Prince of Persia: The Fallen King takes place after the computer and console version of Prince of Persia (2008) and following the events of the base game and its DLC, Prince of Persia: Epilogue. After the Prince splits from Elika, he sets off to find the king of the City of the New Dawn. There he finds a city engulfed in the same corruption, and finds out that the king was split by corruption into two personas. The Prince teams up with king's mage, Zal, and together they face the forces of corruption while trying to save the kingdom.
The entire gameplay is done using a stylus, there is no alternative control scheme. Holding the stylus away from the prince will make him walk or run, based on the distance of the stylus in relation to him. Jumping and somersaulting, fighting and blocking, is all done by holding or tapping the touch screen with the stylus, depending on the situation and what you are trying to achieve. After a while, when you team up with Zal, you can control both characters, but not in a typical manner of switching between then. Instead, Zal will tag along with the Prince, and can use various types of magic which will aid you in bypassing the traps or taking out certain enemies. While the Prince is controlled with the stylus alone, when you hold any other button, the stylus is then used to control Zal's powers.
Locations are sequentially marked on the map, sometimes branching in multiple directions, and each location has its starting and ending point. This also allows you to revisit locations and retrieve scattered gold and hidden chests that might have been out of reach on your first run. Collecting coins help you unlock secret doors which require certain amount of coins in order to open and give you access to reward behind them. Aside from fighting the corruption, you will also have to evade and jump across a typical set of traps such as moving saws, spike-traps, and other dangers. The story cut-scenes are done in comics-style depicting a story with a text on a scroll.
