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Back to the Dawn
Back to the Dawn is a story-rich RPG set in a high-security prison ruled by factions and buried secrets. Investigate two conspiracies from the inside, gather evidence, and outsmart a system designed to silence you. Make friends (or foes) with fellow inmates and with their help, break out of prison.
In short, Steam reviewers most often praise “Well-written characters and rich narratives” (53 of 103 reviews) and “Deep mechanics and engaging systems” (49); the most common complaint is “Strict 21-day deadline pressure” (9). What reviewers agree on ↓
What players say
Steam review score and the most-helpful voices, which may include critical ones. Score via Steam as of 2026-09-29 · quoted reviews as of 2026-05-12.
What reviewers agree on
53 of the 103 reviews raise this.
“Fun game, great characters (even if many of them are just referential humor), and interesting multi-layered stories. Try to complete every quest you get, even if you want to keep the items they want on delivery, there…”
“Injustice leads to prison experience for our protagonist, and so we are just thrown into jail and trying to get our way back out. I do like the whole story, the vibe the prison gives off with all its prisoners and…”
“At first i thought it was like a Escapist type of game but i was wronged really fast. Nice story i enjoyed it a lot it is really a hidden gem. Will 100% it i just need time..... 10/10 would recommend”
49 of the 103 reviews raise this.
“Fun game, great characters (even if many of them are just referential humor), and interesting multi-layered stories. Try to complete every quest you get, even if you want to keep the items they want on delivery, there…”
“Really fun addictive gameplay loop, with good writing and a ton of different endings for each of the multiple characters: highly replayable. Unfortunately, the game ♥♥♥♥♥ you over without warning by locking you out of…”
“This game is easily the best indie game I have ever played in my entire life. I cannot believe the devs are Chinese, I know Chinese devs can make real good games but this, this one is real special and might add 'feels…”
20 of the 103 reviews raise this.
“At first i thought it was like a Escapist type of game but i was wronged really fast. Nice story i enjoyed it a lot it is really a hidden gem. Will 100% it i just need time..... 10/10 would recommend”
“Really fun addictive gameplay loop, with good writing and a ton of different endings for each of the multiple characters: highly replayable. Unfortunately, the game ♥♥♥♥♥ you over without warning by locking you out of…”
18 of the 103 reviews raise this.
“Hidden gem, just a few hours in and I can tell there was a lot of love and care put into this. Another one of those indie gems where you can tell it was made for the love of the game and not just money. Definitely worth…”
“Great story, good characters, and amazing art style. 10/10”
“Back to the Dawn is a furry prison drama where your two protagonists face their own races against the clock as they try to find a way to complete their missions and get out. Gameplaywise you have some solid minigames…”
5 of the 103 reviews raise this.
“One of my favorite games OAT. The vibes, music, characters, story are all 10/10. Love this game so much <3”
“Back to the Dawn is a furry prison drama where your two protagonists face their own races against the clock as they try to find a way to complete their missions and get out. Gameplaywise you have some solid minigames…”
“Everything was great! The music is great! The story is great! The characters are great! It has so much more depth than I expected and its definitely worth the price. The only issue is that sometimes the cutscenes can be…”
9 of the 103 reviews raise this · 6 of them still recommend the game.
“Fun game, great characters (even if many of them are just referential humor), and interesting multi-layered stories. Try to complete every quest you get, even if you want to keep the items they want on delivery, there…”
“Game plays well but weight of RNG is extremely high. Difficulty doesn't make sense as you are at mercy of RNG all the time. Save-Scumming is gonna be your friend throughout the entire game. Nightmare mechanic can put…”
“Really fun addictive gameplay loop, with good writing and a ton of different endings for each of the multiple characters: highly replayable. Unfortunately, the game ♥♥♥♥♥ you over without warning by locking you out of…”
4 of the 103 reviews raise this · 3 of them still recommend the game.
“Game plays well but weight of RNG is extremely high. Difficulty doesn't make sense as you are at mercy of RNG all the time. Save-Scumming is gonna be your friend throughout the entire game. Nightmare mechanic can put…”
“Great game, too bad i'm ass at it. Actualy nah, The game starts with the text "This is how you died" and my gameplay suports that well.”
