SILT
SILT
Game
Game2021
White Shadows
Developer Monokel
The wolves are watching! Venture through a captivating but brutal dystopia where our young adventurer Ravengirl will travel through this huge city’s brightest highs and delve to its darkest depths on her perilous journey of discovery and finding her destiny where hope seems in short supply. From the Steam store page
225 reactions from 3 sources (Steam reviews, Bluesky, Mastodon) · newest Nov 5, 2026 · last updated Nov 5, 2026 · How this works
Audience score
82
LovedLoved
160 positive · 36 negative
95% range 76–86%
| Source | + | − | = |
|---|---|---|---|
| Steam reviews | 160 | 36 | 0 |
| Bluesky * | 9 | 0 | 18 |
| Mastodon * | 0 | 0 | 2 |
* shown, not counted in the score (label accuracy below our 85% bar or not yet audited).
Steam's own rating
Very Positive
638 of 774 reviews positive (all languages, per Valve)
What players are saying
82% recommend · 155 yes, 35 no
Counted from the reviewers’ own thumbs up/down on the 190 English Steam reviews we collected, not by the AI. Valve’s all-language rating: Very Positive (1,713 of 2,100 positive).
Players praise the game's atmosphere, visual style, and storytelling. [1][2][3][4] Many note its short length, typically 2-3 hours, and recommend it on sale. [1][4][5][6] Some reviewers criticize the simplistic puzzles, awkward controls, and unsatisfying ending. [7][8][9][10]
Liked
Representative posts
- [9]
I bought this game on the strength of the trailers alone, which honestly did an incredible job selling the experience. They gave strong Playdead Studio vibes, (the folks behind Inside & Limbo). Dark, atmospheric, mysterious. The kind of indie game that looks like it might emotionally ruin you in the best way possible. And at first, it works. The visuals are great. The noir style and bizarre Tim Burton-like world …
- [1]
Bird lives matter! It's basically a limbo-like game but without the hard puzzles and more focused on platforming and story telling. There are some annoying bits for sure and I don't understand why the developer is shoving down the throat to everyone that it's their first game. It's such a petty thing to in my opinion, that's not an excuse for making a bad game. Luckily, this one is alright albeit a little short, can …
- [11]
I'm not sure "fun" is the right word to describe this game, but playing "White Shadows" is certainly entertaining in a unique way. It's a short and visually impressive indie platformer that comes with a message - an extremely dark one evoking images of factory farming, mass murder, slavery, and other depravities of humanity. The game illustrates these themes by drawing audio-visual connections to fascism, death …
- [7]
White Shadows tells Animal Farm inspired story in the monochromatic style of Limbo. It contains nice pieces of classical music, varied platformer gameplay, spectacular visuals, and a very mesmerizing style. The biggest flaws are mostly technical - controls are awkward, object physics may be janky, characters and items might disappear or clip through each other, performance seems poor. The sound played on death is …
- [2]
I am playing it on my Steam Deck without any issue. No modification to the settings, the game or Steam OS have been done. Looks to me completely compatible with Steam Deck. This game reminds me Limbo, but with 3D. Beautiful "noir"style.
Summarised from 34 of the 220 public posts collected about this game; every point cites the posts behind it ([n] opens the post) and the split is counted from the posts’ own ratings. Updated Oct 10, 2026. How summaries are made
RottenBot@rottenbot · automated account
White Shadows sits at 82% positive across 196 opinionated reactions from 3 sources. Fresh or rotten — where do you land?
