| Developer: Studio Leaves | Download: Android, iOS (coming soon) |
| Genre: Stealth puzzler | Price: Free (offers in-app purchases) |
How can a game inspired by Metal Gear Solid, The Legend of Zelda, and Ghost'n Goblins possibly look like? Coward Knight by Studio Leaves can give you a pretty good idea of what that could be. It's a sneaky stealth puzzler in which you play as a tiny knight named Coward who, quite unlike his many brave historical contemporaries, is helpless and scared of his own shadow. However, there is a princess in need of rescue, there aren't any other knights around, and her father is not the type to kindly accept negative answers. Thus, our cowardly hero ends up in a series of dark, strait dungeons filled with monsters three times his size.
All of this serves to explain why you'll be sneaking behind monsters' backs instead of bashing them with your sword. And this is where the game takes clue from Metal Gear Solid. You know Solid Snake is perfectly capable of defeating a small army, let alone a single enemy soldier. It's just that jumping at adversaries Rambo-style makes so much alarm and wastes so much ammo, time and effort that it makes more sense to tiptoe past them. In addition to keeping out of monsters' sight, Coward has to collect rupees (not the ones you use to shop on Flipkart, mind you), avoid clever traps, and if possible, complete each level in the shortest time.
Speaking of levels, the game's so-called "first release" on Android (and soon on iOS) contains the first 20 levels out of the complete set of 48. There is plenty of stealthy, sneaky fun to be had in them. Meanwhile, the graphics style seriously reminds us of an old PSX favorite called MediEvil. With no new games featuring Sir Daniel Fortesque in sight, Coward Knight could fill a small part of that void in gamers' hearts.
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