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RIOT: Civil Unrest

RIOT: Civil Unrest

Leonard Menchiari, IV Productions, Ivan Venturi Productions · released Feb 12, 2019

IndieSimulationStrategy

As civil crisis deepens and inequality tears the very fabric of society the discontentment of the masses manifests itself in violent public disturbances and civil disorder. Play as the police or the angry horde as RIOT, Civil Unrest places you in some of the world’s most fractious disputes.

Steam page ↗OpenCritic ↗
66
VGC Score
■Stablemedium confidence
65%
At launch
68%
Steam all-time
56%
Press
52%
Recent sentiment

Screenshots & trailers

Review sentiment over time

Weekly positive-review rate (green) and review volume (bars). Dashed lines mark significant patches; the amber line is the start of the current scoring window. Hover the dots to see what drove a dip or a jump.

How this score was computed

The VGC Score is a weighted blend on a press-comparable 0-100 quality scale. Steam approval rates are first calibrated (95% positive on Steam ≈ 89.5 quality, since Steam approval skews high). Press and tracked creator reviews each count ~2x a player review and share one cap against player evidence (creator buy/skip calls pool into an approval rate, calibrated like Steam approval); all-time sentiment is capped and halved (it's context, not verdict); reviews of the current build carry the most weight when a fresh patch anchors the window; and a 'typical game' prior keeps small samples from pegging the scale. Because press reviews and Metacritic user aggregates describe the launch build, their weight decays as the game ages (3-year half-life after a 1-year grace). That's how a game that launched rough can outgrow its old reception once updates win players over. Reviews under 2h playtime (the refund window), non-Steam activations, and free copies are downweighted.

ComponentPositiveQuality (0-100)Weight (pseudo-reviews)
Press reviews (OpenCritic)–5611
Creator reviews (1 tracked)–150
All-time Steam reviews68%65972
Metacritic user ratings––0
Post-patch Steam reviews (trust-weighted)52%544
Calibration prior (typical game)–7250

Scoring window: last 30 days (no significant patch detected) · 11 reviews sampled · 9 total reviews in window · weighted 3.5 up / 3.2 down · computed 2h ago · full methodology →

Press & Creators reviews (25)

Individual verdicts from outlets we track: scored reviews first, most trusted outlets first among them. The small badge is each outlet's trust score: how well its scoring history aligns with players.

  • 40
    FintendoFintendo
    trust 78Feb 5, 2019

    “"Divide and conquer."”

    read full review ↗
  • 50
    Nintendo LifeNintendo Life
    trust 76Feb 23, 2019

    “RIOT - Civil Unrest could have been something special, but its move to Nintendo Switch from other platforms hasn't seen that potential embraced any further. The lack of touchscreen support and the absence of a proper tutorial mode are odd decisions considering how difficult it can be to follow the action when playing in handheld/tabletop mode. Even its use of real-life clashes between protesters and police fails to bring anything insightful or interesting to the table. Sadly, this riot is already fizzling out.”

    read full review ↗
  • 50
    Nindie SpotlightNindie Spotlight
    trust 70Feb 7, 2019

    “With political hotbeds from around the world acting as the backdrop you will take “control” of one side of the conflict or the other...”

    read full review ↗
  • 50
    PC InvasionPC Invasion
    trust 69Feb 4, 2019

    “Riot: Civil Unrest attempts to depict complex socio-political upheavals in an extremely unengaging and unintuitive manner, to the point that these events lose their impact in video game form.”

    read full review ↗
  • 50
    FingerGunsFingerGuns
    trust 66Feb 6, 2019

    “It’s a shame, as we complain we never get anything new to play. But something as too abstract as this chaotic affair doesn’t hit any specific mark to make it fun. I’d recommend if you want to try something a bit out there, or perhaps enjoy your interactive history lessons.”

    read full review ↗
  • 60
    SECTOR.skSECTOR.sk
    trust 66Feb 26, 2019

    “Acceptable game with strong theme and decent gameplay. Will you join police or rebels?”

    read full review ↗
  • 65
    GameGrinGameGrin
    trust 65Mar 13, 2019

    “Riot: Civil Unrest has the look and feel a good RTS with entertaining yet challenging gameplay sections, but it all feels a bit weird when considering a) these sections are based on real events, and b) that the gameplay is fun and entertaining, but really only when you play as the protesters.”

    read full review ↗
  • 40
    FNintendoFNintendo
    trust 65Feb 22, 2019

    “RIOT - Civil Unrest pits the player in the midst of scenes of violent urban confrontations based on real life events and is worthy of praise for introducing such an unusual premise. When it comes to execution, though, RIOT is less likely to impress, especially when it comes to its control system and to problems when assessing the most relevant elements on the screen. The promise of future updates can sort out some of the game's flaws but until then, this is a title that's very difficult to recommend.”

