Guard Duty

 PC
User Score
8.2

Generally favorable reviews- based on 13 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 10 out of 13
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 13
  3. Negative: 1 out of 13

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  1. Fuz
    May 25, 2019
    9
    What a nice game.
    It's a little amateurish in some regards, but it's clearly a work of love. Very old style. Love the pixel art, clearly hand drawn - possibly pixel by pixel. Biggest problem for me is how slow the main character is animated. It's just painful to wait for him to go from one point to another.
    The main character and most of the other characters I met so far are quite    What a nice game.
    It's a little amateurish in some regards, but it's clearly a work of love. Very old style. Love the pixel art, clearly hand drawn - possibly pixel by pixel. Biggest problem for me is how slow the main character is animated. It's just painful to wait for him to go from one point to another.
    The main character and most of the other characters I met so far are quite likable (love the gentle woodlands troll!) and voice acting is a bit of hit and miss - really like the main character, but some other sounds like the actor is trying - without much luck - to mask his voice to sound different. Funny, well written dialogues that don't overstay their welcome [the game is not pointlessly verbose] and the puzzles are pretty easy so far but enjoyable.    … Expand
  2. Curunir
    Mar 5, 2020
    10
    A 4-hour point and click adventure, but marvelously well-done.

    Charming animations, far more voiceover than you would expect for something with that price tag, a touching story that keeps up the pace and keeps you interested throughout. Few inventory / classic puzzles, more focus on plot pacing and keeping the story going, but what is in there is well integrated and well thought out.
  3. GamerGuysNGals
    Apr 23, 2020
    8
    "Guard Duty"
    Reviewed by: Carless Yen
    Developer: Sick Chicken Studios Publisher: Ratalaika Games Release Date: 4/22/2020 Platforms: Switch, PS4, XBOX, Steam, Vita Price: 9.99 As a fan of PC gaming at a very early age I'm no stranger to point and click titles. Police Quest, Leisure Suit Larry, Monkey Island, Myst, and King's Quest were some of my first adventures. I didn't know    "Guard Duty"
    Reviewed by: Carless Yen
    Developer: Sick Chicken Studios
    Publisher: Ratalaika Games
    Release Date: 4/22/2020
    Platforms: Switch, PS4, XBOX, Steam, Vita
    Price: 9.99

    As a fan of PC gaming at a very early age I'm no stranger to point and click titles. Police Quest, Leisure Suit Larry, Monkey Island, Myst, and King's Quest were some of my first adventures. I didn't know Guard Duty was a point and click title though when first receiving it in a email to review. I was used to Ratalaika delivering retro platformers so this really caught me off guard. So caught off guard from the very start I figured that would be it for the surprises, but I was so wrong. I was surprised over and over again though. Surprised when I heard so a beautiful and well rounded soundtrack from a budget title. I was surprised when I realized I was playing a budget Ratalaika indie, and was hearing such professional and outstanding voice acting. I was surprised to be enjoying such a original story full of comedic moments,adventure, horror, and just overall so original with it's SciFi time travel delivery. Guard Duty had my interest early, and never let go. Even had me glued to my television during the credits. I just knew there was something special about this game, and was glad to be reviewing this little piece of indie art.
    You play as Tondbert, loyal Guard to the Castle of Wrinklewood. He gets drunk one night while guarding the door and let's a strange character in the gates. This of course leads to the capture of the Princess. Tondbert has strong feelings for her so he wishes to go on a mission to rescue her and win her heart. As well as the King's respect after blowing his job so badly. Tondbert's first mission is finding his Armor he lost during his drunken night armed only with a To Do List. The Journey is one to capture your heart and stay with you very long after it is over. Your choices matter, and the dialogue is just golden. Over 600 lines of actual voiced storytelling. That cover two different time periods far into the past and the future. I guarantee you don't skip over this dialogue as it is just perfection.
    like all Ratalaika Games the Achievements are fun and simple. You can miss a couple though. You also won't get this super fast either. It took me about a hour and a half to finish this one. I guess you could do it in around a hour If you were only worried about capturing Gamer score. I don't think that will happen though, because Guard Duty grabs your attention very early. I usually do video reviews for all of my games I cover. I rarely take the easy way out and do written alone, but I just didn't want to give away a lot for this title. I feel as If the video I was working on really ruined a lot of the story so i just stuck to the written this time. So many cool locations and plot twists were shown in that review video, and I wanted people who saw this to experience everything the way I did, unaware of what really awaited them.

    Pros:
    Perfect Voice Acting
    Excellent Storytelling, So original
    Quality music and sound effects
    Wonderful characters
    Well designed pixel art animations
    Affordable retro fun

    Cons:
    Left me wanting more,a little short

    Overall 8.2
    I never expected to rate this game this high. i didn't really see this coming. Sick Chicken studios just really delivered everything we loved about classic point in clicks on to the modern consoles. if you grew up playing the classic PC adventures don't miss out on this little adventure. It's well worth your time and money.    … Expand
  4. AugustusPhil
    Aug 11, 2019
    7
    I liked it for what it is. I can’t be in the mind of the developepment team but if their goal was to create a early 90s kind of adventure, they made a nice job. It doesn’t achieve the same level of polish with the Simon the sorcerer game in most aspects but it’s quite good. The writing is generally good. I don’t have a problem with the pixel art graphics but I would prefer a better artI liked it for what it is. I can’t be in the mind of the developepment team but if their goal was to create a early 90s kind of adventure, they made a nice job. It doesn’t achieve the same level of polish with the Simon the sorcerer game in most aspects but it’s quite good. The writing is generally good. I don’t have a problem with the pixel art graphics but I would prefer a better art direction in order to make environments a bit more interesting. Voice acting is not at the best level but it’s quite ok for the budget. I would recommend it.… Expand

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
73

Mixed or average reviews - based on 4 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1 out of 4
  2. Mixed: 3 out of 4
  3. Negative: 0 out of 4
  1. GameOver.gr
    May 31, 2019
    70
    A honest fan serving adventure game, with clear yet unlikely influences from King’s Quest, Lure of the Temptress, Mr. Bean, Black Adder and Monty Python.
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  2. Digital Chumps
    May 6, 2019
    80
    Guard Duty, for me, came out of nowhere, but instantly became a fun, short experience that I tip my cap to. It doesn’t revolutionize the genre (was never intending to, nor does it need to), it won’t make you suddenly like point-and-clicks if you don’t already (you’re missing out!), and yes, there are many other games in this old genre that have done it better. Nevertheless; for only $10, you can’t really go wrong, and if it supports future endeavors by this studio, all the better.
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  3. Adventure Gamers
    May 6, 2019
    70
    Though it takes a while to find its own identity and the puzzles are all too simple, Guard Duty is a nostalgia-laden charmer that shows nothing but love and respect for the classic point-and-click titles it most resembles.
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