City of Brass Reviews

City of Brass is ranked in the 40th percentile of games scored on OpenCritic.
6.8 / 10.0
Feb 25, 2021

In conclusion, City of Brass is a decent game IF you like first-person dungeon crawlers with no turn-based action. While I was enchanted in the beginning, after 5-10 hours, I was sadly disillusioned. This is one city that should’ve lost, like Atlantis kind-of lost.

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Aug 24, 2019

While there is something to be said about the game’s combat and Arabian setting, the frustrating amount of traps and repetitive gameplay makes City of Brass hard to play, and the lack of upgrades makes it hard to come back.

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75 / 100
Aug 6, 2019

City of Brass takes us to a lost city in the desert, where our thief will have to explore 12 levels against the clock while fighting with a host of nightmare enemies and avoid many traps, to be able to seize the wonderful treasurers and riches that the City hides. The first person action of this roguelike with procedural generation levels, will offer us a high challenge, although perhaps it ends up being too strict and this makes the game can be repetitive and demoralizing if this style of play is not for us.

Review in Spanish | Read full review

6 / 10
Mar 13, 2019

Despite its promises, City of Brass is an ideal game to buy on sale, where the fun will surely be measurable with your investment. It's a shame, but with the Switch building a stronger catalog every year, the competition is fierce and City of Brass doesn’t have what it takes to be a must buy game on Nintendo’s console.

Review in Portuguese | Read full review

Mar 3, 2019

City of Brass brings its mix of challenging roguelite gameplay and Persian fantasy to the Nintendo Switch, but control issues mar the experience.

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8 / 10
Mar 3, 2019

Fun first-person action rogue-lite with fun mechanics

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8.5 / 10.0
Feb 8, 2019

Pick yourself back up, wipe off that sand, and crack that whip. You won’t regret it.

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7.5 / 10.0
Feb 8, 2019

I have no doubt that City of Brass won’t provide an experience everyone will love, but then again that’s not a shock when games try new things...

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8 / 10.0
Feb 7, 2019

City of Brass stands out for a roguelike. It's one of the first-person roguelikes with an underused visual theme that recognizable and feels more realistic than arcadey. The snap of the whip feels great and the opportunity it presents will vary from run to run. The different items, enemy variety and amount of traps will surely test you. It feels good and there's not much more to it than that. It's a roguelike meant for repeated plays until you unlock get it down with all the things to see and unlock. The gameplay might not be everyone's cup of tea, but it has its audience. For something that feels more weighted and isn't a shooter, City of Brass has you covered; not in sand.

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7 / 10.0
Feb 7, 2019

City of Brass is a fun and swashbuckling adventure that gets seriously hamstrung by its clumsy and sluggish controls. Recommended to any masochist out there who wants to get punished on the go and doesn't mind looking past some issues.

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9 / 10
Feb 7, 2019

While some of its procedural generation can sometimes make for an unnecessarily challenging experience, City of Brass more than makes up for it with the sheer creativity you can have exploring its Arabian Nights-themed maps. With genii to imbue you with wacky powers and the ever-tantalising need to collect more gold (as well the option to compete with others via the leaderboards), Uppercut Games has produced one of the most entertaining roguelikes to swing onto Nintendo Switch. And you can throw ghost chickens. What more do you need?

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7 / 10.0
Jul 19, 2018

Provided you keep expectations in check, City of Brass can be fun. The game is set up well for those starting out with roguelikes, and the various tweaks ensure that everyone has a chance to see the ending. For the hardcore, it can also be tweaked to be tougher, and that'll be necessary if you want any kind of challenge. This doesn't feel like a long-lasting experience, but the presence of leaderboards will be an incentive to those who might want to speed-run through the game. If you don't mind a few of the aforementioned flaws, then give this title a chance.

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6.5 / 10.0
Jul 4, 2018

City of Brass brings some interesting features to the dungeon-crawling genre, but its overly generic style and atmosphere don't break any new ground. It's a game that can be picked up and put down easily, which would make it a good candidate for a Nintendo Switch port. City of Brass' qualities are unfortunately marred by its lack of personality and other technical blunders.

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4.5 / 10.0
May 27, 2018

City of Brass could have been a truly fun game but falls short in its rogue-lite aspirations. The lack of engaging story, frustrating combat, uninspired levels and unsatisfying loot make this a chore.

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May 22, 2018

City of Brass looks like a beautiful epic straight out of the tales of the Arabian Nights. Instead, it's a dreadful slog designed to avoid everything that makes a roguelite game replayable and fun.

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7.1 / 10.0
May 18, 2018

While repetitive in nature and presentation, City of Brass is still a fun, unique strategy-action game that provides plenty of key moments.

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8.5 / 10.0
May 16, 2018

City of Brass is the sort of game that certain gamers will treasure. It is a beautiful, well-polished first-person rogue-lite that will not hesitate to regularly reward diligent players with a quick and horrible death. City of Brass is not for the faint of heart, but for those that put in the time to hone their skills, the rewards of City of Brass are great (and I'm not talking about the in-game treasure). A visual treat, City of Brass never feels unfair, and learning to overcome its many challenges can be vastly satisfying.

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Ken McKown
Top Critic
7 / 10.0
May 15, 2018

City of Brass has a great theme and aesthetic, but falls victim to the same issues most roguelikes have. I feel like a broken record every time I review one saying this would have been a better traditional game as opposed to a run-based one. Still, there are neat ideas and the theme of it is hard not to love.

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3 / 10
May 14, 2018

With an awesome inspiration and some very cool ideas, it's an immense shame that City of Brass game ends up being as dull as it is. With lacklustre combat, enemy design, rooms and movement, City of Brass feels like a chore to play. With the smorgasbord of Rogue-lites to play these days, some of which are among the best games you can play, City of Brass is an easy pass.

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5.5 / 10.0
May 14, 2018

Good-looking and accessible addition to rogue-lite genre, but with clumsy controls, repetitive gameplay and no sense of progress.

Review in Slovak | Read full review