Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun demo now available on Steam and GOG

Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun is a fine example of what you might reasonably call a non-traditional Daedalic Entertainment game. The publisher is generally known for point-and-click adventures, but this is "a hardcore tactical stealth game set in Japan around the Edo period," in which players must control a team of five unique assassins who are out to gank the enemies of the emperor. 

The team includes a ninja, a samurai, a geisha, a "street child," and a marksman wielding a primitive, but nonetheless quite effective, rifle. Each character will have his or her own "unique story," and they'll have to learn to work together in order to function effectively. "Over the course of many missions, trust is won and friendships are made," the Steam page says. "The characters develop their own dynamic and each member will have to face their own personal demons." 

Shadow Tactics, which is actually being developed by The Last Tinker: City of Colors studio Mimimi Productions, is still a couple of weeks away—it's set to release on December 6—but you can give it a rip now through the demo that arrived today on Steam and GOG. It covers the entire first level, plus about ten minutes of the second, and it's a big download, too, weighing in at 2.8GB—something to keep in mind if you have a slow connection or a tight data cap. I haven't tried it myself yet, but the response on Steam so far seems pretty positive. And "free" is a pretty positive selling point, too. Find out more at shadow-tactics.com, and enjoy a gameplay walkthrough below. 

Andy Chalk

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.