Reactions
60 of 225 · most liked firstWhite Shadows Digital illustration of the prologue of A Game of Thrones
neutral · AI labelView post →White Shadows Digital painting Illustration for the prologue of A Game of Thrones
neutral · AI labelView post →Bird lives matter! It's basically a limbo-like game but without the hard puzzles and more focused on platforming and story telling. There are some annoying bits for sure and I don't understand why the developer is shoving down the throat to everyone that it's their first game. It's such a petty thing to in my opinion, that's not an excuse for making a bad game. Luckily, this one is alright albeit a little short, can be longer if you want to get all achievements but I wouldn't say it's really…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I bought this game on the strength of the trailers alone, which honestly did an incredible job selling the experience. They gave strong Playdead Studio vibes, (the folks behind Inside & Limbo). Dark, atmospheric, mysterious. The kind of indie game that looks like it might emotionally ruin you in the best way possible. And at first, it works. The visuals are great. The noir style and bizarre Tim Burton-like world immediately pull you in. For about three minutes, I was convinced I had found a…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →If you're looking for Limbo or Inside, this isn't it. This is basically an interactive visual novel with light gameplay. It takes around 2-3 hrs to finish only to be left feeling completely unsatisfied. The visuals are great, there's no taking that away from it, but the gameplay and "puzzles" are simplistic, and the narrative is pointless. If you're still interested, wait until it goes on sale with a deep discount.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I am playing it on my Steam Deck without any issue. No modification to the settings, the game or Steam OS have been done. Looks to me completely compatible with Steam Deck. This game reminds me Limbo, but with 3D. Beautiful "noir"style.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →An odd game that had a lot of skill put into it but didn't quite hit the mark. White Shadows - youtu.be/DvoGaok87u4
neutral · AI labelView post →While not flawless, this game is highly impressive for a first game of a small studio. A lot of inspirations are obviously drawn from Limbo and Little Nightmares, but I also from Oddworld. It's a nice 2 hours one shot, some scenes are truly beautiful and some animations are really well made. Can't wait to see what next games Monokel are gonna cook, it is very promising.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Honestly, its a real stretch to have this have puzzle in the tags. These are puzzles on the most basic level, children won't even need to think. A very slow game, Atmospheric I suppose, but more like a walking simulator than anything. Short, and was free with another game at least so I can't complain about costs. Do not play if you are looking for puzzles, anything innovator, or the like.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It's Alright Key features Limbo wannabe? Rather short Ka-kow, ka-kow... What is White Shadows? It's a run 'n jump platformer. There's like 2-3 puzzles and several semi-precise trials, where you dodge hazards. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3696377370 Entire game is in black 'n white colours. That and frequent traps, dangerous crossings will most likely make you think of Limbo. Just like there, here you can die from multiple sources: trains, fire, fall damage, turrets…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Care To SHARE? 😀 Paul and Josh review the FANTASTIC game Blue Prince. Simple to learn, deep as hell, and totally addictive Also BONUS GAME White Shadows and a SECOND episode upload available on Centum from @serenityforge.com where i rage the whole time lol youtu.be/v8UYNUHBVUA?...
neutral · AI labelView post →This is a very short (2-3h depending on how often you die) cinematic horror/puzzle/platformer with amazing atmosphere and black & white graphics design, all right gameplay, and an incomprehensible ending confusing the entire overall story. Given the length, I really would only recommend it on a deep discount for < $2, but that happens often enough.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →White Shadows tries to be an original indie game, but in many ways it is a poor imitation of Little Nightmares. While the game has its sweet moments, overall the art direction of the game fails to capture the noir atmosphere it was intended to create. Overall, the experience may not be a bad one for fans of indie games.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It's a decent effort, and it has great atmosphere, but it lacks polish: the pacing is off, the platforming is pretty rudimentary, and the soundtrack is a hodgepodge of classical pieces. Overall, it's just okay.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Runs horribly You can have a decent PC but this monochrome low poly game with no textures runs worse than Path Tracing
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Want to see a sneak peek of the thumbnail for tomorrow's video? Here you go. I'm, once again, trying a different style. I'm shelving my original idea and will be doing my best to emulate the game as best I can instead. #Twitch #YouTube #art #WhiteShadows
neutral · AI labelView post →I'm not sure "fun" is the right word to describe this game, but playing "White Shadows" is certainly entertaining in a unique way. It's a short and visually impressive indie platformer that comes with a message - an extremely dark one evoking images of factory farming, mass murder, slavery, and other depravities of humanity. The game illustrates these themes by drawing audio-visual connections to fascism, death camps, and the like. It's also *checks notes* made by a German developer, just in…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I recently finished White Shadows and was pleasantly surprised: the atmosphere, visual style and storytelling really pulled me in. I recommend this game to anyone who enjoys dark, atmospheric and unusual titles with a deeper meaning. Нещодавно пройшов White Shadows і був приємно здивований: атмосфера, візуальний стиль і подача сюжету справді затягують. Рекомендую цю гру всім, хто любить похмурі, атмосферні та незвичні проєкти з глибшим змістом.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It was just not that satisfying. Another game that pulls you in looking like Limbo and then it is like what others are saying that it is a walking simulator. It really leans into a heavy handed narrative story that you walk through and experience like a movie, so if that is what you are looking for you will maybe enjoy this game. Kind of interesting at bits but ultimately not an experience I'll remember fondly. (Maybe that is the point?)
