Screenshots
Chains of Reality
The Files of Reality · Published by The Files of Reality
Last updated 7 Oct 2026
Chains of Reality is a survival horror game focused on a story-driven single-player narrative, where you traverse a multitude of liminal environments and alternate dimensions in search of fulfilling your end of a deal, a deal made with someone you never should have trusted.
Action, Adventure, Indie, Simulation, Early Access, Casual · 2026 · More free games
Embark on a chilling journey through shifting dimensions in Chains of Reality. Navigate treacherous environments and unravel the mysteries behind your deal with a questionable entity, all while facing the horrors that lurk around every corner.
About this game
Come forth and embark on a journey unlike any other, a test of survival, sanity, and ultimately, trust. Traverse strange, liminal realities alone or with up to three others, scavenge what's left, and fight to make it one more day in a dimension that's not quite real... and never quite safe.
A DEAL YOU SHOULDN'T HAVE MADE
You were desperate. Life in the real world had become unlivable, humanity has wiped itself from its own greed, until they offered you a way out. A dealmaker, someone not quite human, someone who promised to fix everything. Your task? Traverse alternate realities, fulfill their request, and return alive.
If you return without completing the deal, you'll experience a fate worse than death, something wicked.
And if you succeed? Well... they promised to keep their end of the deal.
KEY FEATURES:
UNIQUE SURVIVAL GAMEPLAY
Scavenge for food, water, and supplies in unstable, ever-shifting realities. Each environment has its own dangers, limited resources, and secrets to uncover. Survive long enough to escape, or end up struggling to sustain yourself within each reality with its non-replenishable resources. Earn currency as you play along to shop, trade, and purchase anything you may need along your journey.
DON'T LOSE YOUR MIND
Sanity is a vital thing, and losing too much of it draws unwanted effects, and attention. Chains of Reality boasts a unique sanity system that you have to learn to upkeep by staying in the light, being in less intimidating environments, taking medication, etc. to upkeep your sanity, otherwise losing too much of it will cause hallucinations (visual and auditory), strange inventory interactions, environment shifts, and much, much more..
CRAFT, BUILD, ADAPT
Use what little you find to craft tools, build shelter, and sustain yourself. Establish bases using whatever you can find lying around in environments that suit your desired interests and needs, but don’t get too comfortable..
Chains of Reality is unique in the sense where you simply don't open your inventory and place some blueprints, instead you have to manually scavenge and pick up specific parts and pieces in each reality that you'd assemble into what you will call home. Almost EVERYTHING in Chains of Reality can be picked up and moved around, assembled into something beautiful, or all out chaos. Player freedom is the #1 value of this game.
EMOTIONAL, ATMOSPHERIC STORY
Piece together the mystery of why you’re here, what your meaning truly is, and what happens to those who fail. Dive into themes of desperation, survival, and what it means to cling to hope when all seems lost.
IMMERSIVE GRAPHICS
Powered by Unreal Engine 5, Chains of Reality delivers hyper-realistic, uncanny environments that evoke feelings of unsettling nature, nostalgia, and amazement. From endless office corridors to dreamlike forests and vintage hotels, every reality is both familiar yet unknown at the same time.
EVOKE THE LIMINAL FEELING WITHIN YOUR MIND
Inspired by liminal horror and the Backrooms lore, Chains Of Reality is designed to spark that liminal feeling within your mind, and truly form something deeply unsettling, yet you can’t get enough of it. Decide where to stay, but beware, not all places are as safe as they make it out to be. It’s up to you to figure out what's a trap, and what isn't.
ONLINE MULTIPLAYER; IMMINENT.
You heard it here. While the Chains of Reality main storyline is entirely made for a desolate, single-player experience to truly evoke the feeling of existential dread and fear between you and the Dealmaker, Chains of Reality will offer an online co-op mode in the distant future. As of early access launch, it is in development. Any seasonal events will have the ability to be played with a large team of people, and there will be future permanent excavation events where you extract key realities as a simulated team. Grow your character, customize it, and meet others. Slated for Mid 2027.
Will you survive the journey, piece together the truth, and claim your reward?
Or will you become just another soul bound within the Chains of Reality?
