$19.99En Garde! Parry, riposte, throw a chandelier
Duel your way across 17th century Spain as a legendary swordswoman, turning clumsy guards and furniture into part of the show.
Is En Garde! worth it?
En Garde! is worth it if…
- you want a short, sharp action game with no filler, just sword fighting done well
- you like games where the environment is half your moveset
- you enjoy witty banter and a hero who never stops showing off
- you want combat that starts easy and keeps sharpening as enemies get meaner
- you have a few hours and want them packed with duels, not menus
Screenshots
Fencing with flair
The swordplay is the whole point, and it is built for style. You parry, riposte, lunge and kick, and fighting well fills your Panache Meter, which unlocks special skills. The trick is that you cannot simply trade blows with a crowd: enemies want your attention one at a time, so you dodge, distract and stun your way around the brawl until each duel happens on your terms. Learn what each type of foe is weak to and the fights become a fast game of picking the right answer, over and over, until the whole thing looks like a movie duel.
The room is a weapon
Every combat area is a playground of mischief. Rolling barrels, falling chandeliers, jugs of wine, crates, tables, loaded cannons parked next to very flammable lanterns: almost anything loose can be kicked, thrown or toppled onto a guard's head. One moment you are sliding across a long table to slip past a wall of rapiers, the next you are shoving it back to pin them against a wall and dropping a candelabra on the pile. When a courtyard fills with soldiers, the environment is how you thin the crowd and keep the fight feeling like an adventure instead of a chore.
A duel you have to learn
If you like combat that rewards reading your opponent, this delivers. Every enemy type answers to a specific response, so a fight is a chain of small decisions: parry here, dodge there, punish now. Bosses and late-game crowds take real attempts to learn, and the game is honest about it, with quick checkpoints that keep you retrying instead of replaying. Master the patterns and the same fight that beat you down becomes a routine you perform with panache.
How long does the story take?
How long does the story take?
The campaign is short: four episodes you can clear in a few hours, and each chapter moves quickly. That brevity is part of the design, since the combat never gets the chance to grow stale. There is more beyond the story, though: an arena mode with randomized scenarios, waves of enemies and unlockable modifiers that change how fights work, plus secrets tucked into the levels for anyone who pokes around.
Is it funny, or just colorful?
It is genuinely funny. The humor runs through the dialogue, the theatrical cast and especially the fights: Adalia and her rivals trade quips mid-duel and react to what you just did, even when they are flat on the floor. The whole thing is played as golden-age swashbuckling comedy, satirical and self-aware, aimed at a cruel Count-Duke with more ambition than competence.
What does it look like?
Like a hand-painted adventure. The locations across 17th century Spain are bright and sun-drenched, from evening city streets to lavish palace gardens and a coastal island, and distant scenery fades into soft watercolor washes. The characters are cartoony and expressive, the music carries Spanish accents, and the whole look stays cheerful even mid-brawl. You can even pet the chickens.
Can you play it with a family around?
Yes. The game is family friendly in tone and content, all playful action and comedy rather than gore, and it offers accessibility options that let you tune the difficulty down. If you want a challenge instead, Hard mode with those aids switched off makes the duels genuinely demanding.
