Lil' Guardsman
Imagine you're a 12 year old, suddenly in charge of the guard shed at the castle gate, where you decide if elves, goblins and 100+ other characters should be admitted. It's a wonderful combination of deduction, narrative and puzzle games.
Lil' Guardsman is a adventure, casual and point & click game
developed by Hilltop Studios
and published by Versus Evil and tinyBuild.
Released on January 23rd 2024 is available on Windows and MacOS
in 4 languages: English, German, Simplified Chinese and Spanish - Latin America.
It has received 887 reviews of which 842 were positive and 45 were negative resulting in a rating of 8.9 out of 10. 😎
The game is currently priced at 19.50€ on Steam.
The Steam community has classified Lil' Guardsman into these genres:
Media & Screenshots
Get an in-depth look at Lil' Guardsman through various videos and screenshots.
Requirements
These are the minimum specifications needed to play the game. For the best experience, we recommend that you verify them.
Windows
- Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system
- OS: 64-bit Windows 10, 11
- Processor: 3.0 GHz Quad Core CPU
- Memory: 8 GB RAM
- Graphics: GeForce GTX 660 or Radeon RX 460
- DirectX: Version 11
- Storage: 4 GB available space
MacOS
- OS: Mac OS X 10.15
- Processor: Intel i5 Quad-Core, 2.7 GHz
- Memory: 8 GB RAM
- Graphics: GTX 660 / RX 460
- Storage: 4 GB available space
Reviews
Explore reviews from Steam users sharing their experiences and what they love about the game.
this is and amazing game but i have a problem i need MORE singing people (if you know you know) i keep letting them in and need more seriously its a bit like papers please but less harsh. great designs and stories
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This game is so underrated. Completely voiced dialogue by real actors, a wide range of humor, unexpected twists in writing, unique drawn art style. This game has made me gasp aloud and shout "oh no!" The game is worth the pricetag if anything for the length of playtime. I recommend streaming this game. The one drawback that I hope devs think of changing is to add a multiple fast-forwards option to speed up events--especially if we're replaying a chapter. Finally, everyone compares this to "Papers, Please". It's not. The only element is that you work in a guardshouse maybe 60% of the game. It's a fantasy story of a country where you uncover silly plots and your actions have impacts on the country's narrative. I haven't enjoyed a Point and Click game this much since Pillars of the Earth.
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Lil guardsman is an overall excellent game, even if it's advertisements are a bit misleading. Story: By far the best thing in the game is its story, with it's emotional core being the bond Lil shares with her dad. The game perfectly balances Lil being a 12 year old who is put in a very stressful situation without them coming across as annoying. I really liked how they SHOWED Lil missing her dad without ever having to directly state that. Not only that but the world building is solid with different factions and people having their own desires and goals and you navigating the conflicts of said desires and goals is a huge part of the game. Each main and supporting character feels fleshed out and by the end of the game you really do feel like you want to protect this town you've come to know and shape. Gameplay; Okay so this is the misleading thing a lot of people get wrong. A lot of people call this a "Paper's Please" game but with fantasy elements and I think that's an inaccurate statement. To me a Paper's Please game is a test of your OCD; basically a test of your ability to notice small mistakes in a repetitive task while under pressure from a ticking clock. Lil Guardsman is not this; Lil Guardsman is more like Monkey Island with a Papers Please setting. Yes you are working border security and checking people, but there's no time limit here and you also aren't given all of the information right away with every person having some kind of secret objective you need to perform to get a 4 star rating. While you can logically deduce some of the secret objectives based on visual clues and hints from your info board, the game does strongly encourage you to just click your tools and see what happens. This doesn't make this a bad game, it's just not a Papers Please game if that's what you were hungry for. I do also want to state that the first level in particular is terrible from a gameplay perspective (it's great from a story perspective). At no point does the tutorial tell you that there are MULTIPLE ways of getting a 4 star rating, as different tools and techniques can complete the secret objective. Players will probably figure this out at some point when they realize they can't complete a 4 star rating because they used all of the charges for the needed tool up earlier in the run. But the game should really TELL the player this in the beginning as that majorly impacts decision making. Also it's a very strange choice that the player doesn't unlock the ability to go back in time and redo their decisions in the first level. Since that's when their most likely still experimenting and trying to figure out what each tool and option does. Granted the first level is pretty much on safety rails and won't stop you from getting a bad ending but its still surprising nevertheless and leaves a bad first impression. Luckily the game does pick up from there and keeps going strong. Managing your tools and upgrades and money is pretty fun although you can become quickly broken by mid game. Hoarding items can be annoying at times since only a few are useless but since you don't know what will become useful later you end up keeping everything (especially since an item's use can be reveal hours after collecting the item). Not that money is a big issue in-game since most levels rarely need you to use a single tool more than once in a level. Still from a completionist standpoint it does feel weird to see so many items in my inventory collecting dust when I can sell them. I only played through the game once and got the best ending, so I can't speak on the game's choice system although it did feel like my choices were influencing events in the game. Overall though I had a fun time and would recommend them game.
