Kill The Shadow: Complete Detective Guide, Rewind Tactics & All Endings

Overview: What Kind of Game Is Kill The Shadow?

Kill The Shadow is a 2.5D suspense detective RPG from Shanghai studio Shadowlight, published by Phoenix Game. You play Lucas, a former police officer who carries a parasitic creature called the Shadow on his back. The creature reads memories and reconstructs the traces of the dead, which gives you the tools to solve a chain of bizarre murders in Dark Tide City, a decaying metropolis split by a mysterious fracture ten years before the game starts.

The game launched on Steam on August 5, 2026 for Windows at $16.99 (10% launch discount, $15.29). It is single-player, has 41 Steam achievements, and supports Steam Cloud saves. Full audio is available in English and Simplified Chinese; Traditional Chinese, Japanese, Korean, and Italian get interface and subtitle support. PS5 and Xbox Series X|S versions arrive August 12, 2026.

Who is this for? Fans of Disco Elysium-style dialogue-driven investigation, Back to the Dawn, and Return of the Obra Dinn. The difficulty is moderate: the puzzles are logic-based, not reflex-based, and the rewind system removes most punishment for wrong choices. Chapter 1 alone runs about 2-3 hours; a full playthrough sits around 15-25 hours, and 100% completion pushes past 30.

The Premise: Dark Tide City and the Fracture

Dark Tide City fractured ten years before the game begins. Nobody in the city remembers exactly what happened, and recovering those lost memories is the core mystery. Each case you investigate is a thread; pulling them together reveals the truth behind the fracture and the identity of the mastermind.

The opening cases look small. A puppy named Teddy found dead under mysterious circumstances. Master Reed vanishing in a crowded temple fair. Years of grudges festering at Shipwreck Wharf. Scattered newspapers and handwritten notes in an unknown prison. None of these is the whole story. Each feeds the larger picture.

The game's promotional copy frames the final decision bluntly: "Kill. Judge. Or perhaps... kiss(?) the mastermind." The question mark is the game's own, and it signals that the endings are not a simple morality scale.

The Districts

The city is built from freely explorable districts, each with its own visual identity and cast:

Exploration is semi-open. You move freely between districts, talk to whoever you find, and decide which leads to chase. The order you investigate matters less than the connections you notice.

Getting Started: Your First 30 Minutes

1. Play the tutorial mystery fully. The first case teaches the investigation rhythm: explore a scene, gather clues, talk to witnesses, connect evidence on the deduction board, then confront a suspect. Do not rush it. The habits you build here carry through the whole game.

2. Talk to everyone before judging anyone. The game plants leads in every conversation. The cheerful shutterbug Kiki and the foul-mouthed Chiffon are both information sources, even when they seem like comic relief. Every named character in the cast is a potential lead, suspect, or red herring.

3. Build your deduction board early. Do not hold clues in your head. The board is where the game checks your understanding. Connect what you can as soon as you can. The game rewards the detective fantasy: you arrange fragments into a theory, and the game checks your theory against the evidence.

4. Use rewind to map the dialogue tree. Talk to a character one way, note the reaction, rewind, and try another. You will learn both the character and the case faster. This is the single most powerful beginner habit.

5. Commit to one ability first. A balanced build sounds smart but unlocks nothing. A focused build gives you a reliable approach for every case in the early game. You can diversify later.

6. Read the newspapers and notes. Scattered newspapers and handwritten notes are flagged as case content, not decoration. The prison notes and the temple fair reports are plot-critical.

The Verified Opening Sequence

The first 15 minutes are scripted. Knowing the beats saves you from wandering:

1. Start outside the police station; walk inside to the front desk
2. Talk to Officer May — she mentions a letter and that Uncle Smith is out on a case
3. Lounge: find Uncle Smith watching TV in the dark; switch on the lights and he vanishes
4. Check Officer Smith's desk: Key in a drawer, plus a Liquor Token and a Document underneath
5. Open the Mailroom, inspect the clipboard, find the Mysterious Letter
6. Read it: Lynn DaHandt asks you to find a band called The Gentle Rogues at the Factory
7. The station catches fire — grab the front-door Key and escape through the entrance

Grab the Police Dispatch Record in the lounge before you leave. It becomes a clue card.

