Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun similar games & best alternatives

Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun - Trailer
Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun - shadow-tactics-blades-of-the-shogun_1.avif
Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun - shadow-tactics-blades-of-the-shogun_2.avif
Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun - shadow-tactics-blades-of-the-shogun_3.avif
Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun - shadow-tactics-blades-of-the-shogun_4.avif
Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun - shadow-tactics-blades-of-the-shogun_5.avif
Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun - shadow-tactics-blades-of-the-shogun_6.avif

Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun

PlayStation 4, Linux, Nintendo Switch 2, PC (Microsoft Windows), PlayStation 5, Mac, Xbox One • 2016

Should you play it?

Shadow Tactics is a hardcore tactical stealth game set in Japan around the Edo period. A new Shogun seizes power over Japan and enforces nationwide peace. In his battle against conspiracy and rebellion, he recruits five specialists with extraordinary skills for assassination, sabotage and espionage.

What works

  • Deep and challenging stealth gameplay
  • Multiple characters with unique abilities
  • High replayability with badges and alternate strategies
  • Immersive japanese edo period setting with authentic voice acting
  • Well-designed maps and level variety

Things to keep in mind

  • Steep learning curve and sometimes clunky controls
  • Lack of multiplayer or social features
  • Some camera and pathfinding frustrations
  • Story is decent but not exceptional
  • Limited randomness reduces replay novelty

What to play next

Top picks

Games that feels the closest overall

  • Desperados III

  • Partisans 1941

  • Shadow Gambit: The Cursed Crew

  • Commandos 2: Men of Courage

  • Battle Chasers: Nightwar

  • Wasteland 2: Director's Cut

Less social

Games that feels like Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun but with less teamwork and cooperation

  • Starship Troopers: Terran Command

  • Becastled

  • Seven: Enhanced Edition

  • Endzone - A World Apart

  • They Are Billions

  • Sumerian Six

More fellowship-oriented

Games that feels like Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun but with a stronger sense of community

  • Shadowrun: Dragonfall - Director's Cut

  • Commandos: Origins

  • The Stone of Madness

  • Age of Mythology: Retold

  • Elin

  • Shadowrun: Hong Kong - Extended Edition

Choose your own criteria ->

Similarity map

How to use the graph

Similarity map

Each dot is a game placed from its motivation profile relative to this page’s game. Direction shows which motivation differs most; distance along that axis shows how large the gap is.

  • Purple star: this page’s game at the centre — everything is relative to it.
  • Direction: each axis is a main motivational difference vs this game (e.g. more / less competitive).
  • Distance on an axis: how large that difference is (ring scales show +/− points).
  • Coloured chips: click to highlight games that mainly differ on that motivation; click again to reset.
  • Dotted line: link between this page’s game and the one selected for comparison.
  • Hover a dot to preview that game in the panel on the right; click to keep that comparison.
  • Scroll or double-click the chart to zoom.

How to read the map This is a polar difference map: direction = which motivation differs, and distance = how much (same units as the sidebar deltas).

Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun: Broadly representative of its motivational profile, with a few distinct shifts. Motivations that often define this kind of title include Violence, Survival, Fellowship, Intimacy. Here, the score leans higher than usual among comparable games on Cooperation, Leadership, Competence.

Last update: 03/08/2026