In The Shadows

About

In The Shadows is a single player casual platformer game with fantasy, drama and mystery themes. It was developed by Colorspace Studio and was released on October 20, 2017. It received positive reviews from players.

In The Shadows is a puzzle platformer game where you use lights to scare away shadows creatures that transform into everyday objects you can use to your own advantage. Confront your fears, solve puzzles, find secrets.

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90%

Audience ScoreBased on 40 reviews

story10 positive mentions

stability5 negative mentions

Beautiful and atmospheric pixel/voxel art with impressive use of lighting and shadows.
Engaging and thoughtful puzzle mechanics revolving around light and shadow interactions.
Emotional and touching story that adds depth to the gameplay experience.

Several bugs and glitches affect gameplay, including character clipping, freezing NPCs, and inconsistent physics.
Controls and movement can feel clunky or imprecise, sometimes making puzzles frustrating to execute.
The game is relatively short and may feel overpriced for its length and occasional lack of polish.

story
28 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
36%
53%
11%
The story in this game is described as touching, atmospheric, and meaningful, often requiring players to uncover its depth through exploration and puzzle completion. While some find it captivating and emotionally engaging, others feel it lacks substantial content and could be more fleshed out, especially given the game's price. Overall, the story adds significant value to the puzzle experience but is subtle and not heavily narrative-driven.
- “The puzzles on their own were good, the meaning and story added so much more to the experience.”
- “You're invested from the start and just want to keep progressing to dive deeper into the story to see where it takes you.”
- “The story was captivating and brought the game to a close with a very emotional ending.”
- “There also seemed to be a story somewhere in the game, but it was impossible to figure out and overall distracted from the game more than it added to the game.”
- “This could use a lot of fleshing out; I might even be able to forgive bugs and poorly implemented mechanics if the story was enjoyable.”
- “Story wise, there isn't necessarily a ton of content there; however, the atmosphere the minor amount of story builds up is perfect for what the game offers.”
gameplay
23 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
43%
44%
13%
The gameplay features unique light and shadow-based puzzle mechanics that progressively introduce new challenges and encourage thoughtful problem-solving, though some mechanics feel underdeveloped or frustrating due to imprecise controls and occasional glitches. While the puzzles are engaging and the mechanics reinforce the game's themes effectively, pacing and level design can sometimes make execution tedious. Overall, the gameplay offers originality and atmosphere but is somewhat hindered by lack of polish.
- “The puzzles were very good, loved the mechanics and the secret rooms telling the story behind the game even better.”
- “With each chapter a new mechanic is introduced to the player. First by offering a simple puzzle to demonstrate how it works, before being gently led into more challenging but fair scenarios, which make you think about how to use the world and the mechanics in front of you.”
- “The mechanics, while fairly simple, introduce new ways of solving and thinking about puzzles, all of which reinforce the key themes of the game; light/dark and the passage of time.”
- “Inexact controls, timing puzzles, mechanics popping up and disappearing.”
- “But the mechanics and level design are a bit tedious at times; even if the solution is fairly obvious, it takes a bit too long to actually execute.”
- “Now, this is a puzzle game, so the game is supposed to be somewhat difficult of course, but sometimes the mechanics would screw you over, pushing boxes where they weren't supposed to go, forcing you to backtrack several minutes to get to where you wanted to be again.”
graphics
18 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
61%
22%
17%
The game features beautiful voxel and pixel-inspired graphics with impressive use of light, shadows, and detailed visuals that create a relaxing and atmospheric experience. While the artwork is widely praised for its charm and aesthetic, some users note accessibility issues with low contrast visuals and a few dated indie game clichés. Overall, the visuals significantly enhance the mood and enjoyment of the puzzles.
- “The voxel artwork is beautiful - especially the use of light and shadows - the puzzles are well thought out and the audio makes things feel very relaxing.”
- “The atmosphere, artwork and aesthetic of this game are fantastic.”
- “Clearly a lot of time and effort was put into the visual aesthetic and soundtrack and it makes for a very atmospheric experience.”
- “Also, I was disappointed to find that the game is virtually unplayable if you have issues seeing low contrast images, because there is no way to adjust the visuals.”
- “It does suffer from a few bugs and the typical tired clichés of 2015 era indie games (forced emotionalism, needless 8-bit-style graphics).”
- “I don't mind those for actual pixel games but the visuals of this game are much more detailed and I would prefer the sound effects to be 'high resolution'.”
music
15 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
67%
26%
7%
The music in the game is widely praised for its beautiful, atmospheric quality, often described as relaxing, immersive, and perfectly complementing the visuals and gameplay. It features a unique, retro-inspired synth sound that enhances the overall mood without feeling repetitive. Reviewers highlight the soundtrack as a key element in creating a captivating and cohesive experience.
- “The music is surprisingly beautiful for such a short game; it has a Fez-like, retro feel to its sound with synthesizers and jump noises.”
- “The atmosphere and soundtrack were incredible, and the visuals tied it all together beautifully.”
- “The peaceful music gives a lot of atmosphere to the gameplay, and the visual artwork is gorgeous.”
atmosphere
13 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
62%
30%
8%
The game excels in creating a captivating and immersive atmosphere through its beautiful visuals, peaceful music, and cohesive aesthetic, making it a memorable experience despite some bugs. Its steady pace and subtle storytelling add depth, appealing especially to fans of atmospheric puzzle games. While not perfect, the overall ambiance is highly praised and often considered worth the price, particularly on sale.
- “The atmosphere and soundtrack were incredible, and the visuals tied it all together beautifully.”
- “Clearly a lot of time and effort was put into the visual aesthetic and soundtrack and it makes for a very atmospheric experience.”
- “The atmosphere, music, animations, and lighting are really well done, so it feels a lot more immersive than I would have expected for a puzzle game.”
- “That's too many bugs, most of which were game breaking or forced me out of the atmosphere, or both.”
emotional
7 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game delivers a touching and emotionally engaging storyline that enhances the overall experience, supported by charming design and enjoyable puzzles. While it incorporates some familiar indie game clichés and minor bugs, players appreciate its passion, relaxing atmosphere, and compelling narrative conclusion.
- “The developer of this game has clearly poured a lot of passion into this game, from the emotional, yet entirely unobtrusive, narrative and themes to the charming design of each new area.”
- “The story was captivating and brought the game to a close with a very emotional ending.”
- “Overall, it was a relaxing and fun experience with a touching story tucked into it as well.”
stability
5 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game suffers from numerous bugs and glitches, including unresponsive controls, faulty respawn points, and recurring issues that often require level restarts. While these stability problems detract from the experience, the game’s heartfelt story and core mechanics show promise. Overall, frequent technical issues make gameplay frustrating despite its potential.
- “This game on the other hand is plagued by bugs and glitches that can ruin an entire run and force a restart.”
- “The controls are less responsive than ideal (mainly the jumping), there were some glitches where I had to restart the level as my shadow no longer jumped, the respawn points were often off leaving you in an area that forced a level restart plus a few other minor bugs.”
- “During my playthrough of this game, I encountered the same glitches over and over again.”
grinding
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Grinding in the game is noted to be tedious due to repetitive level design and slow execution of mechanics, making progression feel prolonged despite straightforward solutions.
- “The level design is not the best and quite tedious.”
- “But the mechanics and level design are a bit tedious at times; even if the solution is fairly obvious, it takes a bit too long to actually execute.”
humor
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The humor in the game is enhanced by its funny animations and pixel art style, but overall comedic impact is weakened by the game's mechanics.