The Short Grey is a Franco-Swiss video game released in 1992 for the Amiga and Atari ST. The project was initiated, programmed, and self-published by French developer Jean-Christophe Jacquet. Graphics were created by Pascal Arn, while the music (available only in the Amiga version) was composed by Grégoire Dini. Arn and Dini are Swiss and were members of the demogroup Alcatraz, a highly active and well-regarded collective on the Amiga scene. An introductory sequence produced by Alcatraz precedes the Amiga version of the game. The game was released with an accompanying booklet that expands on its fictional universe, explains the controls, and guides the player through the initial puzzles.

The game was developed with limited resources and can be described as semi-professional. It was the first game created by its three developers, who largely learned game development during the production process itself.

The Short Grey is a point-and-click adventure game in which the player controls an on-screen avatar navigating multiple locations and interacting with the environment and non-player characters using a mouse interface. One segment, located around the midpoint of the game, departs from this structure and introduces a first-person shooting sequence. The game frequently references cinematic conventions: the box presents it as a “comedy horror thriller,” and the various game-over sequences trigger end credits listing fictional actors purportedly portraying the characters.

The narrative of The Short Grey places the player in the role of an alien disguised as a human who, after landing in a flying saucer, infiltrates the highest levels of power. To achieve this objective, the protagonist must carry out a series of immoral and violent actions, including stealing cars, taking money from a church, robbing a bank, and killing both animals and humans—one of whom is killed with a chainsaw. The story unfolds in an urban environment featuring multiple explorable buildings, sewer systems, and an absurdist-inspired dungeon sequence in which the player must escape the diabolical master of Deathwick Castle.

Ultimately, the character succeeds in assuming the appearance of the President of the United States. He then enters a secret bunker and triggers a nuclear apocalypse, annihilating a humanity portrayed as decadent. This act enables an alien invasion of Earth by his species, which suffers from overpopulation on its home planet.

In the Amiga version, the first two musical tracks are cheerful and upbeat, creating a contrast with the on-screen actions.

The game received moderate visibility in the French-language video game press, with more than fifteen mentions in magazines such as Tilt, Joystick, Atari Magazine, and ST Magazine.