Beginner Mistakes to Avoid

Core Mechanics Explained

The Rewind System

The rewind is Kill The Shadow's signature mechanic. When a conversation goes badly, when you pick the wrong approach, or when a check fails, you can rewind time and try again. The system was revamped during development after player feedback on the earlier demo, and the release version is built around it.

Rewind changes the risk calculus of every decision. A failed intimidation attempt is not the end of a lead; it is information. You learn what does not work and rewind to try the other approach. The system encourages experimentation with dialogue choices, because the penalty for a wrong guess is a rewind, not a dead end.

Critical detail: rewind does not erase knowledge. The game remembers what you learned even after you rewind. Treat rewind as information gathering, not a reset button. The game rewards you for trying every path before committing.

The narrative justification is the Shadow. The creature reads memories and reconstructs traces of the dead, which gives Lucas the ability to revisit moments. The mechanic and the story are the same device.

Rewind economy tips:

• Rewind is effectively free; there is no harsh resource cost for casual use.
• Use rewind to brute-force the best path in important conversations.
• After a major conversation, save your mental state of the dialogue options. Rewind is how you map the tree.
• The branch diagram records the paths you explore, making replays much faster.
• Post-launch patches added a rewind sensitivity setting, A/D keyboard controls, and a reminder to press Q to Rewind. Tune the sensitivity if the scrub feels floaty.

The Deduction System

Cases are solved by gathering, analyzing, and connecting clues. The game gives you a deduction board, a photo-plus-pin-plus-string investigation board in the classic detective style, where you build your own investigation trail. Clues come from scenes, conversations, notes, and newspapers. When two pieces fit, you lock in a deduction and the case advances.

The five-part workflow:

1. Explore freely. Dark Tide City's districts and case scenes contain details beyond the obvious interactables.
2. Gather evidence from scenes, conversations, written material, and the environment.
3. Analyze what each clue means and which character it implicates.
4. Connect related clues into an investigation trail on the board.
5. Conclude with a deduction that advances the case.

The deduction board is where the detective fantasy lives. You are not clicking through a linear checklist. You are arranging fragments into a theory, and the game checks your theory against the evidence.

One UI quirk to know: scrolling the left evidence bar with the mouse wheel also zooms the whole deduction board. If the board suddenly zooms, that is why.

Crime-Scene Reconstruction

Your partner, the Shadow, lets you reconstruct the final moments of the dead "exactly as they happened." This is the heart of every investigation:

1. Trigger reconstruction at the scene where the death occurred.
2. Watch the final moments unfold. Do not assume the scene is what it looks like.
3. Look for details the killer may have staged or removed.
4. Compare the reconstructed past with the physical evidence in the present.

The game presents scenes as enlarged micro-scenes you can rotate and inspect freely. There are no arrows and no hand-holding. Clues sit in depth, not on a flat surface, so rotate the camera fully before you leave a scene. Interact with everything: a document, a gauge, a half-hidden object.

Reading Contradictions

Most cases are solved by finding where the story does not add up:

• A witness describes the victim differently than reconstruction shows.
• The body position does not match the claimed cause of death.
• An object is present that the reconstructed events cannot explain.
• Timing: the sequence reconstruction reveals does not fit the timeline others describe.

Cross-examine witnesses against each other, not just against evidence. Keep a two-column note: what people say versus what reconstruction shows.

Strength, Spirit, and Charm

You freely choose how to improve three abilities:

Your build shapes your toolbox. A Charm-heavy Lucas talks his way past guards. A Strength-heavy Lucas beats confessions out of suspects. A Spirit-heavy Lucas reads the room and the clues. The game explicitly offers three ways to approach each case: play mind games, grease some palms, or beat a confession out of the suspect.

Investigation Approaches

Every case can be solved multiple ways. The official description lists three broad approaches:

1. Mind games: manipulate suspects psychologically, feed them false information, watch them react.
2. Grease palms: bribery and favors. Money talks in Dark Tide City.
3. Beat it out of them: the direct route. Strength opens doors charm cannot.

The approaches tie into your ability build and your rewind economy. A failed mind game can be rewound into a bribe attempt, which can be rewound into a threat.

