Originally released for Mac OS 9 it was ported to other platforms due to the source code availability.

The player controls a psychic bodyguard who is tasked with protecting a VIP from a horde of zombies, snipers and other assorted would-be assassins.

[1] The object of Black Shades is to defend the VIP from assassins and zombies for a set amount of time.

[4][5] In 2021, David Rosen relicensed the game under the GNU General Public License version 3 or later.

[3] Eurogamer's Jim Rossignol named Black Shades number 2 in a top 20 list of Summer of PC Freeware games.