Question & Answers

Most players complete the game in 12 to 15 hours, depending on their platforming skills. If you are a completionist, a couple more hours might be required to find and complete the dozens of optional challenge rooms.

All things retro gaming! Our goal is to capture the essence of the games we fell in love with growing up in the 90s, and present experiences with a similar aesthetic that have a modern take on the game design side. Amongst the big ones in our hearts are Ninja Gaiden, Chrono Trigger, and Monkey Island.

We are biased, but over a thousand player reviews aren’t.

Also, some Youtube Superstars made videos about the game. Like this one.

Also, the game won numerous awards.

Only time will tell, but The Messenger’s world certainly conceals enough backstory to allow for more adventures!

You can either send us a bug report at bugs@sabotagestudio.com or in the #bugs channel on Discord. Please include the following information
-Platform
-Level
-Bug explanation
-Reproduction steps
-Any other details

You can buy it on Steam (8bit/16bit) if you feel like supporting the team, or you can get it for free on these platforms :
-Youtube (8bit/16bit)
-Bandcamp (8bit/16bit)
-Spotify (8bit/16bit)

The community maintains a wiki about every single detail of the game, and a lot of our members love sharing theories and takeaways on the unexpectedly deep lore or our game world. Curious and inquisitive minds are always welcome, feel free to come talk with us on Discord!

Here are a couple things that helps us :
-Telling your friends about the game
-Sharing our social media posts
-Participating on Discord
-Buying some Merch

It is challenging, but not punitive. Thanks to Quarble, our hero’s demon familiar, The Messenger gets teleported back to the latest checkpoint upon death, and checkpoints are abundant.

Some bosses might be complex for more casual gamers, but each of them has a clear strategy to execute which can easily be found online, or by asking for advice to our friendly community on Discord.

We are a small team but are dedicated to putting the game in the hands of all who want to play it. We are looking to port the game to as many platforms as possible over time, but we cannot commit on dates at the moment.

Absolutely! The Messenger has been designed with speedrunners in mind, where each mechanic can be fully used to optimize paths and display skill mastery in a way viewers can read even if they can’t execute. In the hands of a skilled speedrunner, our ninja truly looks the part!

There are currently 4 different popular runs : 8-bit, linear, any% and 100%. Visit the Speedrun section to learn more about the techniques.

Our team is pretty complete at the moment, but that could change in the future. Send us your resume at jobs@sabotagestudio.com and we’ll get in touch with you if we feel like there is a fit.

Of course. Join our community on Discord, many veterans will be available to answer your questions, explain advanced techniques and send you the right video links.

The best way to get in touch with us is through Discord. The whole team is there on weekdays and it’s the best way to get a quick answer. The second best way is by sending us an email at info@sabotagestudio.com.

Want to learn about the thought process behind Cloudstepping, our twist on the classic double jump mechanic? Thierry and Philippe wrote an in-depth article on Gamasutra, reminiscing about the early days of The Messenger’s pre-production.