The game is a collaboration between animator
Michel Gagné and game designer Joe Olson and takes inspiration from Gagné's "Insanely Twisted Shadow Puppets", a series of
interstitials he did for
Nickelodeon in 2005. The two first met when Gagné was giving a workshop for
Midway Games in Seattle, and Olson, having seen the Nickelodeon shorts, asked Gagné if he'd be interested in collaborating. Gagné was unfamiliar with the medium, only knowing games up to 1993's
Doom; however, he was eager and told Olson that he'd do research and get back to him. Olson, however, saw Gagne's nativity as an asset and told him that he would provide help from the gameplay side. Olson stated he "wanted to use the power of modern consoles to drive feature-quality animation." Initially the team worked on the game in their spare time, which led to them working on the game "only about three or four days a month" leading them to eventually quit their day jobs in order to focus on
Shadow Planet full time The game is set on an alien planet and includes exploration elements similar to
Metroidvania.
Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet was released on August 3, 2011. The game features music by
Dimmu Borgir during cinematics; the songs "Progenies of the Great Apocalypse" (orchestral version) and "Eradication Instincts Defined" play during the game, while the trailer featured "Blood Hunger Doctrine".
Expansions The
Shadow Hunters expansion was released on
Xbox Live Arcade on October 12, 2011. It expands on the Lantern Run mode in the base game, allowing players to team up in a continuation of the storyline.
Shadow Hunters was included for free in the PC port of the game. Local and online multiplayer are supported in Lantern Run and the
Shadow Hunters DLC. == Reception ==