Lil’ Guardsman caught my attention from the moment I first saw it announced. Its adorable art still and quirky humor looked right up my alley. Even though I was initially concerned that it might be a touch too casual, I was still eager to check it out. Now after having played it (more than once), I can say wholeheartedly that it surpassed my expectations in just about every way.

In Lil’ Guardsman you play as Lil, a twelve year old girl living in a fictional kingdom called the Sprawl. One day, Lil is tasked with taking over her father’s shift at the guard shed so he can do the responsible thing and place a bet on the Goblinball game. Not wanting her father to lose his job, Lil begrudgingly agrees and becomes the newest guard for the Sprawl. I mean, she’s twelve, so it’s about time she got a job, right?

The gameplay in Lil’ Guardsman is similar to that in Papers, Please. Lil will be visited by humans, elves, goblins, trolls, and other creatures, who all wish to be granted entry into the Sprawl. It’s up to Lil to thoroughly investigate each one and determine if they should be allowed in, denied, or even jailed. Getting to the bottom of the motivations of each character isn’t as easy as simply asking them what their intent is, but thankfully, Lil has quite a few tools at her disposal.

Lil will have up to three actions she can take before having to make her decision about each visitor. Speaking with them counts as an action. She can technically do this for all three of her moves, and the characters will actually give different dialogue each time she speaks to them. In a few rare cases, this is all that’s needed to understand their motivations. However, in most cases Lil will need to rely upon other methods to get to the truth.

One option is to call upon one of the Sprawl’s three advisors. They all tend to have differing viewpoints on how things should be handled and who should be allowed entry, as well as having their own personal agendas at times. They can genuinely be a good source for information on occasion, but that largely depends on which one of them you want to listen to in that instance. Most of the time their info is little more than a red herring, but they can sometimes offer a unique insight in a particular visitor.

Another option is to use one of the tools available in the guard shed. These include Truth Spray, a Decoder Ring, a Bullwhip, a Metal Detector, and an X-ray machine. These tools are a wonderful way to uncover the truth, but Lil only has a limited amount of times she can use them. This makes trying to decide when to use them another clever aspect of each puzzle. There’s also the Chronometer3000, which is a time travel device given to Lil by a scientist, which she can use a set number of times to go back in time and redo a level, if the outcome isn’t what you were hoping for.

Choosing to admit, deny, or jail each visitor will have different outcomes on the Sprawl. Lil’ Guardsman touches on some more mature themes at times, like racism, so admitting a goblin after being instructed not to might anger some of the more close-minded characters. They may even take out their frustrations on you by docking your pay or giving you some unsavory dialogue. However, making hard decisions like this can also lead to unforeseen results, like the goblin population being grateful for your support.

Then there are times when you think you’re making the right choice and things take an unexpected turn. For example, there was a particular character that I uncovered to be a hostile monster. I decided to imprison the creature, for the safety of the Sprawl. What I didn’t see coming was that by doing so, I allowed the creature to still be brought into the walls of the Sprawl, and while in jail they managed to kill the guards and escape. Then I had a murderous monster on the loose that I had to be on the lookout for from then on. It’s touches like this that add so much flavor to the recipe of Lil’ Guardsman.

Nearly every choice you make has some sort of effect on the game, with some having more drastic effects than others. Some are minor, like having someone be upset with you, while others can potentially lead to war. Adding high stakes makes Lil’ Guardsman even more compelling, and its multiple endings give it a ton of replayabilty. Even though I managed to get the best ending on my first playthrough, I still went back to see just how much the game changes when I made different choices. I was genuinely surprised by just how many things were different on my second playthrough.

Visually, Lil’ Guardsman is beautiful, with vibrant, cartoony characters, that are reminiscent of the art design found in Lost in Play. There’s a surprising amount of characters and species too, keeping the game fresh and interesting. The sound design is also solid, with a soundtrack that’s just as whimsical and lighthearted as the rest of them. Each line of dialogue is fully voiced as well, and the vocal performances are thoroughly enjoyable.

Lil’ Guardsman is a wonderful game, with a lot more depth than I was expecting. Yes, it’s completely filled with silliness, often times taking clear inspiration from games like Return to Monkey Island, but there’s a lot more to it than just zany humor. At times it has real heart, especially when it comes to the relationship between Lil and her father. Not every sinister looking monster is truly a villain, some are just poor, misunderstood creatures looking for some compassion. Lil’ Guardsman is absolutely delightful to play, and you should allow it entry into your life.

Graphics: 8.0 Adorable cartoony animations, with a wide variety of characters and a few different locations.	Gameplay: 9.0 Investigate each person as they come to the gate, either by talking to them, calling the three advisors, or using the various tools at your disposal, such as a bullwhip or an X-ray machine. Admitting or denying them entry has different consequences.
Sound: 8.0 The musical score fits the lighthearted tone of the game well. Every single line of dialogue is fully voiced, and the vocal performances are thoroughly enjoyable.	Fun Factor: 8.5 A silly, fun puzzle game that has a lot more heart than initially expected. Many of your decisions make a huge impact to the game’s outcome, creating tons or replayability.
Final Verdict: 8.5

Lil’ Guardsman is available now on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and Nintendo Switch.

Reviewed on PS5.

A copy of Lil’ Guardsman was provided by the publisher.