The King's Heroes
The King's Heroes
Game
Game2018
City of Brass
Developer Uppercut Games Pty Ltd
City of Brass is a single-player first-person dungeon crawl video game, set in a procedurally generated, Arabian Nights-themed city of interconnecting corridors, courtyards and rooms. Players assume the role of a thief, fighting to reach a treasure hidden in the heart of a mythical city filled with traps and enemies. It was developed by Australian independent video game studio Uppercut Games and was announced on 6… From Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)
208 reactions from 4 sources (Steam reviews, Bluesky, Mastodon, Lemmy) · newest Oct 25, 2026 · last updated Oct 25, 2026 · How this works
Audience score
69
Fresh
132 positive · 58 negative
95% range 63–76%
| Source | + | − | = |
|---|---|---|---|
| Steam reviews | 132 | 58 | 0 |
| Bluesky * | 0 | 2 | 13 |
| Mastodon * | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Lemmy * | 0 | 0 | 1 |
* shown, not counted in the score (label accuracy below our 85% bar or not yet audited).
Steam's own rating
Mostly Positive
395 of 495 reviews positive (all languages, per Valve)
What players are saying
70% recommend · 134 yes, 57 no
Counted from the reviewers’ own thumbs up/down on the 191 English Steam reviews we collected, not by the AI. Valve’s all-language rating: Mostly Positive (648 of 831 positive).
Some find the movement and combat too slow and sluggish. [1][2][3] Several reviewers note the game is punishing and not for everyone. [4][5][6]
Liked
Representative posts
- [14]
Caution, this game has timed levels. Some type of orb spawns & insta one shoots you. - Normally I avoid these types of games, but no information on steam store page about timed levels.
- [16]
Quite underrated. Launching a new game renders a distinct new map, guaranteed to be wildly different from the last. Running the gauntlet is always exhilarating as the game furnishes fresh layouts each time you delve in. The algorithm programmed for its level design must be a good piece of coding, it may have been very possible for stages to be loaded with numerous errors or impracticalities due to sheer …
- [4]
If bioshock were a roguelite. That's what you just found. The same, reflex dependent problem solving combat, a new place to enjoy it. I love this game so much I feel guilty for getting it on sale. Not for everyone. If you don't like hard games and personal growth, look elsewhere. If you want victory to feel incredible, combat to feel skillful, and exploration to feel tense, city of brass is your game.
- [8]
It's an insanely fun pick-and-play kind of game, it's not a huge time commitment which is a plus for me, need more games in my library I can just boot up for an hour and have fun. The whip is insanely satisfying, kinda feels like you're bullying the enemies at a certain point which is the kind of vibe I adore. Sweep the legs, knock the sword out of their hand, whip their head to stun them, push them into spike pits, …
- [5]
City of Brass is meant to be punishing and difficult. But tedious repetition makes it as uninteresting to experience as it is severe to endure.
Summarised from 34 of the 208 public posts collected about this game; every point cites the posts behind it ([n] opens the post) and the split is counted from the posts’ own ratings. Updated Oct 13, 2026. How summaries are made
RottenBot@rottenbot · automated account
City of Brass sits at 69% positive across 190 opinionated reactions from 4 sources. Fresh or rotten — where do you land?
Critics, per Wikipedia
City of Brass, the PlayStation 4 version released on May 4, 2018, received a score of 66 out of 100 from Metacritic from critics. The Xbox One version received a slightly higher score of 67. The PC game received 69/100 from Metacritic. Destructoid praised the look of the game and the weapons mechanics, particularly the whip. PC Gamer especially felt the whip was a positive aspect of the game. Rolling Stone reviewed it before the main release, and overall gave it positive praise. GameSpot gave it a mediocre review, saying there were performance issues, but that the game was notable for its "impressive balance between its pacing, difficulty curve, and combat systems." IGN was more critical,…
From the “Reception” section of Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. Critic context only — not part of the audience score.
