Alone in the darrrrghk.

It’s gloriously characterful stuff, a full-blooded high seas adventure full of magic, camaraderie, and danger.

You’ve got a starting point, an end point, and a billion enemies in-between.

An illustration showing all eight members of the Red Marley’s undead crew gathered together in a heroic pose. Fearless female pirate Afia Manicat stands front and centre, glowing spectral sword in hand.

That manifests most acutely in Shadow Gambit’s supernaturally imbued crew.

Then you’re asked, which three crew mates will you take into a mission?

Do you plot a course through the quickest route to your objective, or the safest?

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It’s clever stuff, subtly, elegantly making a sometimes impenetrable genre eminently more approachable.

A screenshot showing Afia sneaking along a beautiful tropical beach at night, safely weaving her way through a green enemy side cone illuminated by torches at each end.

A screenshot of the pre-mission character selection screen, showing six available crew mates seated around a table in a dimly lit cabin. Three characters - a skeletal samurai, spectral duke, and blindfolded pirate - are selected and ready to go.

A screenshot of the ramshackle pirate galleon, The Red Marley, viewed from above. Moonlight bounces off the waves either side of its hull and ghostly energy swirls across its tattered masts and deck.

A screenshot showing rocky, tightly clustered plateaus, dotted with enemy soldiers, at night. The darkness is heavy but orange lanterns and burning fires create pockets of light amid the murky greenery.

A screenshot showing a particularly beautiful island beach. A waterfall cascades down into bright blue pools that weave between coral-scattered sands. The unexpectedly vast skeleton of a long-dead anglerfish lies in the foreground.

A screenshot of Shadow Gambit’s post-mission tracking tool, showing an overhead map of the most recent quest’s island. An unbroken green line weaves back and forth, indicating the route taken by the playing.

Rotted wooden platforms form a winding path through a strange vortex of swirling green energy. Sea turtles drift above floating coral either side, while incongruous sand piles and palm trees lie up ahead.

A screenshot of a beautiful island coast in the blazing tropical sun. Wooden ships, walkways, and ladders created a complex tangle of potential paths, while huge, broken shipwrecks, both in the water and atop the cliffside, add to the pirate ambience.