Game Information

Game Title: Shadow Gambit: The Cursed Crew

Platforms:

• Xbox Series X/S (Aug 17, 2023)
• PlayStation 5 (Aug 17, 2023)
• PC (Aug 17, 2023)
• PlayStation 4 (Aug 22, 2023)

Trailers:

• Shadow Gambit: The Cursed Crew - Launch Trailer
• Shadow Gambit: The Cursed Crew - Release Date Trailer
• Shadow Gambit: The Cursed Crew - Characters Trailer

Developer: Mimimi Games

Review Aggregator:

OpenCritic - 85 average - 90% recommended - 41 reviews

Critic Reviews

God is a Geek - Mick Fraser - 10 / 10

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

Saving Content - Scott Ellison II - 5 / 5

As someone who quicksaves vigorously, having a mechanic around that, tied to the game’s lore is so smart and encouraging. They absolutely own the stealth strategy genre, and they don’t miss. Mimimi Games is at their best when they are working with an original IP, and this being totally their own, makes this their best game yet. Mimimi’s third game with Shadow Gambit: The Cursed Crew is sheer brilliance, where little victories lead into big smiles.

WhatIfGaming - Ali Hashmi - 10 / 10

Shadow Gambit The Cursed Crew is an exceptional stealth strategy game with a staggering amount of depth, variety, and creativity. Each crew member can radically change how you tackle different objectives and the increasing sandbox challenges force you think outside the box. It's Mimimi Games' best title yet, and there is a lot to love here with dozens of hours of meaningful content to sink your teeth into.

GameBlast - Alexandre Galvão - Portuguese - 9.5 / 10

Shadow Gambit: The Cursed Crew, by bringing together cohesive gameplay, an exceptional narrative and a level of challenge that allows for customization, provides yet another brilliant experience in the stealth strategy genre scene. It further solidifies Mimimi Games' status as a producer of outstanding and rewarding experiences in the stealth strategy genre. In a market perhaps not as vast, the company continues to captivate aficionados and newcomers alike, like a skilled privateer conquering new territories. A well-deserved toast, whether with rum or a glass of admiration, to this impressive title.

GameGrin - Conor McGuigan - 9.5 / 10

Shadow Gambit is a near-perfect game for stealth strategy fans. The new sandbox approach means that levels feel a little less curated than Mimimi's previous titles - but who cares when you're having this much fun?

GamingTrend - Ron Burke - 95 / 100

With innumerable improvements to the formula, Mimimi has delivered another hit. Shadow Gambit: The Cursed Crew is a wonderful tactical title with an even better story than its predecessors. This is the formula perfected.

COGconnected - Mark Steighner - 92 / 100

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.

AltChar - Adnan Kljajić - 90 / 100

Minus the periodic CTD issues, Shadow Gambit was one hell of a treasure hunt that took the cursed pirate fantasy and made the most of it. While perfection is unattainable, this game came really close to it and the good times are a promise to anyone willing to join the Marley and her crew.

GameSpot - Steve Watts - 9 / 10

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

GamingBolt - Shubhankar Parijat - 9 / 10

Shadow Gambit: The Cursed Crew is an excellent game. With its wonderfully realized fantasy pirate setting, it instantly pulls you into its world, and with a combination of tight and perfectly implemented mechanics, excellently designed stealth sandboxes, and a colourful cast of characters that's an absolute blast to play as, it delivers a consistently fun and inventive adventure where the stealth, tactics, and experimentation never lose any of their charm, right up until the credits roll.

IGN - Jon Bolding - 9 / 10

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

Kakuchopurei - Alleef Ashaari - 90 / 100

Shadow Gambit The Cursed Crew is one of the best strategy games of 2023 so far. It's a delightful experience that requires patience to enjoy. For fans of the stealth strategy genre, this game is a must-play, especially the unique save-scumming mechanic that distinguishes the game from other titles in the same genre.

NoobFeed - Jay Claassen - 90 / 100

Shadow Gambit: The Cursed Crew seems to be another masterpiece from Mimimi Games and embodies their core values down to the last. You’ll get to live the life of a pirate from a top-down perspective, explore the various different islands, and experience a great story that’ll keep you sucked in for hours. Not to mention, the many different characters and mechanics keep things from going stale.

PlayStation Universe - John-Paul Jones - 9 / 10

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.

SECTOR.sk - Oto Schultz - Slovak - 9 / 10

Aye me cursed undead Hearties! I hope ye are ready for a legendarrry treasure hunt. Captain Mordechai left us a trail of doubloons, that we buccaneers are ought to follow. We sail on this ghostly conscious ship Red Marley, bellies full of grog, singing chanteys all the while Inquisition is hunting down all lovely seadogs. We must assemble a crew of stealthy cursed hands, unleash powers of Marley's progress-saving memories, and kill the vicious inquisitor, Ignacia! Come fly a Jolly Roger with us and find all the promised treasure and glory!

The Games Machine - Emanuele Feronato - Italian - 9 / 10

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.

Wccftech - Chris Wray - 9 / 10

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.

XboxEra - Jesse Norris - 9 / 10

The game is fantastic in every way.  Excellent gameplay, nice graphics, great sound, and a ton of variety in its objectives mean this absolute gem is one you should look into no matter when you’re reading this review.