Reactions
60 of 208 · most liked firstCaution, this game has timed levels. Some type of orb spawns & insta one shoots you. - Normally I avoid these types of games, but no information on steam store page about timed levels.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The first reason that stops me from recommending this game is that it's not what it claims to be. City of Brass is not really an action-adventure game as much as it is a beautifully constructed troll game, with layers upon layers of distractions, noob traps, and red herrings that will trick you into losing until you learn to recognize them. The first times you play, you might assume you have to carefully explore the maze-like maps to find the exit, always on the lookout for traps, using all the…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →So, this was not part of the main sets, it was an entry into learning how to play magic called "Portal", and the original Portal was how I learned the game! I sold the following cards to make rent during the recession: Arabian Nights City of Brass Beta Thunderbolts (5) OG Juzam Djinn OG Chaos Orb
neutral · AI labelView post →Quite underrated. Launching a new game renders a distinct new map, guaranteed to be wildly different from the last. Running the gauntlet is always exhilarating as the game furnishes fresh layouts each time you delve in. The algorithm programmed for its level design must be a good piece of coding, it may have been very possible for stages to be loaded with numerous errors or impracticalities due to sheer randomisation, yet every round I entered seemed flawlessly assembled and felt genuinely…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Combat and movement speed are too slow for a game like this, it seriously feels like the game was able to let you move faster at one point and then the devs decided it was too fast. Molasses ass gaming at it's peak, some people who paid for your game have faster reflexes than the old folks you play tested this crap on.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →⚖️ CONTENT CHECKLIST: * Matching 🟢 = Fun +1 * Matching 🔴 = Fun -1 🟢 Terrain traps everywhere 🟢 One life challenge = Lose checkpoint save 🟢 Penalty = Failure cause restart back to level 1 again 🟢 Daily Challenges 🟢 Score / Time Attack for replay value 🔴 In-depth Melee Combat System 🔴 Equipment Management 🔴 Many option at beginning 🔴 Sandbox Mode to playtest future unlock fMeter FUN fUN METER DISCOUNT COMMUNITY REVIEWER…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This review is more like a "meh", buy it if its cheap, its not an awful game. Its repetitive and just a but dull really, bosses are all very underwhelming, so are upgrades, the mechanics are fairly cool but still very clunky. Also not a ton of content in the game.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I wish I could give this a "meh" instead of a yes or no, so i'll just rate no to balance out the other reviews. I enjoyed the game, but it's pretty lukewarm, and let's be honest, Ziggurat does first person Rouglike much better.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →While the visual aspect is great, practically everything else about this game is meh. Combat might feel entertaining once you get the hang of it, but is not really deep. A load of traps always forces you to keep your eyes peeled, but more often than not it's an overload. There are also a number of buffs and debuffs for a frustrated user aimed at allowing you to tailor the game's difficulty to your needs and thus see less of monotonous first levels. But sound design is the worst, based…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I wasn't expecting much at first, but this game is a lot of fun! Kill dudes, get xp, increase rewards little by little. Different weapons, characters and abilities to use. Relics that make the game easier or harder depending on your play style. Decent amount of variety. It could be just a bit more giving in the rewards department though but it's not too bad. And at 90% off this is a steal.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Combat and movement is slow and sluggish. This game probably would have been better if wasn't a roguelite. The whole dying and restarting in this game doesn't really work because there isn't enough variety. You get insignificant upgrades and changes while the rest of the game stays the same. Sucks because it seems like a cool concept.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →#WeeknightWriters Books. 😆 I read Charles Dickens’s Bleak House, Ender’s Game, Blood of Hercules, and the sequels to City of Brass. It’s how I stay sane. But even though they’re all so incredibly different, they all brought me joy. But there is rarely a book I don’t like.