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →ENG / RUS "4891" ENG Those who played Limbo back in the day might think White Shadows is just plagiarism. But this game really stands on its own, showing off its uniqueness and creepy dystopian vibe. Here, the sun has truly gone out, and you, as the main character Little Raven, are on a journey to find your purpose in this dark world, solving puzzles, hovering over bottomless pits, and tackling other platforming challenges. What really stands out: • Atmosphere and story depth: Unlike…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Very good and short cinematic pluzzle platformer. I liked it quite a lot. Puzzles are not really hard, but the visuals invoke questions. Many many questions. More people need to play this game.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Stardew Tuesday time! Where I get carried in Stardew by the magically beautiful AzuratheMoonMage! She'll be joining in around 10pm CST, so until then I'll be trying out a new game called White Shadows! Roll on by and vibe with us! 🧡 www.twitch.tv/raccoonthedo...
neutral · AI labelView post →White Shadows tells Animal Farm inspired story in the monochromatic style of Limbo. It contains nice pieces of classical music, varied platformer gameplay, spectacular visuals, and a very mesmerizing style. The biggest flaws are mostly technical - controls are awkward, object physics may be janky, characters and items might disappear or clip through each other, performance seems poor. The sound played on death is also pathetically funny. Sudden cutscenes might disrupt gameplay, and some…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This is a very short (2-3h depending on how often you die) cinematic horror/puzzle/platformer with amazing atmosphere and black & white graphics design, all right gameplay, and an incomprehensible ending confusing the entire overall story. Given the length, I really would only recommend it on a deep discount.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It's definitely not something I would spend $20 on, but I got it for 3 dollars on sale and it was really cool. I had a lot of fun with it, and it's not very long at all, only about 2 hours. It inexplicably has performance issues, and it's on the buggier side. Definitely wait for a sale, but it's pretty great.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It's like Limbo or Inside, but even worse. It takes about two hours to complete, leaving you completely unsatisfied. The visuals are interesting, but the optimization is terrible, putting an inordinate amount of strain on your graphics card. If I'd finished the game right away, instead of two weeks after buying it, I'd rather get a refund; it wasn't worth it.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →What looks like a “bright” world is actually built on exploitation and illusion.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I couldn't play this past act 2. I'm vegan, so this is pretty much how I see the meat industry already. I welcome raising awareness to the theme and I love the design, but I resent the linear story progression where I don't have a choice but commit acts I find despicable. I don't dig unlocking achievements of senseless violence.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The game has a charming story wrapped in decent graphics and solid music. Sure, it sometimes feels a bit cheap - a few visual glitches here, a soapy-looking scene there, but it still manages to carve out its own style and deliver a genuinely strong experience. And then the finale shows up and nukes everything the game worked so hard to build. Abstract ending, nothing even close to what this narrative deserved. It’s like the developers got tired and said, “Yeah, that’s enough, ship it.” Great…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Birds are persecuted by other animals such as wolves and pigs. You are a bird, sort of a chosen one. You'll like this game if you like Inside and Limbo.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →What a strange game, lol. I did rather enjoy it, but very glad I bought it at 90% off. Game is beatable within 3 hours and then you can complete the Achievements you missed within another 2 hours. I was thrown off by the warning message at the beginning of the game about "hinting at racism", among other controversial issues. I kept expecting something controversial to happen, but nothing really stood out, I think the devs were just trying to cover their asses. Anyway, this game is a side…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Very interesting and nice looking game. Worth playing. Things I liked: • Environment design. Big props to the art department because you can see the effort they put into making every location unique visually. Even the backgrounds have details here and there and that makes everything a little bit more interesting. • Context. As you play an explore more and more, you'll start to notice how racism and animal abuse permeate this world and even though these are sensitive topics to treat, I feel…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Schedule time! Tuesday: White Shadows Wednesday: Finishing White Shadows or Indie Game Roulette Friday: Starting TOEM
