We tend to review all sorts of games here on this website. RPGs, open world sandboxes, survival horror, platformers, metroidvanias, puzzlers, and more. I could be someone who sticks to a single genre and forms a personality around it, but that would get boring really quickly. Having variety in your life is good, and one style of games I appreciate are what I like to call “work games.” The games that take a really mundane task and transform it into an engaging loop. Explore a whole set of unique themes through that loop and tell engaging narratives. Papers, Please, will come to mind for a lot of folks. A document checking simulator where you have to decide whose granted entry into a strict communist controlled country, but shows signs of humanity from those trying to get by in the cruel world you’re placed in. Not For Broadcast is a personal favorite of mine as you decide whether the news should tell the truth or use lies to keep the public under control. One game I really wanted to cover a few months ago was Hardspace: Shipbreaker, but I never finished it so there.
I adore work games. I enjoy being intrigued by what should be really boring to most people. That or I’ve lowered my standards. Who cares? There’s a reason why the word niche exists. Here we are with another work game called Lil’ Guardsman. A border patrol simulator much like the well acclaimed Papers, Please but the catch is you decide who gets to go into a fantasy kingdom. The game was developed by small indie studio Hilltop Studios and published by TinyBuild. It does seem right up TinyBuild’s alley anyways seeing how they published that other cutesy indie title I really like called Tinykin. That and the previously mentioned Not For Broadcast, so they do got a knack for work games. This could’ve been a game that would’ve flown under the radar for me. It didn’t have much hype leading up to release, and compared to most indie games with silly little premises it didn’t really blow up. Which is weird because games with cutesy artstyles and funny cartoon humor click easily with crazy people online. Undertale and Untitled Goose Game blew up, so why not this game. Actually I’m kinda glad this game didn’t blow up because inviting a loud audience to shove your game into the face of others tends to ruin a bit of the fun for outsiders.
I heard about Lil’ Guardsman while listening to Bytesized reviews on Second Wind and became immediately intrigued by it. Papers, Please accept the dark setting and politics are replaced with light hearted humor and fantasy tropes. Brilliant, I’m surprised nobody has thought about this before aside from how we can make a setting more depressing than Papers, Please. So I plopped this game onto my wishlist and bought it recently during a PlayStation sale. Managed to beat the entire game within the span of two days and can safely confirm that Lil’ Guardsman is as good as I expected. This is probably gonna be one of my top indie games of the year and I’d be quite shocked if it doesn’t end up on my Game of The Year list. You can probably predict that I’ll end up strongly recommending this game, but do know I think Lil’ Guardsman is not the best work game out there. The core gameplay is good and the humor shines so bright that’ll forcibly make you smile against your will, but compared to Papers, Please or Not For Broadcast it lacks depth. This isn’t a game where you have to carefully think about every action you make or worry about the several mechanics. You do your job and that’s it. The game is carried mainly by its writing and premise, but who cares if it doesn’t have mature political depth. I like my silly games and it’s a well made one. Let’s talk about why I love Lil’ Guardsman and why it deserves your attention.
Story
You follow Lil. Yes, the protagonist is named Lil. She’s a twelve-year-old girl who lives in a big fantasy kingdom known as the Sprawl. A place consisting of multiple races like humans, elves, halflings, orcs, dwarves, goblins, and more. People from around the land come for the commerce and prosperity of the Sprawl, and leading the citizens of the kingdom is Princess Desdemona. You wanted to hang out with your friends one day, but your father Hamish wants to go bid cash on the upcoming Goblin Ball Game. He works for the kingdom and manages the task of letting people into or out of the city. He’s a guardsman, and you’re gonna be his helper for a bit. It is your to decide who gets allowed into the kingdom, and he quickly teaches how to determine to the best of your ability who gets to go in. You’re also helped by three councilmen who help run the kingdom when the princess is busy. Stryker the captain of the kingdom guards, Ashe a lady of the higher class, and Malcolm the court jester who runs the local prison. These three quickly get acquainted with you and are impressed you easily pick up the skills of your father. They then decide to make you the new guardsman and appoint Hamish to other important tasks. Like father like daughter, and that is unfortunate to you.
