We Love It's Guide to…
As a reporter or undercover agent in a high-security prison, investigate a conspiracy, manage each day, and plan your escape.
Released 17 Jul 2025
Investigate Prison Conspiracies
Plan a Prison Escape
Manage a 21-Day Sentence
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.
Developed by Metal Head Games · Published by Spiral Up Games
Choose between Thomas, a reporter imprisoned after crossing powerful interests, and Bob, an undercover agent on a mission inside the prison. Each follows a different storyline as they pursue their goals and search for a way out.
Explore the prison, take jobs, gather clues, complete quests, and decide how to deal with inmates and rival gangs. Your actions use time and stamina, so daily routines and priorities shape what you can accomplish before the deadline.
Develop attributes and skills through activities, equip useful items, and use dice-based checks in challenges. Build relationships to learn inmates’ stories and gain skills, or rely on stealth, crafting, or combat; choices open different investigation outcomes, escape routes, and endings.
Players who enjoy the game often highlight its distinct inmate cast and personal stories, the two protagonists’ separate narratives, and the freedom to uncover clues and find different ways to escape. Reviews also praise the mix of time planning, character development, exploration, and branching choices. Some players find the deadline and early learning curve frustrating, and others say relationship-building or later playthroughs can become repetitive.
Back to the Dawn (动物迷城)
A gripping prison escape RPG woven with crime, corruption, and hidden agendas. Step into a maximum-security facility where every inmate has a past—and a plan. You'll have to fight to survive, investigate, and ultimately break free before the time runs out.
Uncover a scheme that threatens more than just your life—it could bring down the entire city. In this thrilling adventure, choices matter, and escape is your only salvation!
Choose between two protagonists — Thomas, a reporter caught in a web of lies, or Bob, an undercover agent sent deep into the prison system. Each storyline delivers over 20 hours of engrossing mystery, where your every choice matters. Navigate a prison ruled by three powerful gangs, interact with 47 uniquely crafted inmates, and uncover layers of intrigue through dozens of memorable NPCs.
With over 100 handcrafted quests, multiple escape routes—each with its own risks and rewards—several possible endings, and more than 500,000 words of gripping narrative, Back to the Dawn delivers a deeply replayable RPG unlike anything you've experienced.
Thomas the Fox is a journalist caught up in a dark conspiracy and who got thrown into a maximum-security prison for not playing ball. Working with your attorney friend on the outside, you must collect evidence to save yourself and the city from grave danger!
Bob the Panther is an undercover agent who has never failed on any of his missions, but he is growing exhausted of this line of work and wants out. But a personal tragedy drags him back for one last job in prison. Experience a hardboiled tale of betrayal, vengeance, and truth!
This is an enormous prison with lots to do and many places to explore, but make sure you follow the rules, or at least try not to get caught!
You’ll encounter all kinds of challenges as you explore your new environment. But will you be a model prisoner and just try to keep your head down, or will you leave a trail of chaos and destruction in your wake? It’s all up to you.
Meet a colorful cast of inmates in your prison, each with an interesting story to tell. You can either make them your friends or fight, bully and rob them into submission. Will you be part of a gang or a cunning lone wolf? Pick a side!
Are you a tough guy who lets his fists do the talking, a thief who hides in the shadows, or perhaps a smooth talker who manipulates the scene? Develop your skills, craft tools to suit your style, and climb your way from “new fish” to “top dog.”
In a place built to break you, your sharpest weapon is your creativity and cunning. Every inch of Boulderton Prison might hold the key to your escape, from your prison cell to the infirmary, to the sewers and even the rooftops. Can you break free?
| Platforms | Windows |
|---|---|
| Achievements | 46 |
| Age ratings |
|
| Controller support | Xbox |
| Controller required | No |
| DLC / extras | 3 listed on Steam |
| Metacritic | 81/100 View on Metacritic |