Chapter 1 Walkthrough: The Factory

Part 1 — Prologue: The Police Station

1. Enter the police station and talk to Officer May at the front desk. She tells you about a letter and about Uncle Smith being out on a case.
2. Head into the lounge and find Uncle Smith watching TV in the dark. Switch on the lights and he disappears.
3. Try the Mailroom door on the left. It is locked for now.
4. Return to May. She asks you to check Officer Smith's desk: take the Key from a drawer, plus a Liquor Token and a collectable Document under the desk.
5. Unlock the Mailroom and inspect the clipboard on the desk to find the Mysterious Letter.
6. May calls you back. Speak with Officer Smith and open the letter: it is from Lynn DaHandt, asking you to go to the Factory and look for a band called The Gentle Rogues.
7. The station suddenly catches fire. Grab the front-door Key from the Mailroom desk, pick up the Police Dispatch Record in the lounge, and leave through the front door.

Part 2 — The Overpass & The Old Machinist

1. Wake up on an overpass and look down. A commotion: a dog named Teddy has died.
2. Captain Theo, the Factory supervisor, tells you to fetch Axel Flint and join the meeting.
3. Talk to the Old Machinist. Trade your Relief Meal for the book Fundamentals for the Machinist (waiting at the Pawnshop).
4. Drop to the streets and head right. Under the overpass you find Axel Flint arguing with Griff Flint.
5. Tell Axel that Captain Theo is looking for him.
6. A skill check comes up. Smack Axel or talk him down; each choice changes how the scene plays out.
7. Griff Flint offers to share a drink with you, and you gain 2 Clues for your Deduction.

Parts 3-5 — Teddy's Death

Talk before you act. Let Captain Theo lay out the meeting and what he expects. Ask witnesses what they actually saw, and what they only assumed. Note who has a history with Teddy or a reason to hide something. Use rewind to ask the same person different questions and compare answers.

The testimonies do not add up. Find where:

• Cross-reference what each witness said about the same moment.
• Look for the contradiction. This is the bread and butter of every case.
• Check the physical scene: positions, the scribblings on the screen, anything out of place.

Bring your conclusion back to Captain Theo. Decide between justice and protection for the person responsible. The choice shapes your standing with the Factory workers and moves the corruption meter. Save before committing: the consequences carry into later chapters.

Parts 6-7 — Father's Secret: Rafe's Arc

Rafe's mom asks for your help with a private matter. An Anti-Blockade Protest is brewing in the streets. Decide how you engage: support the protest, calm it down, or step aside.

Rafe is ready to escalate. How you cool him down decides what you learn:

• Reason with him directly. Show him what you know about his father.
• Involve Captain Theo to keep the situation from boiling over.
• Or use force, if you are willing to pay the relationship cost.

Each path changes Rafe's arc and what the Factory reveals about the past. Talking Rafe out of suicide unlocks the Master Negotiator achievement.

Part 8 — Captain Theo's Memories

Use reconstruction on objects tied to Theo to see what happened, not what is claimed. Revisit earlier scenes after the meeting. New details appear once you know more. Theo's memories connect the Factory incident to the larger mystery of Dark Tide City.

Part 9 — Wrapping Up Loose Ends

Before you move South, close every open thread:

1. Return to areas you visited early once you have new information. Dialogue can change.
2. Talk to each named character one final time.
3. Collect any documents you skipped the first time through.
4. Save before the chapter-end decision. The choice ripples into the next chapter.

Chapter 1 at a Glance

00:00  Outside the station — read the letter from Lynn DaHandt
00:15  Enter the station — talk to Officer May and the squad
01:10  Head to the Factory district
01:30  Inspect the scene before reconstructing
02:00  Reconstruct the victim's final moments
02:30  Compare reconstruction with the staged scene — find the tell

Key Choices in Chapter 1

Progression Strategy

Ability Point Priority

The three stats are the through-line of progression. Books and gifts from NPCs (like Shawn's gifted books, which received a boost in the first patch) augment your base stats, but your free points are the main lever.

Recommended order:

1. Pick a primary stat at character creation and push it to a comfortable threshold first. This gives you a reliable approach for every early case.
2. Add a secondary stat once the primary is solid. Two approaches cover most situations.
3. Only then consider balance. The game's stat-gated paths mean a pure generalist struggles to find any reliable route.