As the new guardsman you have control on who to help out or not. Who to let in, deny, and if it all goes downhill send them to jail. Stakes are rising throughout the kingdom, figuratively and in a literal sense. The princess goes missing and the heads of the city are trying to get ready to help marry her off to one of two powerful kingdoms in the hopes they can make an alliance. There’s propaganda happening amongst races, the heads want you to deny certain individuals’ rights, and your actions will affect what people do later on. Thankfully after your first day a scientist by the name of Bea gives you a magical hourglass. This hourglass allows you to rewind time and undo any mistakes you’ve made. Rewind and do what you think is best. Good luck guardsman.
Gameplay
If you’ve played Papers, Please before or this one I heard about called Not Tonight then you may know what to expect of Lil’ Guardsman. Each level has you going through a line of special little individuals. Each of these individuals have their own personalities, traits, and by looking at them you can decide whether to let them in or not. You are ranked based on your choices, and making the right choices will net you better rankings. This all tallies up to an end of level score, and the higher that end level score is the more cash you earn. This cash can then be spent on crystals or equipment upgrades, and you’re gonna need them to do your job. For every individual you have three action points as these allow you to do one of numerous actions to get information. You can call up one of the three councilmen for an opinion on the situation or help. Talk to the individual to get to know them. Whip open your tool drawer to use five tools which are powered on the crystals you hold, so use them wisely. Do up to three things and decide whether to let them in or tell them to bugger off. You want to experiment to get the most out of each individual.
The five tools you have to force them to say things they wouldn’t say under normal occasions. A single squirt of the Truth Spray will force them to reveal their real intentions. The Decoder Ring can help decrypt any scriptures they’re carrying. A metal detector to see if they have a weapon hidden underneath their clothing. An X-ray machine to find nonmetal objects beneath their poor rag clothing. Then there’s the bullwhip, which you aren’t going to use often but can be useful during certain situations. That’s the thing with Lil’ Guardsman. If you’re smart you don’t have to waste your turns. Understand what you’re dealing with, deal with it, and move onto the next person. If you play your cards correctly you may be able to confiscate items or get a solution that gives you a four star rating with a person. Boosting your score much higher and maybe get paid even more for your work. The game wants you to have a two star rating average or above to beat a level. Get anything below and it’s game over. You can also get game overs by doing the wrong thing or aggravating characters to the point of violence, so be careful with your choices. Other than that, there's nothing much else to say. Let’s hope you can make your father proud!
Thoughts
My time with Lil’ Guardsman was very lovely. It took me only five hours to beat the game and roll credits, but each hour felt well spent. You can probably finish this game in a few sittings, and the multiple choices you make and different endings adds a bit of replay value to the game. It does have a few flaws and it doesn’t reach the heights of Papers, Please and Not For Broadcast, but I think it’s a more easier game to get into and recommend. It's a much more accessible game and I appreciate it. The main draws for Li’ Guardsman are gonna be it's cutesy artstyle and witty humor. It has a colorful and simplistic look catered to younger audiences, but I enjoy looking at it. Partially because I’m getting tired of individuals having every pore on their face rendered, but mainly because it’s just nice. What’s wrong with liking an animated look because it looks nice? The art style is cheery, pops towards your eye, and can be expressive depending on the characters you are dealing with. A few weeks ago I watched Dungeon Meshi for the first time, and one of my praises for it was how goofy looking the characters were. In a fantasy world not everyone should be humanoid or have similar traits. Giving each race a special quirk or trait is what adds tons of depth and visual personality, and Lil’ Guardsman does that alongside its range of VAs which are all rather good. It can be one tone at times, but the people they got are splendid.