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This game is so much more than what it seems. The Papers Please influence is incredibly apparent, but the tone and style of writing is so distinct from its inspiration that it's easy to forget that entirely. Lil Guardsman maintains a breezy vibe, but somehow manages to simultaneously establish genuine consequences for your actions as a gatekeeper, making for some genuinely tense moments. The puzzles are clever, the writing is consistently hilarious, and quite quickly I found myself caring a lot about the people I was interacting with. It became a personal mission to do the job right, to protect this cosy little community that was steadily growing around me. Lil Guardsman is so full of charm and sweetness, and handles its approach to branching paths in a fun, satisfying way. It's an easy recommendation!
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Wow, I don't even know where to begin. Things in Lil Guardsman start reasonably innocently. Lil is the daughter of Hamish, a guardsman who operates the gate at a kingdom called The Sprawl. He wants to bet on a Goblinball game and drafts his daughter to fill his position. As the days go by and the situation in the city changes, Lil ends up with increasingly strict restrictions from significant authorities in the kingdom, handling greater responsibilities and night shifts, and becomes a test subject for a Chronometer 3000 device that can let her rewind time. Much of the comedy in Lil Guardsman comes from the obvious and blatant silliness. That part of it is excellent and reminiscent of LucasArts classic titles. But I also appreciated when said humor involved critiques of modern society and issues stemming from corruption and intolerance. For example, the state of the working class and the nature of politicians are handled well and in genuinely funny ways. Speaking of those deeper issues, while Lil Guardsman is a humorous game, it also addresses them and allows players to make decisions to stand up to authority and for equality. For example, racism runs rampant. Species like Goblins are discriminated against, with specific "rules" on some days threatening punishments for Lil letting non-humans in or telling her she should treat them differently than human visitors. We also see firsthand how power struggles work and have moments during which we could be part of the problem rather than the solution. Those complexities can also be wholesome. There is way more heart to Lil Guardsman than I expected. The relationship between Lil and her father, Hamish, is absolutely exceptional. It pairs typical goofy dad humor with more serious moments between the two. Hamish constantly jokes with his daughter, but we also get asides that reveal precisely how much he's doing for her sake as a single parent. At another point, a choice that shapes the Sprawl involves Lil debating if she stays positive for him or is honest about how challenging the situation is for her. I hesitated because both sides could be the "right" answer or have "negative" consequences. As for the gameplay, it is a mix of Papers Please and classic point-and-click adventures. When Lil is at her post, there are certain daily restrictions and goals. She can talk to the person trying to get into The Sprawl, teasing, trusting, or doubting them to gain additional insight. Three advisors can be called to get an understanding or because it's part of the mandates for that shift. You can use a Bullwhip, Decoder Ring, Metal Detector, Truth Spray, or X-ray to analyze people further and handle the situation. It is also possible to confiscate items, then either use them later or sell them for money for the crystals needed to power and upgrade the tools you use each day. Of course, there's also the Chronometer 3000, a significant plot device that allows you to rewind at will or if you get a bad ending. After taking three "turns" investigating, you admit someone to the city, deny them entry, or even sometimes jail them. The only downside is that the array of tools only carries the same weight. The Decoder Ring, Truth Spray, and X-ray proved vital to me throughout the game, but I never needed the Bullwhip or Metal Detector. The Metal Detector was a backup item in case I'd spent my X-ray for the shift. However, I appreciate that the developers even realized this about specific tools, as it can come up cleverly depending on your approach in one encounter. However, since you choose how you invest Lil's paychecks into upgrades, you can… prioritize the equipment you see as crucial to you and focus on that throughout your run. I also appreciated that while the focus is on the guardsman shifts, occasional adventure elements involve logical reasoning or finding specific items. When these segments come up, they always keep their welcome and are well-integrated. There's a reason for Lil to be called upon to help make an important decision (adults are corrupt and incompetent) Lil Guardsman is one of those games that I took a chance on because the trailers made me smile, and I don't regret it. It's entertaining, sometimes touching, and even shocked me at specific points because of the immediate results of my decisions. Speaking of which, this is also a game during which you face the consequences of your actions, and I'm curious to go back and replay it to see how different choices will affect the city on another run. Imagine you're a 12-year-old, suddenly in charge of the guard shed at the castle gate, where you decide if elves, goblins, and 100+ other characters should be admitted. It's a combination of deduction, narrative, and puzzle games. Lil Guardsman's detail, depth, humor, and heart surprised me. I highly recommend it.
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Last Updates
| Steam data | 23 January 2025 00:49 |
|---|---|
| SteamSpy data | 22 January 2025 01:58 |
| Steam price | 23 January 2025 12:49 |
| Steam reviews | 21 January 2025 07:55 |
Online players
7
Developer
Hilltop Studios
Publisher
Versus Evil ,
tinyBuild
Release
23 Jan 2024
Platforms
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