neutral · AI labelView post →As promised, here's the thread of my matches on RG Goblins. Round 1: WUB control Game 1 I keep a hand with Rishadan Port, City of Brass and Goblins. My City gets Vindicated and I proceed to draw like 8 nonlands straight... So yeah, loss. G2 my opponent has the answers and I lose again. 0-2. 1/8
neutral · AI labelView post →As much as I do enjoy a lot of the ideas going on here, the controls are weird, the progression isn't very satisfying, and the game bounces between laughably easy to unfair and frustrating. If you like the way City of Brass looks, pick it up at a STEEP discount. Otherwise, there are better Rougelikes on Steam.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →To me this is one of the few roguelikes which just didn't click for me. Slow and repetitive combat. Enemies are very annoying, especially that stone dude which follows you when you are not looking at him. So many traps which sips your precious life away, Explosive barrels in every room, imprecise aiming. And wtf bosses. A disjointed mess. It's just a janky game overall. Nothing works in favor of player's fun, like reading an Accounting book.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Not polished enough to be good and not innovative enough to be fun regardless of that. If you're looking for an action game roguelite with short addictive combat and meaningful progression you are out of luck here. It could become much better with some massive overhauls to difficulty, health regeneration and movement options. You really realize that instantly which makes me not want to come back.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It's a first person rougelike. The visuals are kind of appealing, and there is a good level of difficulty customisation. That's about all I can say about the game's advantages. The disadvantages (for me) are following: - SLOW MOVEMENT. The movement and combat feel syropy, as if you're in slow motion. At first I thought that the current speed is just without the sprint, but it turned out that the sprint is enabled by default, without it you're just crawling. Interval between attacks also seem…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →City of Brass is meant to be punishing and difficult. But tedious repetition makes it as uninteresting to experience as it is severe to endure.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Yeah, City of brass is basically a FPS Spelunky, traps, traps everywhere. Not as good as immortal redneck though.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →If bioshock were a roguelite. That's what you just found. The same, reflex dependent problem solving combat, a new place to enjoy it. I love this game so much I feel guilty for getting it on sale. Not for everyone. If you don't like hard games and personal growth, look elsewhere. If you want victory to feel incredible, combat to feel skillful, and exploration to feel tense, city of brass is your game.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I just checked this again, first for game I had there for free but bought later on Steam - City of Brass - and couldn't find achievements anywhere. I then looked into Fortnite and League of Legends - also no achievements. I then found there is "my achievements" link somewhere in my profile, from where I could click "browse games with achievements" and turns out, from few dozens games I own there not a single one has achievements.
neutral · AI labelView post →won't stop crashing :( damn shame
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This game sucks so much. Got it for the setting (you don't see ancient / fantasy Arabian in games much) but it is terrible. Movement and combat feels unbearably slow. Field of view is feels way too low so you end up constantly running into traps you didn't see. I got it for $2 on sale and I'm still requesting a refund it sucks so much. Definitely does not interest me the way Spelunky did despite so many reviews comparing the two.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I'm going to give this games a thumbs-up. Because every time I play it, I think "Wow, why don't I play this more often?". Then I stop playing and don't come back to it for another year to think "Wow, why don't I play this more often?" A really good game that deserves to be played... more often.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Mama could not get the City of Brass tonight. I drew 7 lands in a row against UW Control in the finals both games 😔 on the upside, I got to play One Piece tonight and subjected my friend Caleb to a 90 minute Usopp game that I won 🥰
neutral · AI labelView post →I want to like this game (especially for $3 or less), but several of the mechanics make the challenge too easy or just unfair. Unless one is a thorough enthusiast of of the stated genre I recommend spending one's time and money elsewhere (or just watch a speed-run video).