What to Unlock First

• The deduction board habit (immediately): connect every clue as soon as it lands. This is not an unlock, it is a behavior, and it is the difference between flowing through cases and stalling.
• Fishing rod: the launch update mentions an Intermediate Fishing Rod and fishing-adjacent systems. The intermediate rod got a price reduction in the first patch, which signals fishing is a real content stream worth engaging with. Buy a rod early and check every body of water.
• Books and gifts: the first update increased the maximum number of gifted books and improved their bonuses. Track which NPCs gift items and claim them.
• District unlocks: follow the main case threads to open new districts. The Factory leads toward Shipwreck Wharf, and the Old Town connects to the Pig Cage Walled City.

The Branch Diagram and Replay

Players report a story branch diagram that records your choices across chapters. The game autosaves frequently and now has a save export feature on the title screen, which makes save-scumming achievements convenient. On a first playthrough, play naturally. On a second, use the branch diagram to target the endings and achievements you missed. The rewind mechanic makes replay faster because you already know the dialogue trees.

Builds and Approach Tier List

Since the game has no classes, think of builds as approach specializations. Each is viable; which one you pick depends on how you like to solve problems.

Tier list (approaches, not characters):

The developer's own framing ("Psychological warfare? Bribery? Or simply beating up suspects?") confirms all three are intended paths, not afterthoughts.

Step-by-Step Strategy

Strategy 1: The Investigation Loop (Every Case)

1. Enter the scene and sweep the environment before talking to anyone. Details hidden in scenes help restore an incident's truth.
2. Talk to every witness in the district, not just the obvious suspect. Note who contradicts whom.
3. Collect written material: newspapers, notes, and reports. These become formal clue cards.
4. Open the deduction board and connect every clue you can. Wrong links are rewindable; leaving links unconnected stalls the case.
5. Identify the suspect and choose an approach matching your build. If the approach fails, rewind and switch rather than repeating.
6. Lock in the deduction and advance. Review the chapter summary screen the game shows at each case's end.

Strategy 2: Mapping a Dialogue Tree with Rewind

1. Save before a major conversation (autosaves are frequent, but a manual anchor helps).
2. Pick the most aggressive option first to see the character's reaction.
3. Rewind and pick the most passive option. Note the difference.
4. Rewind again and pick the middle option. The character's preferred tone usually sits at one extreme.
5. Commit to the option that produced the most information, then follow the new leads it opens.
6. Record which approach worked for which character. The rolodex of personalities pays off in later chapters.

Strategy 3: Case Priority Order (Early Game)

1. Start with the puppy case (Teddy). It is short, teaches the deduction loop, and unlocks the achievement "Who's a Good Boy?" early.
2. Move to Master Reed's disappearance. This is the most plot-dense early case; it connects to Mrs. Reed and the city's elite.
3. Work the Shipwreck Wharf grudges next. Grudges mean motive, and motive means suspects.
4. Track the prison writings in parallel; scattered newspapers and handwritten notes are flagged as case content, not decoration.
5. Keep a mental map of grudges and connections as you go. The fracture ten years ago ties every case together.

Strategy 4: Fishing and Side Content

1. Buy a rod as soon as you can afford it. The Intermediate Rod got cheaper in the first patch.
2. Visit every body of water you find in each district. Fishing spots are easy to miss in the semi-open layout.
3. Fish during quiet moments between case beats. The side system feeds resources and content; players report fishing is a genuine money-maker.
4. Track NPC gifts (books especially) and claim them per chapter. The first update boosted book bonuses.
5. Do not skip the side systems for the main quest. The game hides content in them, and completionists need the achievements they feed.

Strategy 5: Reaching the Endings

The named endings confirmed so far:

To chase them:

1. Play the first run naturally, making choices that feel right. The branch diagram records your paths.
2. Finish the game once to see the credits and unlock the branch view.
3. Review the branch diagram to identify the endings you missed: kill, judge, or kiss(?) the mastermind.
4. Use frequent autosaves and the save export feature to rewind at decision points rather than replaying whole chapters.
5. Target one ending per replay. The campaign is faster the second time because dialogue trees are mapped.
6. Clean up remaining achievements (including "Completionist") on the final run.

Advanced Tips

1. Treat rewind as a save system. The game gives you the tool; use it. Before a big conversation, save your mental state of the dialogue options. Rewind is how you brute-force the best path.

2. Match your approach to the character. Captain Theo responds to authority. Chiffon responds to... anything, probably. The game's characters have clear personalities, and your approaches should respect them. The sanctimonious authority figure folds to a well-placed threat; the defiant kid opens up to a patient ear.

