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Ongoing v0.3.1.0

Chaos Rewind

4.1

(7 votes)

Game Information

Developer

Phantom After Dark

Version

v0.3.1.0

Engine

Ren'Py

Release Date

Apr 23, 2026

Last Update

Oct 11, 2026

Censorship

Uncensored

Overview

Chaos Rewind is a visual novel and dating sim for players who like sci-fi setups mixed with dark humor and card-based strategy. The tone leans irreverent and a little grim before it turns hopeful.

Story

Erik has lost everything, and he's stopped expecting that to change. When an alien woman named Nova crashes to Earth, wounded and hunted for a stolen artifact, he helps her anyway, and that choice pulls him into a fight far bigger than his own ruined life. What she's carrying draws attention from forces across the galaxy, and neither of them can walk away from what happens next.

Gameplay

Play unfolds through dialogue-driven scenes with Nova and the people drawn into her situation, where choices shape how relationships and events develop. A card duel system built around strategy and chance runs alongside the story, turning a childhood game into a recurring way to resolve conflict and tension. Between story beats, the game shifts between narrative decisions and duels, with humor and adult content woven through both.

Features

Hand-drawn 2D art with animated scenes
A full card duel system layered into the story rather than kept separate
Monster girl and gender-bender elements alongside the main sci-fi cast
Dialogue choices that affect how alliances and relationships form

Installation

Windows
1. Download the Windows archive from any mirror below and extract it to a folder of your choice.
2. Run ChaosRewind.exe. Keep every file of the archive in the same folder (the .pck and the .dll files are part of the game).
Linux
1. Download the Linux archive and extract it.
2. Run ChaosRewind.x86_64 (it must stay next to ChaosRewind.pck). If it does not start, make it executable first: chmod +x ChaosRewind.x86_64
Mac (macOS 11 or later on Intel, macOS 13 or later on Apple Silicon)
1. Download the Mac archive, unzip it, and move Chaos Rewind.app to Applications if you like.
2. Open it. The first time, macOS says it cannot verify the app: close that warning with "Done", never "Move to Trash".
3. macOS 15 Sequoia or later: System Settings > Privacy & Security > Security, click "Open Anyway" next to Chaos Rewind and confirm. Only once.
4. macOS 14 Sonoma or earlier: right-click (or Control + click) the app > Open > Open.
5. If macOS says the app "is damaged": in Terminal, run xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine "/Applications/Chaos Rewind.app" (with the path where you put it) and open it again.
Saves: saves from v0.3.0.0 and earlier (Ren'Py) do not load in v0.3.1.0. Start a new game and choose "Continue from the last version", or keep playing v0.3.0.0 (links below).

Changelog

v0.3.1.0

v0.3.1.0, from the prologue to the end of the last update, rebuilt from the ground up on a new engine: Chaos Rewind moved from Ren'Py to Godot. It is out early so you can try the new engine now, catch up on anything you missed, and report anything that looks off before the next story update (Cycle 4), which is still on schedule.
What changes
A new main menu and a new choice menu: compact cards that leave the scene in full view, number keys to pick an option, and a setting for where the menu sits.
Save and load, redesigned: every slot shows a preview, where you are, your current objective and your playtime.
History that reads like a conversation, with avatars.
Preferences with a live preview, plus an Accessibility tab (text size, text outline, motion).
Read-aloud: press V anywhere, card duels included, to hear the dialogue, the choices and the menus with your system's voice.
Card duels: a 3D D20 for initiative, a full-size view of any card with a right-click, elemental effects with sound, animated draw and placement.
Free Roam: sleep until a chosen day with a new transition (it never skips the story), and a new quest panel with tabs for the Main Story and each heroine's events, which you can minimize.
A new panel for the animated scenes, with controls and choices tucked into a corner.
Japanese text breaks lines at natural phrase boundaries.
Runs on as many computers as possible (OpenGL 3.3), older laptops included. Windows, Linux and Mac.
Continue from the last version
When you start a new game, Vesper explains the engine switch and offers 2 paths: start from scratch, or continue from the last version.
In v0.3.1.0, Continue starts you where the v0.3.0.0 story begins, with the story up to v0.2.0.0 completed and the 92 regular cards of the first 2 updates unlocked (12 of the 14 character cards; Crimson Colosseum is earned again as you play).
In the Cycle 4 update, Continue will start you at Cycle 4 with all 104 regular cards.
Saves and cards
Ren'Py saves do not load in this version. v0.3.0.0 (Ren'Py) stays available in the download section, in its own .
Patreon codes from Cycles 2 and 3 work: redeem them again from the main menu. Patron Edition cards earned while their cycle was live keep their metallic finish.