The Third Shift

The Third Shift is a Game Boy-styled horror game set in the Roanoke Museum of History and Wonder. You play as a newly hired security guard working under your boss, Daniel, and investigate the museum and the surrounding community of Roanoke Island. The history of Roanoke and the disappearance of the Lost Colony are part of the story.

Perspectives and exploration

The game blends third- and second-person perspectives, with surveillance cameras showing you from another viewpoint. Away from the cameras, you explore in first-person through point-and-click gameplay. The museum is a labyrinth of halls and exhibits, where gruesome creatures hunt you as you uncover its mysteries.

The exhibits

Each exhibit covers a topic with educational information and secrets. You can explore:

• The Human Body Exhibit: a controversial display of plastinated corpses showing grafted human specimens.
• The Aquarium: tranquil halls and underwater tunnels.
• Terrors of the Deep: an exhibit beneath The Aquarium featuring deep-sea creatures and other mysteries.
• The Cryptids Exhibit: a large display about cryptids from around the world, including the Loch Ness Monster, Bigfoot and Chupacabra.
• Those Who Came Before: an exhibit dedicated to the Indigenous people of the Island.
• Our Island: featuring the world’s largest potato, Big Beard the Pirate and Mama Jo’s eatery.
• The Mystery (and History) of Roanoke: an account of events during the colonization of Roanoke in the late 16th century.
• An unnamed exhibit: disturbing secrets lie beneath the museum.

Choices and endings

Your choices affect the ending you receive and your paycheck. The directions you take and dialogue decisions you make shape the story, which has six different endings.

Retro presentation

Set in the 90s, the game uses pixel art and animation inspired by the Game Boy, with an eerie chiptune soundtrack and crunchy audio design. Its tone combines horror, comedy and charm. You can switch between 17 color palettes, collect pop caps and press pennies using the Penny Pincher machine, and encounter different death cutscenes for each enemy.