3. The chapter summary screens are information, not decoration. Players praise the case-ending summary pages for their sense of achievement. Read them; they recap what you proved and what remains open.

4. Audio cues matter. Play with headphones. The Shadow speaks to you, and the voice acting (full audio in English and Chinese) is a selling point. The game is about listening, and audio details in scenes are clues. The Chinese dub used 29 voice actors, 100+ characters, and 2,000+ lines of dialogue.

5. The English localization has rough edges. Reviews note the English voice acting can be inconsistent and the translation flattens humor and profanity. If you can, try the Chinese audio with subtitles for the intended tone. Do not judge the writing by the English dub alone.

6. Expect the puzzle layer to be fair but light. The game hides clues but never requires leaps of logic. If you are stuck, the answer is usually in a note you skimmed or a witness you skipped. Rewind and re-sweep the scene. Be aware the deduction difficulty is on the easier side; if you came for brutal logic puzzles, adjust expectations and enjoy the story.

7. Do not over-optimize the first run. The game is built for discovery. A natural first playthrough followed by branch-diagram replays is the intended rhythm.

8. Manage the corruption meter deliberately. Darker choices push it higher. The meter is tied to which endings branch, so a low-corruption run and a high-corruption run are different games.

Side Systems

• Fishing: a fishing system with rods at multiple price tiers. The Intermediate Fishing Rod got a price reduction in the first patch. Catching 30 fish unlocks The Fishing Master achievement (11.9%).
• Gifts and books: Shawn gifts books that provide attribute bonuses. The first update increased the maximum number of gifted books and improved their bonuses.
• Part-time job: at Fisherman's Wharf. Post-patch it completes with quick repeated clicks instead of a long dialogue. Note: after drinking, you can no longer get the Fisherman's Wharf Owner's drinking invitation through the job.
• Cassette tapes: added at the Factory, including playable songs by The Gentle Rogues, the band from Lynn's letter.
• Feed Lucky: the patch lets you feed Lucky, the dog at the Factory. What you feed him is up to you to discover.
• Attribute progression: Strength, Spirit, and Charm are the through-line, but books and items augment them.

Achievements Guide

41 achievements in the full game. The demo (app 2947640) has its own 10. Unlock rates below are from Steam's official tracking.

Common (50%+):

• Senior Machinist — obtained the Senior Machinist Certificate from the Old Machinist (64.2%)
• Goodbye, North! — "I'm outta here!" (62.2%)

Uncommon (10-49.9%), notable ones:

• Who's a Good Boy? — Lucky likes you a lot! (46.2%)
• Homie for Life — "Lucas is the man! —Captain Theo." (44%)
• Elementary, My Dear Watson — revealed Captain Theo's secret to the public (42%)
• Master Negotiator — talked Rafe out of committing suicide (41.3%)
• Detective Lucas — "There's only one truth!" (39.4%)
• The Newspaper Boy — deliver newspapers to everyone (39.4%)
• Tomb Raider — took money from Rafe's corpse (35%)
• Justice Will Prevail — helped Lily out (34.2%)
• The Boat Tickets — Shipwreck Wharf, Here I Come! (31.5%)
• The Death of the Old Era — with the death of Master Bingley, the Four Families lost power in the South (22.3%)
• The Middle-aged Love Story — Wendell Forge and Auntie Bass got back together (22.2%)
• Quick Tongue, Fast Hand — stopped Piglet from pulling the trigger (21%)
• Ending — complete one of the Major Endings (20.5%)
• Major Ending: The Buried Truth (17.4%)
• Money above All Else — accepted the bribe from the Butler of Reed (17.2%)
• Smooth Talker — apologized to Captain Theo after revealing the truth (15.9%)
• Perfect Ending — freed the North and built a brand-new Dark Tide City (13.9%)
• Master Thief — stole Wendell's tickets and gave them to Noah (13.1%)
• I See What You Did There — beat up Dr. Cyrus and blamed the Imperial guard (13%)

Rare (under 10%):

• Ending: Escape (9.4%, hidden)
• Major Ending: The Lynching (9.2%, hidden)
• Hard Work Pays Off — "A lifelong slave to money!" (9.2%)
• The Foodie — Braised Pork Rice in Reed Mansion (7.7%)
• Ending: The Stepfather — lived happily ever after with Rafe's Mom (6.6%)
• Hymn of Courage (6.5%, hidden)
• Ending: To Die for Justice — died in the pursuit of truth (5.7%)
• Major Ending: The Butterfly's Dream (5.7%, hidden)
• Major Ending: The Reckoning — the Firefly Gang purged the guilty of the Walled City (5.6%)
• Choices Matter (4%, hidden)
• Completionist — unlocked all achievements (1.4%)

