MiceGard is a game where you take on the role of the leader of a group of mice that fight using bows and swords. Your job is to take on a frog menace that has done a lot of damage to your own kin in a world inspired by Scandinavian mythology. It’s one of the best indie games I’ve played on Steam for a while.
Feels Like Six Mouseketeers
The combat feels a lot like you’re a musketeer – or mouseketeer – fighting against an enemy. You use strategy to take out frogs and enemies that want to kill you. You have to be vigilant of your other mice as well as yourself. I don’t want to say it’s like fighting with a group, but instead like fighting while being mindful of the group.
For example, I approached an enemy while shooting arrows, with three mice guarding the archers. Once the enemies were mostly defeated, we split up to take out three separated frogs. When those frogs were defeated, more came out of every direction, and we came together to make a circle and attack as a team with no weak point. When finished, we split again and looked around for resources separately.
It’s such a simple concept, but it works so well in a game like this. The level design gives you great reasons to switch strategies and forces you to adapt since its combat isn’t one-size-fits-all. You may be winning at one point, but a surprise from behind could change everything. You’re actively thinking and switching between the three stances as if in a real fight.
It really helps you feel like a leader but also like a tight-knit group. However, when you’re separated and doing your own thing, the AI is smart enough not to need you to babysit it but not so powerful that it can handle everything. It’s a fantastic combat system, and the level design complements it.
More Reviews: Run Pizza Run Review: Many Pieces Short Of A Pie
Town Building Is A Fun Addition
One of the more remarkable aspects of MiceGard is the ability to build up your town. I won’t spoil what happens, but you’ll be able to use stone to make buildings that increase combat and other abilities. You find stones throughout your adventures, and it’s basically the reward for exploring and redoing quests.
Each building is appropriately priced, which only some games get right. The buildings are 150 stone, which you’d get close to at the end of every quest if you took the time to look around. These never feel unfairly high; instead, they feel like they’d make sense in this mice world. However, I found that I’d rather find stone in the course of the game than go back since it never felt like I needed to grind; just be vigilant.
The chance to build up these buildings makes the quests a lot more fun because you’re likely to go into areas of each map with many enemies and a harder fight. They usually have boulders in the ground you can break apart for more stones.
Related: Few Nights More: Genesis Review – A Good Night
Three Blind Mice Isn’t The Only Good Mouse Story Around
The character design doesn’t go the route of just making humanoid animes. It’s clear that they are mice in a world that humans likely live in. There are some fantastical elements, but it all feels like a folktale, not like an overly magical world that’s not believable. Instead, it all makes sense, and I argue that this would be a good tale overall as an animated movie.
It’s not the best story ever written, but that’s hard to do with mice. It’s a very well-told story that always gets clear and easily understood. It’s not a comedy or a perfect tragedy, it’s just interesting and worth getting into. I found myself genuinely loving this game for what it is. You won’t find yourself bored or trying to skip past dialogue because it’s never just filler; it all matters.
The way it was presented was well done, too. The mice speak to each other on-screen but are detailed in a way that doesn’t take away from the art in the combat yet is better in a noticeable way. It’s incredibly well done all over.
More Reviews: Rallyallyally Review: Less Than A Flash Game
There’s A Rat In The Code
The only thing against the game is that there were many points where the combat slowed down unnecessarily, the enemies were caught on walls, or where the mice wouldn’t turn as I wanted them to. These are little bugs and glitches that technically should not be in the game but are very understandable. The team is not a huge studio, so I could not predict every situation I’d put these mice through.
However, the combat slowdown happened enough that the game starts to almost feel turn-based. Where my mice would make when an enemy did, and I wouldn’t be sure as to why. However, this didn’t happen so much that it ruined the entire experience, but it almost made me lose a few times.
This is the kind of game that you can tell would be better if they had more money and resources. It feels small overall, but it has the quality of a big game. Whatever the team had to make this game, they used it to their fullest. Yes, there are some issues, but none that make the experience unpleasant or hurt the game significantly.
I honestly recommend this game to everyone who enjoys tactical or strategic games or just those who innovate in ways that create beauty. I’ve never played anything like MiceGard, but I hope that I can find more games like it. They have a huge fan in me, and I want others to try their work out. They deserve a lot more attention and have done an amazing job here. I hope they continue this world and story because it’s worth investing more time into.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Great combat | Many times where things slowed down through lag |
| Fun town building | enemies caught in walls or mice didn’t turn when they were supposed to |
| An interesting story | Not much to build up in the town |
Rating: 9/10
GamesHorizon received a Review Copy for Steam.