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Heya folks, here's a 1st short featuring a game called Elderborn by Hyperstrange. Not gonna lie, this game kinda feels like City of Brass in a way, except this one is more open-ended and not a roguelike. Fun game so far, easy to get lost, lol. #elderborn #videogames #indiegames #rpg #gameplay
neutral · AI labelView post →Heya folks, here's a short featuring City of Brass by Uppercut Games. NGL, this game is notoriously difficult. I've just beaten it with invincibility, but normally I would die on the third level, lol. #cityofbrass #videogames #indiegames #roguelike #gameplay
negative · AI labelView post →It would've been a fun little game, but it's completely broken and crashes all the time.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I came across this game purely by accident even though I have a large number of roguelikes in my games library. Not since Ziggurat has a 3D roguelike grabbed my attention like this game has. This is very likely to become my favourite 3D roguelike of all time. It's great fun and has blessings to apply to make the game easier, if you so desire. The only one I use is the one that removes the time limit and it makes the game far less frantic, which I enjoy. Later in the game you can unlock…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Timed levels suck, near instant death right from the start sucks, other people have complained about the traps, with good reason. This seems to be Immortal Redneck with swords, but not half as good. Refunded the $2, something I generally don't do even for the worst Hentai games.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It's a good game, a bit unfair at times, the random generation can be quite punishing, but the style and good gameplay make up for it. You really feel like you're in an Arabian city with great architecture and folklore. The first-person combat is great, and the whip mechanics are well made and fun to use. I will never, ever open it again, but it was a good time. Great for anger management. BRO THE MF THAT CREATED THE HAZARDOUS GLADIATOR…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It's an insanely fun pick-and-play kind of game, it's not a huge time commitment which is a plus for me, need more games in my library I can just boot up for an hour and have fun. The whip is insanely satisfying, kinda feels like you're bullying the enemies at a certain point which is the kind of vibe I adore. Sweep the legs, knock the sword out of their hand, whip their head to stun them, push them into spike pits, into other projectiles etc it's just really enjoyable seeing all these…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Unfortunately the mechanics of this game are half baked... when you get hit by enemys it feels like the games fault not yours, hit registration and overall control feels a biut off sometimes. There are way to little ways tohealyourself, which makes progression through the levels much more annoying because when you die you have to start all over again. And then there are these annoying traps everywhere, sometimes in the midst of combat you dont see them and lose health for no reason. The game…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Incredibly disappointing. One of the few games on Steam I actually feel was a scam. This thing feels like an early beta or a proof of concept demo that was overly polished by an enthusiastic intern the night before the beta went live, then the team said "OH ♥♥♥♥ LITTLE JIMMY! You PERFECTED our vision. This is ready for release now." How wrong they were... nothing about this game feels good. Nothing is exciting. Nothing makes me want to play the game. - Controls are clunky and don't feel…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →very hard and well made game not for those not willing to get their asses handed to them over and over again. I love the stone statue that stalks you every time you not looking. most bad reviews I read in this game is from people who seem to be pissed at getting beat up in every corner lol
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I searched steam for games in the Arabian Nights setting/aesthetic. I bought this for $2 and even though I'll probably never launch it again, asking for a $2 refund feels too petty. The devs tried, but I don't think this is for me. I watched a 10-minute speedrun of the game and the runner didn't really do anything more than I had done in my few minutes in the game, so I'm not particularly inspired to master its systems or see its later content for myself -- two things roguelikes/lites need to…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →A really great first person rogue-like. I unlocked all the characters after 5 hours, and they all feel unique with the exception of the fool and the traveler which are extremely similar. The enemies and level design are varied enough that things don't get stale with repeated runs. would definitely recommend.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I got it on sale for $2.00 and am still a little disappointed.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Fair Rogue-lite, with smooth movement and fun Gameplay!
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →A stylish and surprisingly satisfying first-person roguelite. The whip is an excellent gameplay mechanic and makes combat more interesting than simply swinging a sword at everything. My biggest issue is repetition. Once you've played enough runs, the basic structure can start feeling familiar. But if you enjoy roguelites and don't mind repeating runs to improve, that's much less of a problem. Enjoy :)
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I probably would, but I would ask how many so I know how serious this game will play. I might ask to play them as City of Brass instead, but I'll go along with whatever because we're friends. I'd rather they just make proxies. I don't care if it's only the card name in sharpie on the back of lands.