Zoomg - Afshin Piroozi - Persian - 9 / 10

Shadow Gambit: The Cursed Crew is yet another great game by Mmimi Games which provides greater freedom in both the character selection and the way of completing its well-designed missions. Amazing cast of characters with unique abilities leads to true tactical approach and is followed by beautiful graphics and voice acting. only some minor issues like camera bugs or not so satisfying upgrade system prevent this game from being truly perfect but still it's a must play for Strategy game lovers.

Video Chums - A.J. Maciejewski - 8.8 / 10

Shadow Gambit: The Cursed Crew is one of the best games of the year. From its clever gameplay concoction to its gorgeous presentation, excellent sense of humour, and rewarding character abilities; this is one outstanding seafaring adventure.

IGN Italy - Stefano Castagnola - Italian - 8.7 / 10

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.

PC Gamer - Dominic Tarason - 87 / 100

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

GRYOnline.pl - Konrad Sarzyński - Polish - 8.5 / 10

Shadow Gambit’s biggest pros are pirate atmosphere and excellent characters. The gameplay mechanics are typical for this genre, and some skills are from Desperados III or Shadow Tactics. It’s a really great game worth playing.

INVEN - Youngseok Yang - Korean - 85 / 100

mimimi games successfully weaved fantasy and magic into pirate's age. While the UI and mission structure is a bit disappointing, unique art and attractive sound design, as well as strategy features with various sailors are making it a higher standard for 'stealth strategy' game.

MondoXbox - Valerio Tosetti - Italian - 8.5 / 10

Shadow Gambit: The Cursed Crew is a very entertaining game that, although not without some control flaws, kept us entertained for several hours. If you are a fan of tactical titles and have enjoyed games such as Commandos or Desperados, this game is definitely for you, but fans of the stealth genre will also find plenty to like. All in all, an excellent game that everyone should give a chance to.

RPG Fan - Bob Richardson - 85%

Amped-up level design and non-linearity in how to approach missions elevate this strategic title in ways not seen in its forebearers.

New Game Network - Ben Thomas - 82 / 100

With a great supernatural pirate theme and excellent character synergy, Shadow Gambit: The Cursed Crew is another outstanding stealth strategy game from Mimimi, though revisiting the mostly unchanged islands throws a small cloud over the otherwise vibrant treasure hunt.

Eurogamer - Matt Wales - 4 / 5

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

GBAtemp - Prans Dunn - 8 / 10

Standing out with its original universe, likeable cast and satisfying stealth strategy gameplay, Shadow Gambit: The Cursed Crew is a well-executed new venture for developer Mimimi Games.

GameLuster - Nirav Gandhi - 8 / 10

While I wish it allowed for more freedom, Shadow Gambit is an admirable meeting of stealth and strategy with just a drop of immersive sim.

GameMAG - Russian - 8 / 10

Shadow Gambit: The Cursed Crew can't offer anything new to the classic gameplay style of Commandos/Desperados, but thanks to a nice setting the game still feels quite fresh, which is more than enough.

Push Square - John Cal McCormick - 8 / 10

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.

Shacknews - TJ Denzer - 8 / 10

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.

Checkpoint Gaming - Charlie Kelly - 7.5 / 10

Shadow Gambit: The Cursed Crew is so close to being Mimimi's best. There are enjoyable diverse skills that make for some of the best stealth tactics gameplay we've ever seen. Enjoyable too is the colourful and often humorous side stories, along with plenty of feats to seek after for completionist obsessives. It may not have the most interesting main-story quest structure or be the most stable and bug-free at the moment but when Shadow Gambit gets moving it soars and sails, providing an addictive and fun tactics adventure.

Press Start - Camilla Wolfe - 7.5 / 10

With mildly eldritch themes, eccentric characters and tongue-in-cheek humour reminiscent of the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, Shadow Gambit: The Cursed Crew has a little something for every type of player. It's not perfect, but Shadow Gambit is just plain fun, and if it can convince a gung-ho, guns blazing player like me to give patience a stealth a go, I think a lot of other gamers out there would do well to dip their toes into these waters.

Try Hard Guides - Christian Harrison - 7.5 / 10

Shadow Gambit: The Cursed Crew is an exciting stealth strategy game that allows players to build a crew of varied personalities worth exploring. While the levels may be complicated and take a large chunk of time per mission, it’s enjoyable enough that fans of strategy and past Mimimi Games’ titles will likely enjoy the new time-based mechanics that allow for the ultimate strategy gameplay.

Gamersky - Chinese - 7.2 / 10

Playing Shadow Gambit feels like peeling an onion - as I progress from the outer layers to the core, taking down enemies in the city, and each achievement is small, often mixed with discomfort and bitterness.

GamesRadar - Jasmine Gould-Wilson - 3.5 / 5

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

WellPlayed - Nathan Hennessy - 7 / 10

This spooky age of piracy has charming supernatural characters and visuals, but the hardcore stealth action on offer is an uncompromising, often unwieldy beast.

ACG - Jeremy Penter - Buy

"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?"

Rock, Paper, Shotgun - Katharine Castle - Unscored

A crowning achievement of open world stealth puzzling, Shadow Gambit: The Cursed Crew is fiendishly good fun. Easily Mimimi's best stealth strategy game yet.