Chained Beasts Beta Dates, Act 2 Features, and Gameplay Guide

The Chained Beasts beta gives players a hands-on look at Featherweight Games' upcoming 1–4 player co-op gladiator action roguelite. Testing phases have allowed combatants to enter the arena physically chained to their teammates, navigating brutal melee combat, environmental hazards, permanent run afflictions, and grueling boss battles across Carthage and the frozen arenas of Germania.

Chained Beasts Beta Schedule and Playtest History

Featherweight Games has conducted several testing rounds on PC via Steam to gather community feedback and balance systems prior to full launch.

The Open Beta was featured during the Secret Sauce Showcase hosted by Offbrand Games. While the limited-time open beta concluded on July 19, 2026, a free playable demo remains available on Steam for players wanting to test Act 1 mechanics.

Official release dates listed across platforms show October 15, 2026, on the official Steam database and console announcements, while early trade reports from TechTimes cited September 10, 2026.

What New Content Was Added in the Open Beta?

The Open Beta introduced Act 2, taking gladiator teams north from the sandy arena of Carthage to the frozen grounds of Germania. This act introduced several distinct gameplay elements and hazards:

• Germania Arena & Environmental Hazards: Unlike Carthage, Germania features frostier layouts and lethal spike traps. Players can throw or shove enemies directly onto spikes to impale them instantly.
• New Boss: Goliath: Germania's champion tests agility and coordination. Goliath uses unpredictable jump attacks and heavy ground slams that leave wide impact zones, forcing players to manage their chain spacing and avoid getting caught beneath his recovery recovery windows.
• The Surgeon Mechanic: Between acts, gladiators can visit the Surgeon. Players can pay gold or accept side effects to cure crippling afflictions, downgrade potion tiers, or receive physical body augmentations like gaining an extra kidney for improved potion processing.
• New Weapon & Difficulties: A heavy two-handed axe was added to the weapon roster, alongside higher difficulty settings such as Legate difficulty for veteran players.
• 24 New Skills, Afflictions, and Items: Highlights include Psychosis (causing players to hallucinate weapons and phantom enemies), Untouchable (granting 6 seconds of invulnerability after an execution), and the Priceless Vase (rewarding 100 gold if carried through combat without taking damage).

Core Gameplay Mechanics in the Beta

Combat in Chained Beasts mixes top-down twin-stick arena brawling with physics-based cooperation. Understanding three core pillars is essential for surviving runs:

The Tether Mechanic

Up to four players are shackled together at the ankle. If you play solo, your gladiator is tethered to a heavy iron ball. Rather than being purely a restriction, the chain serves as an offensive tool:

• Moving across opposing sides of an enemy pulls the chain taut, tripping foes and opening them to backstabs or critical hits.
• Poor coordination can snag players around arena pillars, pulling teammates into incoming javelins or fire traps.
• Certain skills improve chain damage or grant vigor when tripping opponents.

Weapons and Crowd Favor

Arena combat relies heavily on improvisational weapon pickups:

• Available Weapons: Swords, axes, maces, flails, spears/javelins, and bows.
• Durability and Throwing: Weapons degrade and break quickly. Any weapon, urn, severed head, or enemy body can be aimed and thrown using the right stick. Flails specialize in breaking shields, while spears can pin targets to arena walls.
• The Crowd: Entertaining the spectators with variety, fast kills, and brutal executions earns gold and cheers. If you fight passively or bore the crowd, spectators will throw rocks and pots into the arena to disrupt you.

Afflictions and Post-Round Training

Surviving a day in the arena leaves gladiators injured. Rather than resetting health cleanly between rounds:

• Players drink potions to restore HP, but each potion applies random afflictions ranging from minor tier-one drawbacks (delayed input, weapon durability loss) to severe tier-two and tier-three impairments (color blindness, delirium, blurred vision, involuntary attacks).
• Nighttime training lets players spend reps to level up, unlocking passive perks that offset afflictions or boost specific damage types.

Playable Beast Classes Tested in the Beta

Players choose animal personas with distinct stats and traits. Gameplay testing from the beta highlights several specific beasts:

• Rhino: Starts with inherent damage resistance (taking 30% less damage) and high survivability, making it ideal for surviving dense crowd chaos and boss encounters like Carthage's Big Bertha and Beastmaster Barka.
• Agile Ibex: Features increased base movement speed and stamina recovery. An alternate trait provides permanent vigor (rapid stamina regeneration and speed) when health drops near lethal thresholds.
• Panther: High offensive ceiling with massive bonuses to special attack damage, balanced by a lower base health pool. Excels at high-speed wall slams and backstabs.
• Bear: High maximum health pool with a built-in movement speed penalty. When taking damage, the bear briefly activates fury and invulnerability to retaliate with heavy attacks.
• Bone Collector Wolf: Focuses on aggressive arena control and utilizing thrown objects like enemy skulls for enhanced damage.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can you play the Chained Beasts beta solo?

Yes. When playing in single-player mode, your gladiator is tethered to a heavy iron ball rather than another player. You can still use the chain to trip enemies, swing the weight, and position around hazards.

What platforms is the beta available on?

The public playtests and open beta rounds have been conducted exclusively on PC via Steam for Windows and Mac, with full controller support. Console and Game Pass launches are planned alongside the full commercial release.

What is the goal of a standard run?

In the beta build, runs task gladiators with surviving multi-stage arena battles in Act 1 (Carthage) to defeat Grandmaster Barka and his rhino Big Bertha, before advancing to Act 2 (Germania) to challenge the champion Goliath.

How do you cure negative afflictions during a run?

Negative afflictions accumulated from healing potions or combat trauma can be managed between acts by visiting the Surgeon. The Surgeon offers medical procedures to remove specific debuffs, trade curses for augmentations, or downgrade higher-tier afflictions.