Free Shadwen update adds 14 "re-worked" levels and improved AI

Frozenbyte's stealth-assassination-babysitting game Shadwen ends rather abruptly: You get to the castle, conclude your business, and that's the end of the tale. But the free “Escape From the Castle” update released today changes all that by adding 14 “re-worked” levels, which you'll have to get through in order to make good your escape.

The new levels are actually reversals of those in the original release, each with “new gameplay,” more guards for an increased challenge, and new treasure maps hidden throughout. The update also fixes numerous bugs and makes improvements to the game's AI, which if we're being honest could really use it: As we noted in our review, enemy intelligence is one of Shadwen's most glaring weak points.

The update was released as part of Frozenbyte's 15-year anniversary celebration, a birthday that may make Shadowgrounds fans out there (like me) feel uncomfortably old. Speaking of Shadowgrounds, it and Frozenbyte's other games—Shadowgrounds Survivor, Trine 1, 2, and 3, and of course Shadwen—are all on sale in the creatively-named Frozenbyte 15 Year Anniversary Sale, which runs until August 12.

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Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.