If someone asked me to describe Knight Squad in one word it’d probably go something like. “eugurawaheh”. Well, that’s the noise that’d come out when I tried to. As This is a game that makes little sense and shouldn’t be fun, but just somehow is.
It is a 1-8 player arena battle mini-game fest set in medieval times with lasers and guns and other oddities. It is so historically accurate I am sure there should be a Giant Enemy Crab in there somewhere.
In all seriousness though, what we have here is a very simple game that can be chucked on for a laugh when you have a spare few moments, or when you’re looking for a giggle with friends or family.
Where Knight Squad works well is that whilst it is extremely chaotic and frantic, the simple two button control scheme makes it easy to stick a controller in the hands of anyone and they’ll be able to join in the fun. It worked for me with a non-gamer and a 3 year old. It is also one of those rare games where it feels decent enough to play on a single Joycon. Accessibility is vital in party games and this doesn’t miss the mark.
There is some single player content should you wish, but it really feels like padding for the sake of it. On you own the challenges are dull and just lack any of the fun factor you get in a group. As much as I enjoy single player content usually, I just couldn’t get into it with Knight Squad.
I think it actually shines a light on how poor each mini-game is within itself. On your own you get a chance to analyse and spot the flaws, but with others you don’t actually care. Usually as you’ll be too busy laughing or mocking someone else in the room.
Which is perfectly fine. If we are being honest with ourselves I don’t think there is a party game out there that works on its own, especially one made up of many different styles as in Knight Squad. Whilst there is plenty of variation here there were a couple of particular games that stood out to me.
Medieval Soccer is a right hoot and that is where we had the most fun. I think it comes down to the simple idea of scoring goals being something we all understand. So the added parts to achieve that are almost secondary and just become something else to laugh about as you try and often fail to score.
Another favourite is one where you need to be the first to capture a grail. Obviously it isn’t that easy and you opponents will try and stop you as they also try to reach it first. Again though the initial goal is very simple and many laughs will follow.
There is something very Bomberman-esq about Knight Squad. I am not sure if it is the top-down presentation or the way it just feels much better in multiplayer. But it does bring back memories of the 16-bit era local competitive stuff.
What I didn’t realise was that Knight Squad has actually been around since 2015 and is also on the other consoles. It probably passed me by due to only recently getting back into local multiplayer due to Covid-19 and the lockdown. But I am glad I did discover this.
There are faults with the game, such as the aforementioned dull single player content. Yet it is easy to look past those and just enjoy it warts and all for the super fun time it can lead you to have. Not a must own by any means, but one worth grabbing if you are after a short distraction.
