Shadow Empire is a strategy video game developed by French studio VR Designs and published by Slitherine Software.

[3] If the conditions for abiogenesis are not met, fossil fuels may not exist, and a thin atmosphere could preclude the use of aircraft.

He decided on a post-apocalyptic science fiction setting because it opened up what he said was "a great canvas to have more immersive procedural games".

To increase immersion, Reijkersz wanted to give each planet a distant history and back story when procedurally generating it.

[4] In his review for PC Gamer, Jonathan Bolding wrote, "Ambitious in the extreme, Shadow Empire is a unique sci-fi wargame that's a little lost in its own details.

[3] Sin Vega of Rock Paper Shotgun wrote that it is "the best and most compulsively playable serious wargame I've ever played for a solid month.