Chain fighting games: what they are and what to look for
A chain fighting game puts a weapon on a rope in your hands: a whip, a chain blade, a weighted chain. The difference from a sword game is that the weapon has slack. It sags, swings, wraps around things and pulls them toward you, so where it lands depends on physics as much as on aim.
What a chain does that a sword does not
- Reach with a cost. A long chain hits from far away, but it has to travel and it can be read.
- Wrap and pull. The tip can catch a target, then a pull brings it to you or throws it somewhere else.
- Sweep. Swung in a circle, a chain hits everything inside the arc.
- The world as a weapon. A chain can catch a cage, a pillar or a lever and use it: swing a cage into a crowd, pull yourself to a pillar.
Simulated rope or animation?
Some games animate the chain: each attack plays the same motion and the hit is decided by a hitbox. Others simulate the rope as a string of points with mass, so the chain sags, trails and wraps differently every time. Simulation makes outcomes emergent: the same flick does different things depending on what the chain touches first, which is where the funny moments come from.
What to look for on a phone
- Gestures that map to the chain's verbs (flick to strike, hold and drag to wrap, pull to yank), not on-screen buttons.
- Readable enemies: a clear wind-up before every attack, so dodging is about timing.
- Short runs: a fight that ends in two to four minutes fits a phone session.
- Fair pricing: a full free chapter before any purchase.
Where Chainbreaker fits. Chainbreaker is a chain fighting game built around two simulated chains (verlet ropes with mass) and one thumb: flick to whip, hold and drag to wrap, pull to yank, tap to slingshot, circle to sweep, across three cel-shaded lanes with ragdoll enemies and hazards you can turn on them. The Emberdeep Foundry, its six arenas and its boss are free, along with the circuit and the daily challenge; the other four biomes are one purchase. It plays in your browser too.
Play free in your browser Google Play App StoreQuestions
What is a chain fighting game?
An action game whose weapon is a chain, whip or chain blade: reach, wraps and pulls instead of only slashes.
Is a chain fighting game the same as a whip game?
Close: a whip is a chain fighter's lightest weapon. Both rely on a weapon with slack.
Can I play a chain fighting game in my browser?
Chainbreaker runs in a browser at chainbreaker.adelyons.com, the same game as the phone app.
More guides
- One-handed fighting games you can play with a thumb
- Kusarigama games: the chain and sickle in video games
- Chainbreaker: chain fighting game in your browser and on your phone
More guides: Games · all Adelyons guides