little guard It’s everything I love about indie games. It features a charming hand-drawn aesthetic in the style of Saturday morning cartoons, a brilliant sense of humor, a refreshingly non-violent gameplay concept, and some catchy music. And best of all, it was made by Toronto itself. Hilltop Studios.

In little guard, you play as a 12-year-old girl named Lilith who has to replace her father as the guard of a medieval fantasy city known as Sprawl. As she speaks to each visitor, she will have to use a variety of dialogue options and tools to deduce whether they should be admitted or denied entry. In that sense, it’s similar to Lucas Pope’s seminal 2014 puzzle simulator. Papers pleaseand Hilltop hasn’t shied away from that inspiration.

But while Pope’s creation was a more emotionally charged story about developing empathy for immigrants, Hilltop has been open about its desire to offer a more light-hearted spin on that gameplay framework. In fact, the team was inspired by the so-called “cozy” genre to offer a much more relaxed and purely entertaining game.

It’s an approach that pays off beautifully. Working with local Toronto comedians Matt Bernard and Jeremy Lapalme, Playtop has brought a lovable and quirky sense of humor to little guard. From our cheerfully sarcastic leader constantly pointing out the ridiculousness of having so much responsibility (and even breaking the fourth wall on occasion) to the colorful cast of over 100 knights, wizards, goblins, vampires and other people who arrive at the door with their share luggage fair, little guard It is full of fantasy.

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That amazing variety of characters means that no two interactions ever feel the same. Whether it’s an inept sorcerer trying to explain (poorly) that he has to go to a child’s birthday party, a worried Cyclops looking to get his children back from a deadbeat ex, or a Snow White-style psychotic woman singing about her crimes, I was constantly anxious to see who would come next. There are even some nighttime levels where the visitors to the gate gleefully adopt a horror theme to shake things up even more.

Additionally, each character is voiced by a talented cast of Toronto actors, which is especially praiseworthy given the amount of dialogue here. For each visitor, the question process consists of three rounds before you have to make a decision, and you can only perform one action per round. This means you’ll have to decide whether you want to question the person directly (which opens up ramifications of “agree,” “doubt,” or “provoke” responses) or use one of several tools, including an x-ray machine to locate information. hidden. items (or people), truth spray to analyze lies, or a decoder to discover otherwise unreadable objects.

It may seem like a lot, but focusing each interaction on just three rounds ensures consistent pacing and accessible gameplay. This is because the challenge here is not making the “right” decision, as the game continues either way. Instead, you are encouraged to pay attention to the advice or instructions of your bosses and the suspicious behavior of the visitors themselves to achieve a higher score. For example, wisely using X-rays on a shadowy figure adorned in a trench coat could reveal that there are two people underneath and you’ll receive more points accordingly. Who you admit, deny, or once you get to a certain point, jail will also have an impact on the story later on. Some of these characters will make bigger changes, particularly in a conflict between kingdoms, while others will simply make fun cameos in various places.

It’s a welcome solution to maintaining that welcoming environment while also rewarding players with different outcomes, both in the interim (see the characters’ different inventive responses to everything you do) and in the sense of altering the story in the long run. term. To further encourage experimentation, Hilltop has even cleverly included a rewind mechanic that is integrated into the narrative and allows you to change your options. Admittedly, there are a few cases where I made a decision that frustratingly led to an untimely death, but fortunately, the time you spend with each visitor is short enough that very little progress is lost on these rare occasions.

Adding to the cozy atmosphere are the moments of free time that Lil’ has between shifts in which you can visit different fixed areas of Sprawl. While you’re there, you can use the gold earned from your highest scores to upgrade your question team, talk to NPCs, and even pick up some optional story scenes to flesh out the world. For example, sympathetically admitting that some teenage goblins allowed me to visit a secret goblin meeting about creatures oppressed by humans planning a rebellion. These kinds of discoveries, along with Scott Christian’s elegant lo-fi beats, provided great encouragement to see more of Sprawl.

Sometimes, you want serious games as “works of art” like Papers pleaseand sometimes you want something a little more fun. However, that doesn’t mean the experience has to be any less compelling in its own way, and little guard It’s proof positive of that. From its crisp writing and artistic style to its open-ended gameplay and wonderful audio from both the actors and composer, little guard It is one of the most delicious games I have played in recent times.

little guard It is now available on PlayStation 4/5, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch and PC (Steam).

Image credit: Hilltop/Versus Evil