Set in the fantasy role-playing universe of The Dark Eye, Chains of Satinav is a pure point-and-click adventure. The events start in Andergast, where King Efferdan is awaiting the visit of the Queen of Nostria in order to undertake the first steps toward a lasting peace. The young Andergastians have been called to the Oak Leaf Challenge to celebrate the occasion and to be honored by the King himself. Geron, the protagonist of the game, is a bird-catcher with ill luck and one of the participants in the challenge. Meanwhile, a plague of crows appears in the town. Some of the birds are attacking humans or bring them dark nightmares. Gwinnling, Geron's mentor, finds out that it is connected to the evil Seer, who was burned at the stake 13 years ago. People that captured and executed him are now being killed one by one, giving rise to suspicions that the Seer has returned to continue his original plan of taking over Andergast and the world. To do this, the Seer needs to find a fairy and force her to play a sacred harp. Geron's main goal is to find the fairy first, protect her, and save the world.
Most of the game Geron travels through the fantastic world of Aventuria accompanied by a fairy named Nuri, trying to get away from the Seer and his minions. This is mainly done by interacting with other objects in the environment. The type of interaction is chosen automatically and it varies based on the object. While talking to other characters, dialogue options are divided into circle sectors. It is also possible for Geron to use two spells. One of them is 'break' ability available from the game's beginning and is applicable to objects made of thin glass or clay. The other one is 'repair', which is actually Nuri's magical ability. In the first part of the game it can be used to objects if Nuri is on the same screen with Geron, and in the second part Geron can use it on himself after Nuri shares this ability with him.
There is a regular game mode and a simplified one with tips. There are unlockables such as artwork, videos and achievements. Certain achievements are based on multiple paths to solve different side quests.