System Requirements
Will my PC run this? →Minimum
- OS: Windows 10 / 11 - 64 bit
- Processor: AMD Ryzen 5 3600X or Intel Core i5-10400F
- Memory: 8 GB RAM
- Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 or AMD Radeon RX 580
- DirectX: Version 12
- Storage: 25 GB available space
- Additional Notes: Requirements may vary/change overtime
Recommended
- OS: Windows 10 / 11 - 64 bit
- Processor: AMD Ryzen 7 5700X or Intel Core i5-12600K
- Memory: 16 GB RAM
- Graphics: NVIDIA RTX 4060 Ti or AMD Radeon RX 6750 XT
- DirectX: Version 12
- Storage: 25 GB available space
- Additional Notes: Requirements may vary/change overtime
Supported Languages
*languages with full audio support
Latest news
Patch NotesOfficial
The Demo Patch is here!
Hey everyone, The Demo Patch is finally here in preparation for Steam's Next Fest! It obviously brings some pretty hefty changes and additions, being a proper demo now. Basically everything got changed in a way. Full list of stuff can be found below, I can't wait for Next Fest! Additions:Added Frank the fish in The OfficeFinished every loading screenBuilding system now has a UI that appears when moving an object, showing controlsAdded save system v1: demo edition. Game auto saves your stats, skills, and inventory. Heading back to main menu or reopening the game brings you back to where you were. Want to reset your save? Head to the new crusher room where the dealmaker will talk to you as you get crushed to death, resetting all stats, inventory, and skills.Added difficulty selection v1: demo edition. easy, which is 0.8x stat drain, medium which is default, hard, which is 1.2x. Upon entering The Office you will have the dealmaker speak with you about choosing difficulty, and you can choose which looks best for you. Walking into it will teleport you to the main office.Added voice slider for voice acting and music in audio tab, all of them save across sessions as well as camera sensitivity (which is now in the main menu too), and all graphics settings save globally onto your gameusersettings.ini :)Changed and added a bit more to the exit room in The Office (where the lights go out), now a big industrial catwalk area with a big red light thats always onAdded more sanity effects, like creepy music, decals, and added more soundsAdded voice acting in the introduction cutscene and also the first decontamination nodeAdjusted and added various different dialog points, things are overall clearer, are less “guidey” while still being helpful and giving the character more personalityAdded another X0-RANS0MWARE encounterAdded more spooky music when the lights go out in The Office (and a new sound)Added demo endingNew items:Aloe Coffee - New cooking recipe with water, aloe, and coff...Read full article on Community Announcements (crypticalclam111)Patch NotesOfficial
Beta Patch #4 Is Out Now!
Hey everyone,Welcome to patch #4, my favorite one by far! There'll only be so many more of these for you beta testers till we reach the public launch! This patch aims to VASTLY improve the overall experience playing chains of reality, as the demo, and possibly early access launch will not have difficulty options yet implemented, so these changes should be of major benefit. And of course, dozens of new additions and mechanics await your exploration.Additions:Expanded The Office even more (and removed the poolrooms area, was rather unfitting), also added a locked room which requires a lockpickExpanded The Attic a little bit more, also added a decontamination node with the items added to the level needed to craft the kitSanity overhaul part 1: Sanity UI bar completely removed, can only be shown with new sanity watch item. Visual aberration now occurs at 65% sanity, and will become stronger overtime. Various audio and visual hallucinations will now also continuously occur at lower sanity levels. This is only part 1, but is a good baseline.Health now has visual effects when becoming lower and lower, starting at 50% health, such as lens flares, a vignette, heavy motion blur, and overall darkens the environmentAdded a full cooking system. For now, only has the ability to use the stove to boil water in The Office for clean drinking water, and a fruit boil. Will have more recipes in the future, as well as more levels with the stove, and more ways to cook stuff.Added more X-0RANS0MEWARE encountersAdded a new skill in the skill tree: Sharp minded, 10% extra sanityAdded credits (not changing these)Added a cooler in each level that has food and water inside of it, similar to the wooden chests. Also added more stuff to the shops in each levelAdded something new in the intro..Added animation + sound to The Office's emergency exit doorsAdded new items: New items:X-0RANS0MEWARE DocumentSanity WatchAtomic dose of fentadrylSerenobarGrapesFruit boilChanges:All movement animations have ...Read full article on Community Announcements (crypticalclam111)Patch NotesOfficial
Beta Patch #3 Is Out Now!
