Lil’ Guardsman, a narrative-driven deduction adventure game from independent studio Hilltop Studios and publisher Versus Evil (@vs_evil), will launch later this year on Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation, Switch and PC.

Lil' Guardsman is a narrative deduction game, inspired by the classic point-and-click genre and the mechanics of Papers, Please. Set in a high-fantasy world with the comedic sensibility of Monkey Island and other 90s Lucasarts adventure classics, Lil must make tough decisions as she decides who to allow into her castle home. Consequences can be severe, so you’ll have to make clever use of your abilities to uncover mass conspiracies and protect your castle and family from devious interlopers.

The game puts players in the role of a young girl who finds herself covering for her dad, the head castle guardsman. As she interrogates an array of fun and weird characters trying to gain entry to their city walls, you must discover each visitor’s true intentions through cunning dialogue and clever use of her toolbox of investigative items.

This new blog post provides an overview of such gadgets and gizmos Lil has at her disposal. Learn about the cipher-cracking Decoder Ring, the transparently named Truth Spray, or the all-seeing X-RAY machine. If all else fails you can resort to the trusty Bullwhip! Guardsmen aren’t generally encouraged to whip people willy-nilly, but sometimes it’s the best tool for the job!

Lil’ Guardsman is expected to launch in 2023 on Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation, Nintendo Switch and PC via Steam.

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