#hilltop studios

Lil Guardsman Release Date Announcement

Hilltop Studios and Versus Evil's Lil Guardsman is a point-and-click deductive puzzle game in which you play as Lil, who's just trying to keep The Sprawl safe.

Publisher Versus Evil and developer Hilltop Studios have announced Lil’ Guardsman, a deduction adventure game inspired by the classic point-and-click genre coming to PlayStation 5, Xbox Series, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Switch, and PC via Steam in 2023.

Here is an overview of the game, via its Steam page:

About

In this deduction adventure, you play as Lil—an unlikely 12-year-old hero—covering your dad’s shift at the guard shed and are tasked with deciding the fate of over 100 unique characters.

You will question humans, elves, goblins, cyclopes, and other fantasy creatures using your powers of deduction to determine who to admit or deny based on how they respond to your questions and your trusty tools. Sending visitors to jail, inadvertently zapping them to smithereens, or letting them go on their merry way are all part of the job. But be careful: who you let through the castle gates will determine the kingdom’s fate.

Key Features

Fantasy / Comedy Narrative – See the Sprawl and its fantastical & quirky citizens through a royal wedding to one of two kingdoms vying for an alliance, and a subsequent siege by whoever you’ve angered in the process. Your decisions can determine the fate of the city and its people!

Interrogation Puzzles – Interrogate over 100 fully voiced characters in just the right way to earn a perfect score.

Tools of the Trade – Spend your hard earned gold wisely on powering up your guardsman toolkit, and strategically deploy these to admit or deny the right people or…goblins?

Rewind Time – Use your trusty Chronometer3000 to go back and get a higher score… but be careful not to break space and time in the process.

Watch the announcement trailer below. View the first screenshots at the gallery.

Announce Trailer

Imagem: Hilltop Studios Para começar, o jogo para PC Lil ‘Guardsman é uma experiência de aventura e dedução do Steam. O jogo foi criado pela Hilltop Studios e publicado pela Versus Evil. O ano projetado de publicação é 2023. Os jogadores assumem o personagem de Lil, uma menina de 12 anos que deve substituir o pai no posto de guarda enquanto ele estiver fora. Seu trabalho é decidir o destino…

In celebration of our birthdays (we are both July babies) we drove down for a weekend getaway in the Margaret River region. Having heard such great reviews from locals and visitors alike we were very excited to finally be able to explore the region.

Margaret river is a 3 hour drive South of Perth and in Aussie terms it’s ‘just down the road’.

As it is ‘winter’ here in WA we wanted somewhere we could chill out and just relax.  Hilltop Studios was the perfect choice providing more than just somewhere to rest our heads.  It ticks all of the boxes for a perfect weekend getaway, but the trouble is, I want to live here forever.

Located in the middle of the forest just 10 minutes from Margaret River town in one direction and 10 minutes to the beach and some of Australia’s best surf in the other, the self-contained studio is in the prime location.

The secluded location allows for uninterrupted panoramic views of the lush green forests of Margaret River.  With nothing but nature in front of the windows we slept peacefully with the blinds open allowing the rising sun to wake us.  We woke up feeling refreshed and laid in bed and watched the 30 strong group of wild kangaroos grazing on the hillside opposite.  This, and the raucous calls of the resident kookaburras remind you that you are in fact in Australia and not the Welsh countryside.  Margaret river is impossibly green, something one usually does not associate with this dry and arid land here in WA.

On Saturday morning we ventured out to see what Margaret had to offer.  First off we made like Willie Wonka and hit the chocolate factory.  The Margaret River Chocolate Company produces over 100 chocolate products.  And the best part was the giant bowls and free chocolate samples.  (Shaun may have been seen elbowing kids out of the line!)

We were expecting a tour of the factory guided by oompa loompas but, due to hygiene reasons, you are not allowed passed the sticky viewing window.

Next up was the winery next door, Providore.  The huge winery has an equally impressive array of products, from wine and chocolate liquor to jams and chutneys.  Again, we filled our boots with delicious samples and enjoyed the stormy view over the vineyard.

  After chocolate and wine we fancied something savory and headed over to the Margaret River Dairy Company.  More free samples and we stocked up for a dinner date later in the evening.

Feeling quite sick from stuffing endless amounts of free samples we stopped for a rest and lunch at the Bootleg Brewery.

Thankfully the rain had stopped and we were able to snag a picnic table by the lake and listen to some good ol’ live Aussie country music.  The atmosphere was great; full of families and rowdy groups of party-goers.  And lucky for me I got in a few local ciders (Shaun had to quit the tastings at this point as he was designated driver).

On route back to the studio, we visited the next vineyard we passed called Knee Deep.  There really are hundreds of vineyards to chose from so we just picked the ones with the prettiest gate!  Knee Deep was great with a fine dining restaurant and terrace overlooking the vineyard.  We were invited in for a free wine tasting where we discovered we are actually quite partial to red (I am a ‘i’ll drink it if it’s wet’ kind of gal usually).  After a quick photo shoot in the wine barrels and 2 bottles of divine wine for tonight we headed back to our home the studio.

Of course, we had to make the most of the huge spa bath.  We put some tunes on the sound system, lit some candles, opened up the dividing doors and took a relaxing bath as the sun set (of course, over a glass or two of wine).   It was then we realised we were in fact getting old as we really appreciated the silence, the relaxation and the taste of a good wine.  Some contrast to any birthday celebrations before.

Dinner consisted of the delectables we had collected during the day … cheese, chutneys and red wine, absolutely perfect.

Sunday morning we woke up to a horrendous storm.  We just about managed to tear ourselves away from the tranquil bliss of Hilltop and headed out for a few hours of exploration before the 3 hour drive back home to Fremantle.

First thing on the agenda … coffee.  We took a drive along to the rugged coastline.  Stopping in Prevelly for a take away coffee at The Sea Garden Cafe.  We took our take away cups and drove to Surfers Point and watched the knarly waves pound the coastline.  Due to the stormy weather there were no surfers but just as enjoyable to watch all of the white water.

Prevelly Beach

The final stop of the trip was the ancient limestone caves.  We opted for the biggest of the caves, Mammoth Cave.  500 meters long and 30 meters deep the cave swallows you as you enter.  A designated walk way and lighting are installed along with a headset to guide you through the cave.  It was only when installing the lighting that they unearthed several peculiar fossils.  One being the 35,000 year old giant marsupial herbivore Zygomaturus.

On the long drive home in the rain we of course had to stop for one last wine tasting at Capel Vale, a very posh establishment where we had the place to ourselves and the most in depth wine sampling.  And in all honestly, after my amazing 10 samples I was pretty wasted and ready for a drive home!

Wine tasting at Capel Vale

We want to do it all over again, you could spend a good few weeks exploring this region.  We will definitely be back again soon … next weekend?

Have you been to the Margaret River region?  What other activities would you recommend?

Don’t forget you can leave us messages on our ‘Say hi‘ board, we would love to hear from you!

À la perchoine, Jodie and Shaun x

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