neutral · AI labelView post →Think LIMBO combined with a lot of social commentary. Sadly also has a lot of visual glitches, which at least broke my immersion. The Positive: Stunning visual art style. Sometimes thought-provoking social commentary. Decent puzzles. The Negative: Sometimes strange pacing. STUPENDOUS placement of checkpoints if you consider the achievements. I dont mind an achievement being hard, I just hate that especially for the achievement "Lord of the Birds" you have to play through 2…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →White Shadows was a noir styled dystopian story with probably good ideas behind it but fell off with a bad execution. The trigger warning at the start made me think that they had a good base for their dystopian world, and they actually wanted to touch upon the reality of racism, xenophobia, the power hierarchy and separatism. However, the end product seems like they hesitated to create a world too grim and kept the cruel things somehow too soft. I definitely don't mean this in an edgy way, but…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →"The first game by Monokel" is a great one! If you like Limbo, Inside or story driven Jump 'n' Runs in general this hidden gem should be in your Steam library.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →White Shadows wants to be a searing Orwellian fable about racism and systemic oppression. What it delivers is a two-hour sledgehammer with a crow mask. You play as Ravengirl, a tiny anthropomorphic raven forced to the absolute bottom of a monochrome industrial hierarchy. Wolves rule, rats police, pigs labor and consume, and birds are the designated plague-carriers—hunted on sight, ground into batteries to power the city’s artificial light, and mocked with endless propaganda signs that literally…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Orwell meets Poe, as interpreted by Tim Burton. It was a short game, not terribly difficult, but it is held aloft by an unforgettable aesthetic that should be fuel for creative types. The story seems to be a straightforward mash-up of Orwell's two most famous books, and it developed in ways that were mostly too obvious to really inspire any discussions — until the game enters the fourth quarter, when the story truly takes on its own identity and kept me up all night pondering. I finished…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →not much ply time but i like the design of the game even tho the graphics are not great
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Wtf is up with this jump? That should have been the first thing you fixed before creating a shadow world where the player doesn't know where to go.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The good: original art style, dark, orwellian atmosphere, tasteful soundtrack. The bad: very short, somewhat inconsistent game physics lack of real puzzles (except one). I still recommend playing the game, it is a labour of love, made by a small and dedicated team.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Another game in one of my favourite subgenres, the “Limbo-likes.” That is not really an official term, but if you have played games like Limbo, Little Nightmares, or Inside, you probably know what I mean. It is about wandering through a dark, mysterious world as a defenceless child while slowly learning more about it through environmental storytelling. The main selling point is the visuals, or more accurately the atmosphere created by the world itself. I just love how this game looks. The…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →A very engaging game that makes you reflect on certain aspects of our world. Perhaps the storyline could have been a bit longer, or it could include elements similar to Little Nightmares. Overall, it’s a good game.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Playin a spooky lookin game today called White Shadows! The aesthetic reminds me of limbo c: www.twitch.tv/b0barley
neutral · AI labelView post →If you like Limbo, you’ll love this game. There are no difficult puzzles, and it focuses more on platforming and storytelling. It’s reminiscent of George Orwell’s Animal Farm, as if you were there just to entertain them
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It cost only 1.99$ and it def shows. I haven't seen a game so poorly optimised in quite sometime. It's like the developers went out of their way to ramp up the polys and tris in each rendered scene. It's quite hilarious, as they could've easily made it optimised with LoD and lower poly assets loading in. Maybe turn off all the darn post processing effects / particle effects too. I've been doing mobile indie games for years, and I always planned for the bare minimum specs! Dear Devs, give me…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Visually striking and fairly unique in presentation. Story is dark, bleak, and not much different to Animal Farm. Game elements are simple, and mostly obvious bar a few moments that could do with clarity - such as climbing the chain the first time. Otherwise, this is largely just an interactive story, and would have been better as a short movie. The game elements unfortunately added very little to this otherwise intriguing and largely enjoyable experience.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Suprisingly Good Game, you will like it if you enjoy games like "Inside" or "Limbo". While at some parts, the audio is a bit -thin- and feels empty, the general world and visual story telling is intriguing.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I played little of this game before refunding (Even when it was on sale), mostly because I just didn't vibe with it. To me it felt...sorta clunky, not saying this game doesn't look good but from the time I played I just didn't enjoy it. Im not a fan of little nightmares or limbo, or any other games in this style, and i barely played any of it, so don't take my word for it. Did I enjoy the game?...no, but I could see someone else enjoying it, for sure, thats all I really gotta say