The humor is fantastic. It will make you laugh out loud and if it doesn't at the moment later on it will. I found myself constantly smiling at the different weirdos it brought up. I like the different reactions they give when using your tools, or how some of them will adapt depending on what you do or the choices you made before in previous encounters. There are limitations of course, but limitations based on reactions apply to all video games. You can’t call councilmen twice, and using a tool twice will net you the same response with a single individual per encounter. I don’t really care though. There’s enough variety and even though it sounded bad on paper I like how you only get three turns per individual. It creates this careful decision making on what to do, and what order you should execute your actions to get the most from them. Maybe it’s best to call up a councilman ahead of time, or talk to an individual first to get their opinions. Maybe sense what is wrong and hit them with one of your tools. There are some encounters where calling up one of the three councilmen will give you an instant response on what to do, and so you have a higher chance of getting the three star rating. This does bring me onto some of my criticisms for this game. Out of all the work games I’ve played, this one is the easiest. It downright gives you the solutions at times, and I never found myself getting a game over outside of choices where the individual you are dealing with kills you. Every stage was beaten with three stars at least.
The board in the back of the guardshed can give you the solution as well. As the notes tell you what to expect in each level and who to call specifically. A mechanic I really appreciate but also see as a critical flaw is the time bending hourglass. All your choices matter and if you screw up or want to correct your choice you can rewind time. It helps, but it also makes the game easier too. You can use this hourglass as much as you want with no gameplay penalties besides a quick unique encounter. That’s it. Why carefully think about what you’re gonna do if you can just go back and undo it. The hourglass is a built in cheese, but I do like it from a narrative perspective. When you replay a level in Papers, Please it’s you reloading a save, but in Lil’ Guardsman it’s you altering the timeline to do something better. The hourglass becomes a dangerous tool and I like the plot twist near the end. Where you really figure out what’s going on, what may happen, and try to stop it. Again, I like the writing. It’s charming, witty, and isn’t afraid to make fun of fantasy tropes throughout the years. Knowing when to nail jokes and subvert your expectations. However, there are times when the game is predictable. An event midway through the game is easily foreseeable if you pay attention to how characters act. The game, again, even makes fun of these twists and goes like, “Yeah, of course you were going to do it.” I’m fine with them doing it, but for some players I can see it getting rather annoying once you hit the last hour or so.
My last complaint is that money is hard to make at first, but overtime you get a ton of it. To the point expensive upgrades and crystals don’t cost much if you spend it wisely. There’s one crystal that’s cheaper than the regular ones, but has a fifty-fifty chance of working. You’re given free regular crystals each day though, so what was the bloody point of having them? This may sound really critical and all, but do remember I love every second of this game. It has a good core loop and each individual feels more like a puzzle rather than a decision. Hitting them with the right spice and seeing their life fall apart into thin ice. I felt clever and I loved seeing every reaction. All the characters are quite likable, even the hatable ones, and they never felt like repeats of each other. This game is fun and I can see more people being easily able to get into this game compared to other work game titles like Papers, Please. This is what we call a gateway game. An entry in a genre that simplified the mechanics, but in the hopes it’ll get you in much easier and try out other genre entries. Into The Breach is the gateway game to tactic games, because it takes place on a small scale and mech have a few functions.
If it’s not the simplified mechanics then you’ll easily be attracted by the characters and artstyle. It’s just a charming experience and twenty bucks is a really good asking price. Not too much, and you get your money’s worth. I’m honestly excited to see what this studio puts out next. I’m sure this is their debut title and with more time and better budget they can put out something better. I love this game and I hope more people check it out as it’s one of the most underrated indie darlings of the year. In the end I am going to give Lil’ Guardsman a 9/10 for excellence at best. Excelsior! Don't sue me.
This critique was written by the single man at Review on. Stay tuned for more content and feel free to check more reviews out over at my site!
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