The player has sixty minutes to navigate a labyrinth composed of an abandoned urban slum in New York, represented by two decks of cards, locate the entity Darkness attempting to destroy the city and kill it.

Failure to kill Darkness, either by running out of time, dying of injuries, or succumbing to zombie venom/radiation poisoning, results in a loss for the player.

The player has several attributes randomised by die roll at the start of the game, which affect hand-to-hand combat, marksmanship, ability to take damage and reaction time.

Loss of the Laser Lance or running out of its ammunition requires the player to leave the slums for a replacement, suffering a time penalty.

The gameplay is a stylised version of solitaire in that the deck of cards is randomised, but certain items of equipment are required to defeat creatures found later in the game.

[9] In November 2014, the developer of the mobile and PC version, Auroch Digital, announced a follow-up title, Chainsaw Warrior: Lords of the Night, released in early 2015.