Fit check
Is City of Chains worth it for you?
We tell you who should skip it, too.
Play it if you…
Good fit- RPG players who prefer tactical choices about fighting or avoiding enemies
- Players who enjoy exploring alternate routes through locations
- Fans of dystopian science-fiction stories about fugitives and government pursuit
Skip it if you…
Saves you a refund- Players looking for character progression through experience points and levels
- Players who prefer a straightforward route through encounters, without choices about combat or alternate paths
- Players seeking a multiplayer-focused RPG
Our take on City of Chains
The overview names four leading protagonists, but the story introduction focuses on Holt, Chloe, and Lorelei. The fourth protagonist is not identified in the supplied description, so the group’s full makeup remains unclear here.
What is City of Chains?
City of Chains is a dark science-fiction RPG about Holt, an engineer falsely convicted by the government, and a group of escaped prisoners trying to survive and leave a dystopian city.
The game presents four leading protagonists with different skillsets. Rather than gaining experience or levels, characters receive skill points through progress, which can be spent on skills and passive bonuses. Encounters allow direct combat, grenades, or avoidance. Locations include alternate routes that can be opened with hacking, lockpicking, charisma, or wall smashing. Decisions can affect the surrounding world, and teammate morale affects performance in and out of battle. Players can craft grenades and medicinal pills from ingredients, and choose among three difficulty modes: Casual, Hardy, and Dystopia.
How City of Chains plays
- 01Skill-point progression
- Progress grants points to spend on character-specific skills and passive bonuses, rather than experience levels.
- 02Flexible encounters
- Enemies can be fought directly, attacked with a grenade, or bypassed.
- 03Alternate routes
- Hacking, lockpicking, charisma, and wall breaking open different ways to reach objectives.
- 04Morale system
- Teammate morale affects their efficiency both during fights and outside them.
- 05Crafted supplies
- Ingredients can be used to make grenades and medicinal pills.
- 06Three difficulty modes
- The available choices are Casual, Hardy, and Dystopia.
City of Chains compared to similar games
Back to the Dawn is also framed as a prison-escape RPG, with survival, investigation, and escape from a maximum-security facility. City of Chains instead highlights choices between combat and avoidance, alternate routes using character abilities, and skill-point progression without experience levels.
City of Chains: platforms & release
Is City of Chains worth it?
It is worth it if: RPG players who prefer tactical choices about fighting or avoiding enemies. Skip it if: players looking for character progression through experience points and levels.
Where can I download City of Chains?
Use the Download Now button on this page: it opens City of Chains's store page, where you can choose how to get it.
What platforms is City of Chains on?
Windows only.
