Mimimi Games went out on a high note. It’s still weird to think about, honestly. After reviving the entire real-time tactics genre with Shadow Tactics and Desperados III, the studio released Shadow Gambit: The Cursed Crew and then essentially turned off the lights. They didn't go bankrupt; they just decided the emotional and financial cost of making these hyper-detailed niche games was too high. That context matters because it makes this game feel like a literal treasure chest—the final, polished accumulation of everything they learned.
It’s a pirate game, but not in the Sea of Thieves sense. There’s no sailing physics or grog-chugging contests. Instead, you get a magical, undead crew on a sentient ship called the Red Marley. You’re fighting the Inquisition, a bunch of religious zealots who hate anything "soul-flecked."
The game is dense. It’s smart. Most importantly, it’s one of the few games that treats "Quick Saving" as a literal superpower rather than a way to cheat.
The Magic of the Red Marley and "Save Scumming"
In most games, hitting F5 to save your progress feels like you're breaking the immersion. You messed up a jump or got spotted by a guard, so you "rewind" reality. Shadow Gambit: The Cursed Crew leans into this. Your ship, the Red Marley, has the power to manipulate time. When you save, you’re "capturing a memory." When you reload, you’re "unleashing" it.
The game actually encourages you to fail.
It’s a huge shift in mindset. Instead of being afraid to get caught, you start treating every encounter like a laboratory. You might think, “What happens if I use Afia’s Blink strike to kill that guard while Gaëlle shoots a different guard into the sea with her cannon?” You try it. It fails. You hit the button. You try again, but this time you timing it three seconds later. It’s a loop that feels rewarding rather than punishing.
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The level design facilitates this perfectly. Each island is a massive, open-ended playground. Unlike the linear missions in Shadow Tactics, these maps are non-linear. You choose your landing spot. You choose your objective order. You choose which three crew members to bring. This choice is where the complexity really lives. If you bring Suleidy, you can grow bushes to hide in. If you bring Pinkus, you can possess enemies. The combinations are basically endless, which means no two players solve a puzzle the same way.
Why the Characters Change Everything
The biggest mistake people make with this game is sticking to the same three characters. I get it. You find a rhythm and you want to stay in it. But Shadow Gambit: The Cursed Crew is designed around character synergy.
Take Toyama. He’s the skeletal shinobi. He can place a magical "shadow" and teleport to it instantly. On his own, he’s great. Pair him with Quentin, the golden skeleton with a fishing rod, and things get weird. Quentin can reel in bodies from a distance. Suddenly, you aren't just killing people; you're playing a game of supernatural logistics, moving corpses and shifting positions across rooftops like a ghost.
The Inquisition isn't stupid, either. You’ve got different tiers of enemies.
- The Acolytes: Basic grunts. Easy to trick.
- The Commissari: They don't leave their posts easily. You have to work for it.
- The Prognosticars: These are the worst. They "tether" your soul. If you kill one, you have to kill them again within a few seconds, or they just pop back to life.
Managing these threats requires a level of tactical thinking that most modern "stealth" games (where you just crouch in tall grass and wait for a prompt) don't even touch. You have to sync up your crew’s abilities. There's a "Shadow Mode" where you can pause time, give everyone an order, and then execute it all at once. Seeing three kills happen simultaneously while a distraction goes off in the background is a high you won't find anywhere else in gaming.
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The Problem with the Grind
I have to be honest here: the game isn't perfect. Mimimi made a specific choice with the progression system that rubbed some people the wrong way. To progress through the main story, you need "Soul Energy." To get that, you have to replay islands.
Even though the islands change—different guard patrols, different times of day, different objectives—you are still visiting the same landmasses multiple times. For some, this feels like artificial padding. For others, it’s an opportunity to master the terrain. If you go back to the Iron Bay with a different team, you’ll find shortcuts you never saw the first time. But if you’re looking for a 20-hour straight-shot narrative, the repetition might grate on you.
A Masterclass in Atmosphere
The art direction deserves a shoutout. It’s stylized, colorful, and vibrant. It avoids the "brown and gray" pirate aesthetic. The Red Marley itself is a character, constantly talking to you, grumbling about her past. The voice acting is top-tier. Every crew member has a distinct personality, and their "Crew Tales" (side missions) help flesh out why they’re undead in the first place.
It feels like a playable Saturday morning cartoon, but with way more murder.
How to Actually Get Good at Shadow Gambit
If you’re just starting out or feeling stuck, you have to stop playing it like an action game. It’s a puzzle game. If you’re spotted and the alarm goes off, you’ve probably already lost the encounter. Sure, you can fight your way out occasionally, but the Inquisition will swarm you.
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- Use the Environment. See a loose boulder? A hanging crate? Those "accidental" kills don't trigger the same level of suspicion as a sword through the chest.
- Viewcones are Everything. Right-click an enemy to see what they see. The striped area of the viewcone means they can only see you if you're standing up. Stay crouched, stay safe.
- The "Kill Zone" Strategy. Don't just kill a guard where they stand. Think about where the body will land. If another guard sees that body, the whole plan falls apart. Use characters like Quentin or Gaëlle to move bodies immediately.
- Don't ignore the bushes. Suleidy’s ability to "Cover Seeds" is arguably the most broken (in a good way) skill in the game. Being able to create your own hiding spot in the middle of a barren stone courtyard is a literal lifesaver.
The Legacy of Mimimi Games
It’s rare that a studio goes out on their own terms. Most of the time, they’re shuttered by a parent company or they fade into obscurity after a string of flops. Mimimi released Shadow Gambit: The Cursed Crew, saw the glowing reviews, and said, "We're done."
There is a sense of finality in this game. It feels like the "Greatest Hits" album of the stealth-strategy genre. It takes the hardcore DNA of Commandos and makes it accessible without losing the bite. It’s a game that respects your intelligence. It doesn't hold your hand, but it gives you all the tools you need to feel like a genius.
If you haven't played it yet, you're missing out on a specific type of magic that we might not see again for a long time. The genre is niche, sure. But within that niche, this is the gold standard.
Next Steps for Players
To get the most out of your time with the Marley, start by focusing on unlocking Suleidy and Pinkus early. Their crowd control and possession abilities make the early-game learning curve much smoother. Don't rush the main missions; take the time to do the Crew Tales. They provide the "Murex" you need to upgrade your abilities, and some of the upgraded skills (like Afia being able to blink through walls) completely change how you approach the late-game islands. Finally, keep an eye on the "Badges" in the mission select screen. They're basically in-game challenges that force you to play in weird ways—like not using any bushes or only using one crew member. It’s the best way to keep the game feeling fresh after the first ten hours.