neutral · AI labelView post →Very slow. There are other games that do things better and faster. No really worth your time. MEH next.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I was extremely surprised by how much I liked this game. I had my apprehensions based on the many negative reviews I had seen but, after beating the game, I'm so glad I decided to try City of Brass for myself. GAMEPLAY: The gameplay really is the star of the show here. Its fairly simplistic melee combat but is made great by your ability to use the environment and your whip in tandem with the core swordplay (pulling an enemy into a trap never gets old). The vast array enemies also do a great…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Mm, didn't really enjoy this one. I like to take my time with roguelikes, and you can disable the timer in levels, but there was very little depth in customising your build/items per run. Similar to what other reviews have said, the items don't seem to change the gameplay much at all. I suppose I like seeing or thinking about numbers too, and as everything is measured in hearts, you can imagine how basic the combat is. Not necessarily a bad game if you like speed running, but no depth. Not for…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Well, it took me some time to appreciate this game, and I was almost about to leave a negative review at first! But then, after something like 5 hours or, it started changing. Please note that my time on this game is not actual, as I played it a lot offline, during quarantine without internet. I believe I have around 25 to 30 hours, and I believe this is about right for a game like this (though some people might spend hundreds of hours to aim for a score). This game was more shallow and casual…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It takes maybe six hours before it really clicks, but totally worth it.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →City of (Br)ass
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I'd been watching this game since it came out, waiting for a really good sale to grab it on. I think the gameplay is good, the aesthetic is great, and the music is fantastic. Unfortunately the minimum specifications required aren't enough to truly run it. My laptop beats all of them and it still doesn't move fast enough to survive the first boss. I'm going to keep the game, mostly because it took me over two hours of attempts to realize I just can't move fast enough with the framerate I'm…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Worth every penny.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →very fun, challenging, unique game. the maps are different every time, ive enjoyed this game alot. i got it for 2 bucks. and its worth it 100%,
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →First impression: Game is OK, but pretty tame. The porting from console, however, was very lazily done and offers an infuriatingly cumbersome UI/UX.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Before buying the game, I read in the game description that this game was made by senior developers of the Bioshock series. (Which I own all Bioshock titles) as a huge fan of the The Bioshock games I thought I was going to enter a similar experience with this game since. I was wrong, it indeed have SIMILAR Bioshock gameplay mechanics (such as a "Stun and Melee", which Bioshock was known for having as a great fighting combo) but that didn't persuade me into liking the game. You see the game is…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It's a poorly functioning rougelite with a grid based system of random enemies, and square traps splashed everywhere with little thought to it.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →City of Brass, developed and published by Uppercut Games, is a striking and inventive first-person roguelike that combines the mystique of Arabian folklore with the punishing rhythm of procedural dungeon crawling. It thrusts players into a cursed city filled with traps, treasures, and vengeful spirits, challenging them to survive its shifting labyrinths while mastering an unconventional combat system built around agility, timing, and precision. Unlike most first-person action games that rely on…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I enjoyed every moment I spent in it. It never felt slow to me; you just need to get used to the whip. If there is a downside, it is that once you figure things out, it goes by fairly quickly, but that is also part of the charm of its simplicity. At the discount it often goes for, I can definitely recommend everyone to at least give it a try.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Movement is incredibly slow. Healing is scarce. Traps you can't outrun are constantly in the way. You need to loot goblin all the money in the level if you want to be able to afford the ability to disarm traps. Enemies often ignore the whip, especially charging armless guys. Janky and frustrating to try to gain any progress. This was especially egregious for me since I went in expecting something similar to immortal redneck just with swordplay instead of guns.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It is definitely fun, but only truly fun if you enjoy roguelike games. I definitely do not enjoy starting from the first level every time. But thank gods they made 3 checkpoints to which you can teleport with 3 wishes you have (after you reach them first time of course; 3rd teleport costs all 3 wishes). Also, quite often best strategy is not to fight which for me feels a little contradictory to the point of action games, but here it is either that or making a costly mistake somewhere. Wish…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It ain't bad, but it lacks a way to keep you interested. You're basically only replaying for a high score, not for me.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This game is not great on the PC. It is extremely difficult to tell where you are aiming and despite its simplicity it is difficult to use controls with any accuracy. I have also seen multiple reviews from PC users that state it crashes frequently. I can not yet confirm this to be true but feel that it is likely to happen in later levels. This is likely a much better game on other platforms or with an XBox controller. Do not recommend this game for the PC especially if you don't enjoy hack and…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →
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