As the Messenger explores levels and defeats enemies, he gains a currency called Time Shards used to purchase useful upgrades and abilities.

The game begins as a linear adventure featuring elements of time travel, with the audio and visuals changing from an 8-bit style to 16-bit to represent the ninja's journey from the past to the future.

He hoped to create a game with a ninja as a protagonist, and pitched the concept to the Sabotage Studio co-founder Martin Brouard.

A downloadable content expansion called Picnic Panic was launched on July 11, 2019, and prequel titled Sea of Stars was released in August 2023.

[1][5] By collecting Time Shards earned by defeating enemies or exploring, the player can purchase additional upgrades such as being able to destroy projectiles.

[1][8] In this section, the player can use special warps to move between the past and present, changing the layout of each level and allowing them to access new areas.

[2][9] In addition to the main story, green medallions are hidden inside the levels as optional objectives, and players gain a reward by collecting all 45.

The Messenger arrives at the top of the mountain and encounters more blue-robed figures, who send him 500 years into the future to defeat the Demon King's general, Barma'thazël.

The Messenger defeats Barma'thazël and circumnavigates the world, arriving at the ninja village from the west and saving it from another attack by the Demon King.

In an effort to save humanity, Phantom created the scroll and attuned it with time magic, creating a continual cycle of Messengers who would travel through time and repel the demons, before passing on the scroll to a new hero; The blue-robes are previous Messengers who joined together to help find the notes and free Phantom from the curse.

The prototype was made up of only grey blocks and a placeholder figure, which Boulanger attributed to his idea that the art would not be included until after the controls were fully designed.

[11] He wished to make a game with a ninja as a playable character, believing they could be an ideal protagonist due to their ambiguous personality allowing players to project onto them.

Although the ideas of the ninja, scroll, and the change between the 8-bit and 16-bit styles remained part of the overall concept, Sabotage fundamentally altered the game many times.

[11][14] Brouard specifically highlighted this humor through the shopkeeper character's stories, but noted that players could skip all the dialogue if they wished to focus exclusively on the platforming.

[17] After missing a planned release a month earlier, the team crunched to finish The Messenger to avoid having to compete with popular AAA games for press attention.

The developers originally intending the shift between the 8-bit and 16-bit graphics to be a hidden surprise for players, but chose to advertise the mechanic to distinguish the game from other retro-style platformers.

[2][32] USgamer enjoyed the art and chiptune score, writing that the music matched the quality of the critically well-received Shovel Knight, and the sprite design was simple but well-animated.

[1][2] The bosses were received positively; Game Informer said that each challenged the player in a unique way,[1] and USgamer praised how their high level of detail contrasted with the art.

Nintendo Life thought Quarble was an interesting way of replacing the lives system and did not hinder the player's progress, but said that his dialogue were annoying.

USgamer and Nintendo Life said that the transition to the Metroidvania style was well executed, expressing that the platforming gameplay remained engaging.