Kuro:
A Shadow's Dream Review

Kuro: A Shadow's Dream (2020) is a running and jumping puzzle game. You play as a boy ninja called Kuro who is chasing a mysterious caped figure through a colourfully painted landscape. It's unusual because although you collect special abilities (higher jumps or faster running) they must be capitalised upon before they run out.

You run through the game left to right and use these timed abilities to their best advantage to traverse the platforms, rocks and bridges. You have the optional quest of collecting Shuriken (throwing stars) which are hidden in the level.

There are four separate levels representing different seasons and times of day. You can play any level from the level select screen, and it will show you how many Shuriken you have collected for each. There are no timers for the levels themselves, and it warns you if you have not collected everything before leaving the level.

Kuro: A Shadow's Dream has a beautiful art style similar to traditional Japanese art. It will appeal to children and adults due to its charm and unusual time-limited abilities. There is also an unfolding story in the game which reveals the identity of the caped character you have been chasing.

Our examiner, Andrea Walney, first checked Kuro: A Shadow's Dream (Dreams) 2 years ago. It was re-examined by Jo Robertson and updated 5 months ago.