As far as role-playing games are concerned, Baldur’s Gate 3 has clearly dominated the year 2023. However, a really good strategy game with role-playing elements from Germany has been overlooked, which you can now catch up on in the sale on Steam.
Which game is being referred to? The game in question is Shadow Gambit: The Cursed Crew, a strategy game with role-playing elements from the Munich developer studio Mimimi Games, and unfortunately also their last game. Just a few weeks after the release of Shadow Gambit, the studio announced its closure. However, it did release two DLCs for the game beforehand.
You can see a trailer for Shadow Gambit here:
Cursed pirates on a treasure hunt
What is the game about? In Shadow Gambit, you accompany a living ghost ship and recruit your crew from a series of cursed pirates. After all, you want to steal the treasure of a legendary captain and could use all the help you can get.
The 8 crew members each have their own personality and supernatural powers. On your ship – the Red Marley – you can talk to them. During special character missions, you’ll also learn more about their past.
The developers themselves describe their game as a “stealth strategy game”: the goal is to eliminate your enemies as invisibly as possible. The game runs in real-time, but you are free to pause at any time to strategize. This way, you navigate your way through enemy control zones and utilize the special abilities of your pirate crew:
- A pirate can teleport and take out enemies with a saber that is stuck in her chest.
- Another can possess enemies and control their movements.
- Another crew member can shoot team members across the map with a cannon.
Another special feature is your ship’s ability to rewind time. If a maneuver didn’t go as planned, you don’t have to painstakingly reload. This makes Shadow Gambit even more exciting for experimentation.
Shadow Gambit was released at the wrong time
How was the game received? Shadow Gambit: The Cursed Crew has around 3,500 reviews on Steam, with 93% being positive. GameStar rated it 88 out of 100 points in their review. However, player numbers don’t look as good: At peak times, only about 4,000 players were playing Shadow Gambit simultaneously (via steamdb.info).
The fact that the title has almost completely fallen by the wayside despite its high production quality is likely partly due to strong competition: Shadow Gambit was released on August 17, 2023, two weeks after Baldur’s Gate 3. BG3 was a true attention magnet and overshadowed many releases in this way.
Another reason for the relatively low player numbers could be the game’s heavy focus on stealth. Real-time tactics is a genre that has been losing popularity for years. Unfortunately, even Mimimi Games, which has always delivered very good games in this genre, could not change that.
How much does the game cost? If you’ve missed the game and want to catch up now, you can currently get Shadow Gambit: The Cursed Crew on Steam for a reduced price. Until January 31, the game costs €23.99 instead of €39.99.
Meanwhile, an RPG from Obsidian suddenly disappeared from Steam, causing fans to fear another delay. You can read more about it in this article: Players are worried about a promising RPG because it suddenly disappears from Steam
