Shadow Puppeteer Reviews

I've played this game for 114 minutes just to return it even if I bought it on sale. It's a nice little game with a fun premise, but the execution fails. I've bought it to play it in co-op with my girlfriend, but the camera is wonky and it often hides the main character, leaving you to run around blindly just to understand where you are. The 3D platforming is frustrating, as depth isn't easily perceived. Collisions are still buggy, with the characters teleported on top or behind stuff frequently. The characters are linked by some sort of ethereal chain that breaks if they are too distant, but there are no indications as to when you're on the edge of breaking it and the game often forces you to be distant from the other player. Platforming elements are too simple, the only difficult parts we found were the ones where stuff was hidden from the camera and you had to blindly jump somewhere to see if there's something. I don't really recommend it, even on sale.

If your co-op buddy has rage issues, make sure he plays the boy and you play the shadow. This game is a cute idea but caused immense frustration. It can be quite difficult in places, requiring extremely good co-ordination and timing. Small errors in the mechanics caused large problems. For example, the shadow often fidgets to the right without you pressing any buttons. You think you've tiptoed safely to the edge of a ledge, then... No button-pressing. Shuffle. You're dead. Turns out, if you play the shadow and you keep dying because of the glitching, your co-op buddy with rage issues blames you. Maybe it was better to let him play the shadow after all! The crab boss was the final straw. It needed impeccable timing, as well as making sure that the shadow didn't mysteriously shuffle to the right or defy the laws of physics and fail to keep momentum as he was carried round on the shield. Actually, since you took an hour to defeat the crab boss and your co-op buddy with rage issues has turned from a shade of raspberry to an unhealthy sort of purple, perhaps neither of you should play the shadow. Turn off the game and never speak of it again... except in your marriage counselling sessions.

It should also be fun playing a game, not just hard and annoying controlling 2 characters. Nice idea, even graphics, but frustrating to repeat same tedious movements of boxes and items, with plenty of occasions to fail and start over. Annoyance took soon place over the fun part.

We played this in coop mode. And it's fun. We need more games like this. It's an offline 2-player coop platformer game, with minor puzzle elements. I really like the concept. The store page already explains it well, you have two characters, a boy, and his shadow. The boy moves around in the 3D world, and the shadow can move independently but it is stuck to the walls and behaves more like a 2D character. The two characters often need to help each other to progress together. This game has just a little bit of a rough edge to it, and seems to be running at a lower resolution, but I also find this game beautiful and well made at times. For an indie game that probably had a modest budget, there are great ideas in this, and some of the environments are real nice. As it is, both players can use the keyboard, or one of them can use a controller; but only one of them that is. I kinda wish both players could use controllers. But it's not a big deal at all. In fact, I used JoyToKey to map the keyboard player to a second controller. We also used parsec to play online. Sometimes, the controls can be slightly janky. I am not sure why, as it could simply have been caused by my setup. But all in all, it wasn't a big issue. And if you die, you can immediately respawn at the last checkpoint. And checkpoints are plentiful. If you like 2-player coop games, played on the same machine, you should try this one!

Fun little 2-player co-op game. Not a lot of playtime (4 hours). I remember having some trouble sometimes with the camera but no regrets, I did really enjoy playing this game. (By the way, it is smart to buy it on sale. Because it's only 4 hours playtime maximum).

Really good idea fairly well executed. Had lots of fun playing with our 8-year-old. Then got stuck at the lighthouse, waaaay too difficult and finicky spot, miss one jump and you're done. Could have been avoided with proper playtesting or having a difficulty setting. Still, i recommed trying it.

The game is awesome! Innovative gameplay mechanics, unique and creative puzzles. The great visuals hold well for today, got someTim Burton's vibe. Soundtrack is super atmosphere. Sure, there are a few bugs and minor issues, but nothing is not easy to ignore. A truly captivating experience that's a must-play for co-op puzzle platformer fans

Shadow Puppeteer is a awesome game! It have a beautiful design and a new and unique gameplay with kind of a creepy Tim Burton movie feeling. I played in single mode and did not have any problems coordinate the two characters. I think the game have just the right amount of difficulty, yes some levels were a little difficult like the final boss and so on, but true gamers like a challenge and who dosent love the feeling of beating a complex game. Playing with two characters at the same time is not a struggle just double the fun ;D I recommend to give this game a chance and check it out!

I've tried this game both as co-op and single player and even though the game shines brightest when playing co-op, it baffles my mind how so many dismiss the single player as unplayable. The closest comparison I could find is that controlling both characters at the same time is like playing an instrument (piano, guitar, etc); you have to disconnect your hands from each other to play them right. It's not something many people can pick up instantly, but after a bit of practice anyone can get into the groove. Co-op is, as I've said, the mode I enjoyed the most (and from what I can tell it's designed around). It's probably best to see the single player as an added challenge extending the co-op part of the game. And with all these local co-op action games coming out it's good to have a puzzle game to chill out with. The devs have also been updating with bug fixes and gameplay tweaks which is great. If you play on keyboard I would highly recommend you remap the keys to something you feel is comfortable. But since this is a platformer you should play it with a controller, like all platformers should.

Shadow Puppeteer is a beautiful, unique and interesting platformer. It's great fun to play with a friend, and was to me surprisingly fluent single player as well. Controlling both characters at the same time creates for a very cool dynamic. I adore the art style, and I think the cutscenes are fantastic. The music is also really good, and creates a very nice atmosphere. Yes, the game has some flaws, but to me personally they're very minor. Nothing that you shouldn't expect from a small indie game like this. It's all a part of the charm, and it just adds to the character. Like how something home made might not come in fancy wrappings, but has a lot more soul and heart than a big commercial product could ever achieve. It's a beautiful little indie title, and I recommend everyone to play it.