Achievement-hunting habits:

• Read every document and finish every scene reconstruction on a case before moving on.
• Save at branching choices; rewind lets you explore alternatives from the same moment.
• Keep the first run blind, then use later runs to mop up what you missed.
• 10 achievements are hidden on Steam; their descriptions only appear once unlocked.

Known Issues and Troubleshooting

The post-launch patch cycle has been fast: quick save/load (F5/F6), rewind sensitivity settings, save export, and multiple softlock fixes all landed within days of release, a sign the developer is responsive in the launch window.

System Requirements

The recommended processor jump is much larger than the storage requirement suggests. If your PC is near the minimum, compare the exact CPU and GPU models instead of judging by the 4 GB download size. Keep extra space for Steam unpacking and patches, and update your GPU driver before first launch. The 2.5D pixel art runs fine on modest hardware; an SSD is recommended for faster scene loads.

Steam Deck

The store page lists Windows only, and Valve has not verified Steam Deck compatibility yet. Some players have run the demo on Deck, but that is anecdotal. If you want to try:

1. Test the free demo on Deck before buying.
2. Check ProtonDB for community reports on the demo and full game.
3. Use the latest Proton GE if the default Proton does not start the game.
4. Set a comfortable TDP if you play on battery.
5. Use Steam Input community layouts, then remap in-game controls to suit the Deck's buttons.

The game is dialogue-heavy, which maps well to controller layouts once the keybindings are sorted.

Similar Games

• Back to the Dawn: Korean reviewers compare Kill The Shadow directly to this prison-life detective RPG; if you liked one, try the other.
• Return of the Obra Dinn: deduction from limited evidence, though Kill The Shadow is far more dialogue-driven.
• Disco Elysium: ability-driven dialogue, investigative approaches, and a city full of damaged people.
• AI: The Somnium Files: mystery with a rewind-adjacent branching structure.
• The Silver Case: Japanese detective visual novel with a surreal city and a fractured conspiracy.
• Firework (烟火): Chinese narrative game with a similar melancholy, story-first feel.

FAQ / Common Mistakes

How much does Kill The Shadow cost? $15.29 at launch with a 10% discount, normally $16.99.

Is Kill The Shadow in English? Yes. English has full audio support, alongside Simplified Chinese (also full audio), Traditional Chinese, Japanese, Korean, and Italian interface text. Note that the English dub quality is the most common criticism in reviews.

How long is the game? Chapter 1 runs about 2-3 hours. A full playthrough sits at 15-25 hours, and 100% completion pushes past 30. The multi-case structure with side systems and branch replays extends that significantly.

Does the game have multiple endings? Yes. Eight named endings are confirmed through achievements: Perfect Ending, The Buried Truth, The Lynching, The Butterfly's Dream, The Reckoning, Escape, The Stepfather, and To Die for Justice. The official copy promises you can "Kill. Judge. Or perhaps... kiss(?) the mastermind."

What is the best build? There is no single best build. Mind games (Charm) is the safest all-around approach because rewind removes the risk; Spirit accelerates deductions; Strength is the direct route. Commit to one primary stat first.

Is there controller support? Partial controller support, including DualSense profiles. Keyboard and mouse are still needed for some menus.

Are demo saves carried over? Not confirmed. Treat demo progress as temporary until the developer publishes an explicit transfer policy.

Is the demo still available? The game is fully released, but a free demo (Steam app 2947640) is still listed for players who want to try before buying. The demo has its own 10 achievements.

What are the hardest achievements? The rarest are Completionist (1.4%), Choices Matter (4%, hidden), and the hidden Major Endings like The Butterfly's Dream (5.7%) and The Reckoning (5.6%). The frequent autosaves and save export make save-scumming these convenient.

Who published Kill The Shadow? Phoenix Game, which also co-publishes in the Steam China region. Development is by Shadowlight, led by the developer known as Black. The game was born at Global GameJam in January 2022 and spent about four and a half years in development, including a temporary delisting during a dispute with its former publisher.