OneShot is a puzzle adventure video game developed by the independent studio Future Cat LLC and published by KOMODO. It is also used, in the unhyphenated form oneshot, as a variant spelling of the general term one-shot, which has several distinct meanings across media, gaming, and technology.
The video game
OneShot was originally released as freeware on June 30, 2014. That version was created in about one month using RPG Maker 2003 by developers Eliza Velasquez and Nightmargin (Casey Gu), and was submitted as an entry in that engine's 2014 Indie Game Maker Contest. The game was later rebuilt in RPG Maker XP and released commercially for Windows on December 8, 2016, with macOS following in 2018 and Linux in 2019. A reworked console adaptation titled OneShot: World Machine Edition was released for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One on September 22, 2022; versions for Windows and Linux followed in September 2024, and for macOS in April 2025. The three-person studio Future Cat comprises Velasquez, Nightmargin, and programmer Michael Shirt.
In the game, the player controls Niko, a catlike child who arrives in a sunless world and must carry a replacement sun—a large lightbulb—through three regions and place it atop a central tower. The narrative distinguishes the player from the protagonist: the player is addressed by the username of their computer account and is treated in-story as a deity guiding Niko. The game is known for fourth-wall-breaking and metafictional mechanics, with puzzles that involve interacting with the player's operating system, such as moving the game window off-screen, altering the desktop wallpaper, or locating files outside the game. The console version simulates an operating system within the game to reproduce these interactions.
An additional ending path, titled "Solstice," was added on March 28, 2017, and is accessed through a note placed in the player's Documents folder after completing the main game.
Reception: The Windows version holds a Metacritic score of 80 out of 100, described as "generally favorable" reviews, while the Nintendo Switch World Machine Edition holds 92 out of 100, described as "universal acclaim." Reviewers generally praised the story, characters, art direction, and metafictional gameplay, while opinions on the soundtrack and environmental navigation were more divided. The game was nominated for "PC Game of the Year" at the 2017 Golden Joystick Awards and received an IndieCade nomination in the same year.
Related general term
The unhyphenated spelling oneshot is recorded as an alternative form of the adjective and noun one-shot, whose general sense—"complete or effective through being done, used, or applied only once"—dates to 1907 according to Merriam-Webster. Specific established usages include:
- Comics: a standalone single-issue work, as opposed to a limited or ongoing series.
- Fan fiction: a complete story published in a single chapter.
- Video games (slang): to defeat an opponent with a single hit, also called an "instakill."
- Machine learning: one-shot learning, in which a model classifies a new category from a single example.
- Electronics: a one-shot timer or monostable multivibrator, a circuit that emits a single output pulse when triggered.
- Film: a one-shot (or one-take) film is shot in a single continuous take.
The capitalized, unspaced form OneShot is most commonly associated with the 2016 video game described above. Broader related uses of the phrase one shot appear across film, literature, and music titles, as listed on the Wikipedia disambiguation page for the term.