Hey everyone,Welcome to yet another hefty patch! Even larger than the previous ones, this one adds a very large sum of content. Some of the content in this update will be added in parts, so some of them are not finished (see below). Biggest takeaways are the beginning of a new entity, a new level, intro, player animation overhaul, and more level expansions and new items and stuff. Additions:Expanded The Attic with a new side roomExpanded The Office with a new, large roomAdded Level 5, The Suburbs, an expansive level with a connecting level coming next patch. The Suburbs will also be getting a revamp eventually so consider this a part 1 update.Introduction revamp part 1: A complete overhaul to the introduction, now including more lore, cutscenes, the introduction of the Dealmaker face to face, and more. His animations in cutscene #2 are entirely unfinished. They will be finished later.Added loading screens merely as a test, they will be finished down the line. All assets are placeholders.Reworked the 2nd Aether Otherworld with a 2nd memory shard to read upon.Added a camera sensitivity option in the keybinds tab IN-GAME ONLY (now rebranded as Game & Keybinds)Added more poison spawnsNew buildables:Monstera plantMini lampAdded 3 new items, adrenaline shot that sacrifices a super small amount of health to completely max out stamina, and an earlier game stryder called runners brace crafted with 3 cloth, 2 leather, 3 scrap metal, 3 tape, 2 rubber. And the pot, crafted with 3 scrap metal and 1 duct tape or found in the office.Added the ability to fill up the new pot item with dirty water from the office’s pipes. Boiling it will come in a future update for safe drinking but this is the first infinite water source, it does damage you however.Added a new skill to the explorer skill tree, called deep pockets I, 2 skill points, adds 2 inventory spacePlayer Animation Overhaul part 1. Omnidirectional movement, new animations, complete layered blends for full arm control during equ...Read full article on Community Announcements (crypticalclam111)Patch NotesOfficial
Beta Patch #2 Hotfix
Hey everyone,This hotfix fixes up a bunch of issues from the Beta Patch #2 build that me and (tester) has found. No new additions for this update, just fixes!Fixes:Fixed The Office's contamination node from disappearing upon cleansing (now turns white)Fixed the Skill Tree's Z-Ordering, now overlaps stamina barFixed Aether Forge from displaying 2 Overdrive Stryders, now properly shows the Ring of HasteRemoved a random bright light in The AtticRemoved a random beamlight pickup in The AtticFixed The Attic's portal from being orange (swapped to the snowflake blue portal)Removed the 2 "backs" in the keybinds menu, now has 1 working oneFixed The Hotel's guest rooms from not having collisionsFixed menu being M, is now EscBeta Patch #3 will add a new level, and focus on a couple of more additions, fixes, and improvements. It won't be as big as patch #2, moreso the size of #1Read full article on Community Announcements (crypticalclam111)Patch NotesOfficial
Beta Patch #2 Is Out Now!
Hey everyone,Welcome to a rather hefty patch! This patch aims to improve upon the game rather than add more levels and whatnot, and boy I did my best to deliver! This update adds a plethora of new things, all of which you can find below, but the biggest ones will be the skill tree system, an expansion of The Office, a revamped otherworld (currently only available in the first one you encounter), decontamination nodes, new items, anims, QoL, bug fixes and more! Have fun reading the patch notes ːsteamhappyːAdditions:Added a skill tree system has been implemented in a very early WIP. In it, you can press N to open the skills menu (temporary key) and select between two branches: the Survivalist Tree, and the Explorer Tree. More trees and of course more skills in the existing trees will be coming in the future. For now, the current skills for survivalist are:Endurance I: Increases max health by 10% (1 skill point)Metabolism I: Increases max hunger by 10% (will be changed to reduced consumption in future update) (1 skill point)Cactus I: Increases max thirst by 10% (will be changed to reduced consumption in future update) (1 skill point)Endurance II: Increases max health by another 10% (total of 20%) (2 skill points)And for the explorer tree:Conditioning I: Reduces stamina usage by 10% (1 skill point)Runner I: Increases max stamina by 10% (1 skill point)You may obtain skill points by completing levels (1 point per level beat), or craft a decontamination kit and decontaminate nodes found throughout the levels (1 point per node). More info on nodes belowAdded corruption nodes (currently only in The Office and The Hotel) that acts as a small optional story objective that'll be expanded upon in the future. You have to find resources to craft a decontamination kit, and use it on the note to purify it from corruption. Doing so grants 1 skill pointOverhauled the first Otherworld, the others will be revamped in the future. It changes the bland Otherworld into a research outpost, w...Read full article on Community Announcements (crypticalclam111)
