90/100
Critics1 review

Where to get it

2025 · Intelligent Systems · Role-playing · Social deduction

Fire Emblem Shadows

The gameplay of Fire Emblem Shadows combines real-time strategy and social deduction.

Released: 24 September 2025
Platforms: Android iOS
Genres: Role-playing Social deduction Strategy Tactical
Developers: Intelligent Systems DeNA
Publishers: Nintendo
Series: Fire Emblem
Perspective: Bird view / Isometric
Themes: Fantasy Warfare
Country: Japan
Age ratings: ESRB E10+PEGI 7 CERO A
Languages: English, Japanese

About

Fire Emblem Shadows is a 2025 social deduction strategy video game developed by Intelligent Systems and published by Nintendo for Android and iOS. It is the second mobile spin-off of the Fire Emblem series following Fire Emblem Heroes (2017). Unlike Heroes, the game forgoes the series' traditional tactical role-playing gameplay in favor of multiplayer social deduction.

Players engage in combat where one of their number is secretly a traitor who can sabotage others. After combat's completion, players vote on who they think is the traitor and subsequently must fight the traitor afterwards. The game features an in-game story split in two halves; the light half focuses on the journeys of heroes such as Kurt, a royal who is forced to flee her home country after it is attacked by the Goddess of Shadows, Fenris, while the dark half provides additional context to the actions of involved characters, including a focus on servants of both Fenris and the Light Goddess Naga as they engage in combat with each other.

›Story

Three allies venture into darkness. One of them serves that darkness.

Light or shadow? Which challenge will you face?

Keywords

social
sword & sorcery
betrayal
teamwork
social deduction
grid-based

Media

The articlegameplay, story, development, reception

Gameplay

A first in the series, Shadows features real time strategy gameplay with social deduction elements. In online multiplayer battles, three players work together against a series of enemies, with one player secretly serving the Goddess of Shadows, Fenris; this player can attack and sabotage their allies. Combat is automatic, with characters moving on their own; players can control when they use magic and healing abilities. Players can adjust the skills and weapons they use outside of combat.

Each game is split into two rounds; in the first, losing is impossible, and players may do whatever they wish to convince or demonstrate to the others that they are not the traitor. After combat, players must vote on who they believe is the Fenris-aligned player; if players associated with the light guess correctly, they receive additional revivals, allowing a player's character to heal themselves if they are defeated. Once the traitor is revealed, they transform into an animalistic version of themselves based on a particular trait present on their body. Players then must fight the traitor in combat during the second round; whichever side prevails in combat wins the game.