Shadow Gambit: The Cursed Crew

“It's beautiful, it's clever, it's captivating : we want more. 30 hours of pure delight.”

“Shadow Gambit: The Cursed Crew is a challenging tactical game with a fun story and characterful crew. The varied missions do a good job of giving you plenty of options for how to tackle them, leaning into different crew abilities. There's a few rough edges, but  Shadow Gambit: The Cursed Crew's treasure hunt is well worth partaking in.”

“The coolest mechanic is the ability to pause the game and give each crew member instructions that they'll all perform in tandem with a tap of the triangle button. Planning a co-ordinated attack and then watching it unfold like clockwork is a pleasure that never gets old, and if you mess the whole thing up you can always just rewind time and tinker with your strategy until you get it right. These moments are Shadow Gambit at its best, and the game in a nutshell; it leaves you feeling like a tactical genius, even if it took you seven tries to get there.”

“But the non-linear nature of The Cursed Crew does have its virtues. There are some magnificent moments of discovery where you feel as though you’ve circumvented the level design by maneuvering the right character into the right position to bypass certain guard setups or parts of the terrain. Simply by spending so much time with the characters, you’ll hit upon certain combinations of abilities independently, fine-tuning new strategies all the way up to the end. It’s in these moments that you see what the developers are aiming for, and they suggest that The Cursed Crew could be a tentative step in an exciting new direction for the studio, even if those elements are more notable for how they might be refined in a subsequent release.”

“Shadow Gambit: The Cursed Crew is a bountiful blend of stealth, strategy, and swashbuckling.”

“Shadow Gambit: The Cursed Crew is simply the best example of the genre MiMiMi helped create.”

“Mimimi Games doesn't disappoint and yet again the German studio is able to deliver a very satisfying stealth-tactical experience. A must play for any fan of the genre.”

“I really like this niche that Mimimi has taken on in their games, and they seem to do it better with each go. Shadow Gambit: The Cursed Crew takes the character-driven stealth tactics I loved in Desperados and applies a ghost pirate theme to it in ways that are nearly always fun to play and beautiful to look at. It’s tough as nails and I wish I could experiment more before big choices, but I also think the concept allowed Mimimi to do some silly and spectacular things with its gameplay. Shadow Gambit sets a new standard for this studio, and I’ll be playing it until we get to see how they top themselves next.”

“Shadow Gambit: The Cursed Crew is a challenging and extremely entertaining stealth action and tactics game. It has a charming setting and story, with characters and mechanics that encourage creative and varied approaches to combat. There aren’t nearly enough great pirate games, so I’m glad Shadow Gambit: The Cursed Crew sailed into port.”

“The fantasy setting of Shadow Gambit: The Cursed Crew plays a decisive role in breathing new life into the Commandos-like genre, providing a series of new skills that will surprise newbies and fascinate veterans. The complete freedom of approach to the missions and the possibility to decide almost immediately with which character to face them makes this game unique, certainly the best of its kind and among the most interesting real-time strategy video games appeared lately. Charismatic protagonists and a superb level design complete the offer making it unmissable for those who want to be quick of mouse and quick of mind.”

“Undead Pirates XXX is an excellent game; the only downside is the reuse of maps. That downside is a little self-inflicted because if you're like me, you want to kill the named guards (named after the developers) and do whatever else gets you a badge (additional side-quest things), so you do it all. Still, this is an outstanding real-time tactics game and one I would recommend to anybody and everybody. Fans of the genre, and those new, you're in for a treat.”

“Honestly, it feels churlish to chide Shadow Gambit: The Cursed Crew for being too similar to Mimimi Games previous output, not least because this enormously talented studio has a track record of kicking out superb stealth strategy offerings and has once again fashioned a relentlessly engaging tactical stealth effort that is absolutely at the apex of the genre. With Shadow Gambit: The Cursed Crew however, I'm not sure the concept has ever been executed with this degree of charm and that's something Mimimi Games should be roundly congratulated for.”

“Shadow Gambit: The Cursed Crew is dead-on stealth tactics-filled with character and vigor – a peak for the genre.”

“"While the massive number of enemies can make some levels feel more mechanical than I liked, the end result is still worth jumping into if you like these kinds of games. Funny characters, cool powers, and a unique world that makes you ask "What if Pirate Ninjas were a thing?"”

“On par with its (excellent) predecessors, Shadow Gambit trades some focused design for deeply compelling piratical freedom.”

“Shadow Gambit: The Cursed Crew is a cerebral but hugely characterful stealth tactics game filled with creativity and depth. And fun pirate stuff.”

“Being a real-time stealth strategy game, I know the crewmates I choose can make or break a mission.”