    read full review ↗
  • 55
    TechRaptorTechRaptor
    trust 63Feb 4, 2019

    “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.”

    read full review ↗
  • 60
    GameSpewGameSpew
    trust 61Feb 5, 2019

    “ It’s grim and effective in that regard, but its gameplay really lets it down. RIOT, Civil Unrest‘s captivating art style and audio design is worth paying a visit to, and the game has some great ideas, but poor UI design, buggy AI and gameplay glitches really dampen the experience.”

    read full review ↗
  • 60
    IGNIGN
    trust 61Feb 11, 2019

    “A good idea with a great presentation that doesn't achieves its full potential due to it's low budget limitations.”

    read full review ↗
  • 10
    Thumb CultureThumb Culture
    trust 60Mar 13, 2019

    “I won’t lie, I feel really let down by Riot: Civil Unrest. I felt like a kid at Christmas who was excitedly looking forward to opening a present under the tree to realise it was a potato and not what I had wished for. On the face value of it, I was intrigued by the concept and what I was going to discover, however, the way the game has been designed and drawn lets it down majorly. With polished graphics, better sound and a tutorial that helps you understand what the hell you are doing, this game could have had so much potential. For me, it is currently being deleted from my console. Harsh I know, but it is for the best.”

    read full review ↗

…and 13 more tracked reviews.

Patch history

  1. March update including Sci-Fi level now live
    Mar 4, 2019
  2. RIOT: Civil Unrest full release version 1.0 out now
    Feb 12, 2019significant · resets scoring window
  3. RIOT: Civil Unrest preparing for full release - 12 February 2019
    Jan 28, 2019significant · resets scoring window
  4. Core Game Update & Beta Level Editor Available Now
    Dec 21, 2018significant · resets scoring window
  5. UPDATE! - 17th Sept 2018
    Sep 17, 2018
  6. NEW UPDATE - 31/07/2018
    Jul 31, 2018
  7. Update! - 3rd July 2018
    Jul 3, 2018significant · resets scoring window
  8. HOTFIX UPDATE - 4th June 2018
    Jun 4, 2018
  9. GLOBAL MODE BETA UPDATE!!!
    May 30, 2018significant · resets scoring window
  10. UPDATED - Update #15 - 6th March 2018 -
    Mar 6, 2018
  11. UPDATED - Update #15 - 6th March 2018 -
    Mar 6, 2018
  12. Update #14 - 26th February 2018
    Feb 26, 2018
  13. Update #14 - 26th February 2018
    Feb 26, 2018
  14. Update #13 - 19th February 2018
    Feb 19, 2018significant · resets scoring window
  15. Update #13 - 19th February 2018
    Feb 19, 2018significant · resets scoring window
  16. Update #12 - 12th February 2018
    Feb 12, 2018
  17. Update #12 - 12th February 2018
    Feb 12, 2018
  18. Update 11 - 6 Feb 2018
    Feb 6, 2018
  19. Update 11 - 6 Feb 2018
    Feb 6, 2018significant · resets scoring window
  20. Update #11 - 06 Feb 2018
    Feb 5, 2018
  21. Update #11 - 06 Feb 2018
    Feb 5, 2018
  22. Update #10 - 29 January 2018
    Jan 29, 2018
  23. Update #10 - 29 January 2018
    Jan 29, 2018
  24. Update #9 - 25 January 2018
    Jan 25, 2018significant · resets scoring window
  25. Update #9 - 25 January 2018
    Jan 25, 2018significant · resets scoring window
  26. Update News!
    Jan 19, 2018
  27. Update News!
    Jan 19, 2018
  28. Update #8 - 15 January 2018
    Jan 15, 2018
  29. Update #8 - 15 January 2018
    Jan 15, 2018
  30. Update #7 - 8 January 2018
    Jan 8, 2018significant · resets scoring window
  31. Update #7 - 8 January 2018
    Jan 8, 2018significant · resets scoring window
  32. Update #6 - Saturday 30 December
    Dec 30, 2017significant · resets scoring window
  33. Update #6 - Saturday 30 December
    Dec 30, 2017significant · resets scoring window
  34. Apple Mac version NOW AVAILABLE
    Dec 23, 2017
  35. Apple Mac version NOW AVAILABLE
    Dec 23, 2017
  36. Update #5 - Thursday 21 December
    Dec 21, 2017
  37. Update #5 - Thursday 21 December
    Dec 21, 2017
  38. Update #4 - Monday 18 December
    Dec 18, 2017significant · resets scoring window
  39. Update #4 - Monday 18 December
    Dec 18, 2017significant · resets scoring window
  40. Update #3 - Monday 11 December
    Dec 11, 2017significant · resets scoring window

…and 7 earlier patch announcements.