Skulls of the Shogun

Skulls of the Shogun

Released Jul 2013

Enter the Samurai Afterlife and join forces with vibrant ghost-samurai warriors, magical animal monks, and mustachioed samurai generals. It's fast-paced turn-based strategy inspired by Advance Wars, and supercharged with fighting-game flare!

90% positive · 866 reviews
Done
All announced content has been released
High confidence
Done
All announced content has been released
High confidence

Where to buy

Steam $9.99
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Evaluation

Skulls of the Shogun launched on Steam on July 29, 2013, as the "Bone-a-Fide Edition" — a version of the game that added a new episode, the Tanuki Monk unit, and additional features. The store description markets this as the complete, enhanced package, and the game shipped with all advertised content. The developer (17-BIT) issued a series of beta patches throughout the summer of 2013 that progressively unlocked campaign levels and fixed bugs, with the final release patch (1.12) shipping on August 26, 2013. After that point, no further content updates were made to the game itself. The only subsequent activity on the game's Steam page was a pair of platform maintenance updates in October and December 2022 that fixed Linux/Steam Deck compatibility issues — these were housekeeping changes, not new content. By December 2025, the developer's attention had moved entirely to their next game, AWAYSIS, which was announced at Day of the Devs. There is no announced or unreleased DLC for Skulls of the Shogun, no roadmap, and no developer statements about future content. The game launched as a complete product and has remained so since its final release patch in August 2013.
Evidence
Final release patch (1.12) shipped on August 26, 2013, adding a turn speed option and fixing remaining bugs. This is the last content-relevant update to the game.
news post · Aug 26, 2013 source content shipped
high
Store description markets the Bone-a-Fide Edition as the complete package, including the new episode, Tanuki Monk, developer commentary, and all campaign content.
store metadata · Jul 29, 2013 source content shipped
high

Media

Details

Developer
Publisher
17-BIT
Achievements
27
Platform
Windows, macOS, Linux
Controller
full support
Steam Deck
Verified
Players
Single-player · Multiplayer · PvP · Local/Split Screen

About this game

Joystiq says "...we found Skulls of the Shogun to be an absolutely enjoyable experience – so much so that we gave it a perfect score." It's fast-paced turn-based strategy inspired by Advance Wars, and supercharged with fighting-game flare! Enter the Samurai Afterlife and join forces with vibrant ghost-samurai warriors, magical animal monks, and mustachioed samurai generals. And now Skulls of the Shogun tastes even better in the Bone-a-Fide Edition, which adds a brand-new episode, the new Tanuki Monk, and a heaping helping of new features!

Key Features

  • A fast-paced, arcade-inspired blend of arcade action and turn-based strategy!
  • Rub shoulders with the colorful denizens of the Afterlife and power up your army to deadly demons!
  • Rampage through 24 levels in an epic single-player campaign!
  • Confound opponents with the all-new Tanuki Monk unit!
  • Gain experience and fuse emblems with an all-new player progression system!
  • Battle up to 4 players at once on spectacular multiplayer maps, both locally and online!
  • Power your way through an all-new episode, which features persistent troops and the mischievous new Tanuki Monk!
  • Get inside our heads with all-new Developer Commentary!

Note: Skulls of the Shogun no longer offers async multiplayer in its former Skulls Anywhere mode, only realtime multiplayer via Skulls Online mode.
Last evaluated Jun 28, 2026
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