One of the best Canadian indie games of the last few years will soon drop on mobile.
Toronto-based Hilltop Studios has announced that its acclaimed 2024 puzzle-adventure game Lil’ Guardsman will launch on Android, iOS and Mac this fall with an expected November 3 release. The mobile port is being handled by French publisher Plug In Digital.
In Lil’ Guardsman, you play as the titular child of the guard of a kingdom who has to fill in for her dad’s shift. Notably, the game features a riff on the “choose who to admit” deduction framework of Papers, Please by setting it in a colourful fantasy world inspired by classic ’90s LucasArts games like Monkey Island. As you talk with elves, goblins, knights and all kinds of other characters, you’ll have to use fancy gadgets and your own reasoning to ultimately decide who to let in.
And because some of the Hilltop team has backgrounds in the performing arts scene, Lil’ Guardsman is also very inventive, offering riotous send-ups of the likes of slasher films and Disney Princesses while bringing a level of ear-catching musicality to the whole experience.
You can read more on Lil’ Guardsman in our review from 2024, but suffice it to say it’s absolutely worth your time. You can pre-register the game now on the Google Play Store and App Store, with a 10 per cent discount set to be offered during the first two weeks of release.
Beyond Lil’ Guardsman, Hilltop has been hard at work at its second game, Curse of Resthaven, which looks incredibly promising but for markedly different reasons. The gothic narrative mystery roguelike follows a governor who searches for his missing niece while having to govern a cursed island. A free Steam demo just released and the game as a whole is shaping up beautifully.
Something else to mention with Hilltop that’s especially relevant during renewed calls to support Canadians amid the U.S.’ asinine trade war with us: the studio has done a stellar job of working with and uplifting local actors, including Alana Bridgewater (King Dice from Cuphead).
All of this is to say — check out both Lil’ Guardsman and Curse of Resthaven! The former is currently available on PlayStation, Xbox and Nintendo platforms as well as PC and Mac, while Resthaven is set to come to consoles and PC sometime later this year.
Image credit: Hilltop Studios