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I feel like it is best knowing you're going into this game understanding that it is basically an interactive movie. This movie does not have a lot of dialogue, and the beginning warning honestly gives away the point of the game, but I understand why they had to make the warning. It makes the subject matter very dark, and the use of classical music, mainly Wagner's piece, which was infamously used by Hitler during the Holocaust, adds to its darkness. I find this game to be very effective at…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →White Shadows is a really memorable experience. It's most similar to Little Nightmares and INSIDE, though evidently not as polished as those titles. I ran into quite a few animation bugs, pacing issues, and even a softlock. On top of that, the game is quite short. That being said, the ideas, presentation, background designs and world building was both unique and fulfilling enough for me to really enjoy my time in this little world!
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This game isn't bad so to say, but you can definitely feel that this was the first game by the creators, cons: for the price I paid it wasn't too bad but I can definitetly see glaring similarities and gameplay scenes from other games, there was a part of the game where you can to avoid being seen by a light and you had to move with a crown of birds, the scene felt like it was plucked out of inside and put into this game but with just less polish and execution, on the topic of polish a lot of…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →About a 3 hour game. Art direction is super freakin' cool. The story is simple, but enjoyable. The music was really well thought out and a big part of the atmosphere to the game. And, stuff visually and musically I did not at all expect kinda just kept happening. It was pretty cool. I definitely would recommend this to folks. It reminds me something like the games Inside or Limbo, though I enjoyed the art style and direction with the visuals and music a bit better in this one. One con I guess…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Many social issues and civil rights explored in this game layered in both obvious and subtle ways. Hard to see but they are real issues. Anyway, beautifully crafted game, nice visuals, cute thoughtful credits with an achievement even included if you watch them, powerful in its short playtime.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →One of the weirdest games I've played, inside vibes that leans a lot more on cinematics and story No doubt there has been a lot of work that went into it, but music was definitely it's weakest point The game feels very empty, and environmental, there's clearly a lot of focus on the atmosphere I'm going to recommend the game on a heavy sale for it's animations and story which are quite good But I wish the rest were better, gameplay, controls, platforming, music and sound effects
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It is a short symbolic game, influenced by George Orwell's books, 1984 and Animal Farm. Give it a try, the audio design and graphics are really good. You'll get a cinematic dystopian experience. But Player movement isn't polished, and the game is poorly optimized, I wasn't getting enough FPS, even with the simple noir graphics
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →29. White Shadows- a Beautiful Cinematic platformer shadow-based game about a young Ravengirl escaping through a large dystopian city and attracting the attention of white like wolves- a great message of a game with gorgeous art I feel this one is underrated.
positive · AI labelView post →It's a combination of Limbo and Little Nightmares, it's worse than any of those but still is an adorable game despite the grim theme. It's got a fair share of junk, mostly camera glitching out, but the end product, considering it's the first project of the studio, is a nice albeit short game with very little content. I'd say if you got enough of Limbo and LNightmares you can comfortably skip this one, have fun!
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →♡ TLDR ♡ White Shadows is a simple puzzle platformer with a heavy story and a dark atmosphere released in December of 2021. As Monokel's 1st game, this little indie gem deserves some praise. I really think they did a fantastic job and I would be interested to see another title by them in the future. It is very short (2.3 hours) and I don't see a ton of replayability - this being said - I do think $20 USD is a bit steep. BUT! if you get it on a nice sale, I don't think the experience will…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Very meh story and boring gameplay dressed up in good art
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →
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