SHADE

What’s the draw?

SHADE is a browser puzzle game by raxeris about keeping a snowman intact on his walk. He follows the path himself. Your job is to change the sun's position so that nearby buildings cast shade over him. It turns the scenery into something you can use: a house on the wrong side of the road becomes useful when you bring the light around.

The opening village gave us a clear reason to watch the road ahead. We pulled the sun toward the morning horizon to stretch the shadows from the left-hand houses, then moved it across the sky for cover from the buildings on the right. The snowman reached safety with two stars. On the next route, towers flank a narrow drawbridge and leave less room for a late adjustment. Sun exposure reduced the top bar until our snowman melted.

Short attempts make it practical to learn by changing one decision. Clicking after a loss restores the route and the snowman's condition, while a successful crossing opens the next level. Mouse dragging worked in our desktop check; the developer also documents A/D and arrow-key controls. The walk continues as you plan, so this is a timing puzzle rather than an untimed board you can study indefinitely.

The developer announced SHADE on September 29, 2026, and the game page records an October 1 update. Its advertised journey contains six worlds. Our check covered the first village and drawbridge attempts only, with no claim about the later castle, orchard, harbor or beach. You can launch the official itch.io build without signing in; it does not use an Attract Mode account.

Before you jump in

Controls

Click to start, then drag horizontally to move the sun. A/D and left/right arrows are also documented by the developer. Click after a result to continue or retry.

Devices

Desktop Chrome mouse play checked. Keyboard controls are developer-documented; physical touch devices and controllers were not tested.

Our check

October 8, 2026 · Desktop Chrome

October 8, 2026: we played the official browser build in desktop Chrome with horizontal mouse drags. After an unsuccessful opening attempt, First Thaw ended at SAFE with two stars. Moving the sun from morning to evening changed the houses casting shade over the path.

We then attempted The Drawbridge, saw the condition bar empty and the MELTED result, and used Click · Try Again to restore the start and a full bar. A further retry also accepted sun movement. This check covers the first completed crossing and several short attempts, not all six worlds. We did not finish the drawbridge or test physical touch, controller input or persistence after reload.

Sources & development notes

• Official SHADE browser build and controls
• SHADE release announcement, September 29
• raxeris creator profile and game catalog