“What a fun game, I really enjoyed trying to make my way through the prison life and getting to know some of the other inmates and characters. Playing at at the time that Thomas and Bob have been released - I think I…”
4 of the 103 reviews raise this · 1 of them still recommend the game.
“I'm only a few days in, so this review may change. However, so far? This game is very dull. Perhaps that's on me for expecting something more than numbing routine in a prison setting. Great pixel art though, and I'll…”
“Not fun”
Counted across 103 English reviews, sampled to match this game's 94.5% positive rating · as of 2026-05-12
“I was pleasantly surprised when I found out that the game was made by Chinese developers. Usually, at least in my perception, Chinese games often feel "copy-paste" - technically fine, but lacking soul. Back To The Dawn completely breaks that stereotype. This game looks, sounds,…”
— a player, Steam review · 54 hrs played“I was admittedly hesitant to buy this game because I'm not really into the furry or anthro stuff, personally. But it was rated overwhelmingly positive and it was on sale, so I went for it anyway, and that was the best choice possible. The art is amazing. The attention to detail…”
— a player, Steam review · 62 hrs played“TL;DR: 8/10 If you LIKE games where there are multiple endings, whether you like them because you are a completionist or you are like me who likes to make decisions in-character. Then this is a good game to grab on sale or even the full price. (Side note: You are probably not…”
— a player, Steam review · 80 hrs playedPlayer activity
Monthly average concurrent players. Live data self-collected from the Steam API · history through 2026-06 via SteamCharts.
Achievement stats
Global completion rates across all Steam players — a data view of how far people actually get. Source: Steam official stats · as of 2026-10-25.
Price tracking
US-region pricing (USD), sampled twice daily by our own tracker since 2026-07-11. Steam prices vary by region — always confirm your local price on Steam.
Regional prices at last sample, in local currency — Steam sets each region's price independently.
Cheapest → most expensive, converted to USD at ECB reference rates (2026-10-23). Relative comparison only.
Latest official news
Developer announcements via the Steam news API — links go to the original posts. More across all games on the news hub.
【v2.0.0.34】Bug Fixes
Hello inmates, As usual, thank you everyone for your support and feedback! Here are the details of this update: Bug Fix: Fixed an issue where the "Furious Counter" skill was incorrectly acquired under
Up Next: The Great Discount Spell! — New Gray Cat DLC Sneak Peek!
Up next, it’s Bam’s showtime — THE! GREAT! DISCOUNT! SPELL! Back to the Dawn will be 25% off during the Steam Autumn Sale from October 2-9 , bringing the price to a new historical low! Our bundle with
【v2.0.0.32】Spanish (Latin America) and Vietnamese localization + Bug Fixes
Hello fellow inmates,Thank you all so much for your continued support and feedback!We are excited to share some good news. Back to the Dawn now supports Spanish (Latin America) and Vietnamese. A massi
【V2.0.0.31】New Chinese Voice-over and Bug Fixes
Hello inmates,As usual, thank you everyone for your support and feedback!Here are the details of this update:Optimization:Added Chinese voice-over. You may enable and disable it in \.Bug Fix:Fixed an
Revealing Champion Mode, and a sneak peek of our upcoming DLC...
Hello fellow inmates!Since the update article last September, where we updated everyone with a couple of optimization and port announcements, we haven't had the time to share our recent development wi
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Screenshots
Official Steam store screenshots — click any shot to enlarge.
Facts & details
From the Steam store record, snapshot 2026-05-12.
| Genres | Adventure, Indie, RPG, Simulation, Strategy |
| Player tags | RPG · Story Rich · Pixel Graphics · Detective · Choices Matter · Multiple Endings · Adventure · Strategy RPG · Crime · Investigation · Singleplayer · Mystery (SteamSpy community voting) |
| Features | Single-player · Steam Achievements · Full controller support · Steam Trading Cards · Color Alternatives · Adjustable Difficulty · Stereo Sound · Steam Cloud |
| Languages | Simplified Chinese, English, Japanese, Traditional Chinese, Korean, Russian, Spanish - Latin America, Vietnamese |
| Controller | Full support |
| Achievements | 46 |
Minimum system requirements (PC)
Minimum: OS: Windows 10 Processor: Intel i5 Memory: 4 GB RAM Graphics: Nvidia GTX 750ti Storage: 3 GB available space Additional Notes: Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system.