How do I aim a shadow in Shadow Walk?

Slide the lamp to the same side as the block and a little further out, and the shadow leans across the runner's lane. The rails over the pool turn green where it covers the lane.

Do I control the runner?

No. The runner walks on their own, waits at the edge of each pool until the rails are green all the way across, and waits before a saw until it is shaded. You control the lamp and the bonus blocks.

What is the battery for?

It limits how much you can slide the lamp, which stops levels from being solved by sweeping the light everywhere. If it runs flat while the runner is stuck waiting, the run ends.

Play Shadow Walk: free shadow puzzle game

warming up Shadow Walk…

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Theater puzzle where darkness bridges danger.

Slide the stage lamp so black blocks cast real shadows over water pools and buzz-saws: your runner walks only where darkness covers the danger. Drop bonus blocks, watch the lamp battery, and reach the glowing door.

Free to play, no download, no sign-up. Hosted with ❤ by GamerX.

How to play Shadow Walk

Your runner crosses a flooded theatre stage full of things that will end the run - water pools, buzz-saws - and only walks where it is dark. You do not control the runner. You control the lamp at the front of the stage: it slides with your finger, and the black blocks on the stage cast real shadows that swing the other way, the way the lamp turns. Over each pool two dashed rails mark the runner's lane. They turn green where a shadow covers it, and the runner steps out once they are green all the way across, so hold the lamp still until the crossing is done. A spinning saw stops while a shadow covers it. You can also drop bonus blocks to cast shadows where none exist. The lamp runs on a battery, and if it runs flat while the runner is stuck waiting, the run ends.

Tips

Put the lamp on the same side as the block and a little further out. Its shadow then leans across the runner's lane; further out makes it lean harder.
Watch the rails, not the runner. When both are green all the way across, the bridge is complete.
Hold still while the runner crosses. Moving the lamp moves the bridge out from under their feet.
The battery drains as you slide the lamp. One smooth move costs less than many small ones.
Dropped blocks are permanent for the level. Place them where a shadow is impossible otherwise, not where one is merely awkward.

About Shadow Walk

Shadow Walk is a light-and-shadow puzzle where the shadows are genuinely computed rather than drawn, which is the entire reason it works as a puzzle: you can reason about the geometry, because the geometry is real. Slide the light and the shadow swings exactly as you would expect, which means levels can be solved by thinking rather than by trial and error. The theatre staging is a smart frame - a lamp, flat black set pieces and a runner need no explanation - and the battery is what stops the puzzle from being solvable by exhaustively sweeping the light around. Making darkness the safe space rather than the dangerous one is the inversion the whole game is built on.

What you need

Graphics: WebGL, which every browser from the last decade has switched on already
Controls: Keyboard or touchscreen
On a phone: Yes
Install: Nothing. It runs in this tab.

Questions

How do I aim a shadow in Shadow Walk?: Slide the lamp to the same side as the block and a little further out, and the shadow leans across the runner's lane. The rails over the pool turn green where it covers the lane.
Do I control the runner?: No. The runner walks on their own, waits at the edge of each pool until the rails are green all the way across, and waits before a saw until it is shaded. You control the lamp and the bonus blocks.
What is the battery for?: It limits how much you can slide the lamp, which stops levels from being solved by sweeping the light everywhere. If it runs flat while the runner is stuck waiting, the run ends.