Shadow Gambit: The Cursed Crew gets surprise modding tool as a "very final parting gift"
Make your own stealth missions
Stealth tactics 'em up Shadow Gambit: The Cursed Crew is an "all-time treasure", according to Katharine's review, and it has to be given that developers Mimimi announced their closure almost immediately after its release.
This might help extend its life closer towards eternity: as a "very final parting gift", Mimimi have released a modding tool that lets players create their own missions and stories.
"Spawn characters, enemies and NPCs throughout a level. Have fun placing different objects and interactive elements to create a new dynamic landscape within the existing locations of Shadow Gambit: The Cursed Crew," explains the announcement. "Set animations, establish routines for enemy guards, and even add your own dramatic flair with (non-voiced ;D) dialogues and cutscenes."
The tool comes with an export function so that your work can be shared with others. Mimimi have setup an official Shadow Gambit page on mod sharing platform Mod.io for the purpose, where you'll also find tutorials on using the new tool.
There are some clear limitations, including that this is not a full level editor and so you can only build your missions within Shadow Gambit's existing locations, as stated above.
Mimimi announced they were closing down back in August, citing the "heavy personal toll" of working on "increasingly ambitious games" for fifteen years. Shadow Gambit was the studio's first stealth tactics game where they owned the IP, rather than it belonging to a publisher, but it seemingly didn't sell well enough quickly enough to free them from the need to instantly chase a new source of funding. They opted to shut down instead.
A pair of expansions arrived for Shadow Gambit last month, which were supposed to be Shadow Gambit's final update. The modding tool is a welcome surprise, therefore.