Back to the Dawn Steam Deck Review | Prison RPG Survival with 27+ Hours of Gameplay

Locked up and framed, can you survive and escape? Back to the Dawn is a gripping story-driven prison RPG with survival elements, gang alliances, and multiple escape routes. In this review, I test how it runs on the Steam Deck, covering performance, battery life, and controls.

Play as Thomas the Fox or Bob the Panther and decide your path: make friends, snitch to guards, rise as a prison kingpin, or slowly build your way toward freedom. With deep RPG systems, multiple endings, and a mix of gritty survival and rich storytelling, this game brings a unique twist on the prison escape genre.

In this video you’ll see:
Steam Deck performance, FPS & battery stats
Gameplay systems including survival mechanics, relationships, and crafting
Story, visuals, and soundtrack breakdown

If you’re curious whether Back to the Dawn is worth your time (and your Steam Deck’s battery), this review has you covered.

Please note that the key was received for free for the game in order to review it.

00:00 Intro
01:05 Story
01:55 Deck Performance
02:44 Visuals
03:07 Sound
03:33 Final Verdict
04:03 Outro