the game may struggle to maintain player interest after initial completion.
- “The ability to play as both the rioters and police adds a nice replayability to the game, and combined with all the options for equipment and the like, there are many variations of each riot to play.”
- “-contains four 'campaigns' with two playable perspectives, roughly giving an hour of playtime each; is there any replayability once you've finished?”
- “This game is in early access and shows a lot of promise, in terms of showing an interesting topic, but there's still a long way to go for a game that might be a tough sell due to some limited replayability.”
- “Poor graphics, bad controls, mash mechanics, and overall little replayability.”
- “Contains four 'campaigns' with two playable perspectives, roughly giving an hour of playtime each; is there any replayability once you've finished?”
monetization
2 mentions
0 % positive mentions
0 % neutral mentions
100 % negative mentions
The monetization strategy of the game has been criticized as a cash grab, with users expressing disappointment over the lack of updates and perceived laziness from the developers, undermining the game's potential.
- “This game had so much potential, but it was a complete cash grab by lazy developers. They stopped updating long ago.”
humor
2 mentions
100 % positive mentions
0 % neutral mentions
0 % negative mentions
The humor in the game is centered around dark and controversial themes, such as police brutality, which some players find amusing while others may find it offensive or inappropriate. This polarizing approach to humor has sparked varied reactions among the audience.