We Love It's Guide to…
As 12-year-old Lil, question fantasy travelers at a castle gate, use limited tools, and decide who enters the city.
Released 23 Jan 2024
Interrogate Fantasy Visitors
Deploy Guard Gadgets
Choose Who Enters
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.
Developed by Hilltop Studios · Published by Versus Evil, tinyBuild
Themes from a helpfulness-selected sample of Steam reviews, not the aggregate Steam score.
Lil' Guardsman casts you as Lil, a 12-year-old covering her father's shift at a castle gate. She questions human and fantasy visitors and decides whether to admit them, turn them away, or send them to jail.
Each visitor is a small deduction puzzle. You can talk, consult advisors, or use gadgets to investigate, but have only a few actions before making a decision. Tools have limited uses, and you choose which to equip before a shift.
Between shifts, Lil visits locations and meets people whose stories connect to the wider plot. Decisions at the gate can affect later events and the city's story; a time-manipulation device lets you revisit encounters, and the game offers multiple endings.
Players who enjoy the game often praise its colorful presentation, funny dialogue, distinctive fantasy visitors, and lively voice acting. Many also like its relaxed mix of questioning, light deduction, and story choices. Reactions to the humor and to how much choices affect the larger story are mixed, and some players find perfect-score outcomes rely too much on guesswork.
| Platforms | Windows, macOS |
|---|---|
| Achievements | 48 |
| Age ratings |
|
| Controller support | PlayStation, Xbox |
| Controller required | No |
| Demo | View demo on Steam |
| DLC / extras | 1 listed on Steam |
| Metacritic | 82/100 View on Metacritic |
