GUARDS! (v7.21)

New Alestead is a diseased fantasy city where the watch answers riots, gang wars, smuggling rings, and zombie outbreaks with a mixture of planning, brute force, and whatever loose furniture is nearby. GUARDS! plays like a rough-edged cooperative street-cleaning action game, putting a squad of officers against three entrenched criminal factions: violent Orc raiders, corrupt merchant conspirators, and a cult spreading undeath through the population. Its tone is darkly comic rather than solemn, treating broken doors, flying barrels, and excessive force as practical tools of civic order. Surviving the city means dismantling its power structure one criminal operation at a time.

Missions mix direct brawls with objectives that demand more restraint, including arrests, contraband seizures, and VIP escorts. Before an assault, players can watch patrol routes, gauge enemy numbers, and identify hazards or improvised weapons in the environment; once combat erupts, coordination matters far more than charging in alone. Officers can turn crates, planks, barrels, detached limbs, and even a well-placed kick into weapons, while enemies attack in groups instead of politely waiting their turn. Progress comes from working up each faction’s chain of command, gathering the information needed to locate its kingpin, then taking the fight to a heavily defended hideout.

The appeal lies in the contrast between deliberate reconnaissance and chaotic co-op combat. Environmental improvisation gives encounters a physical, scrappy quality, while the competing factions promise different threats and mission contexts as the campaign advances. Friendly rivalry also adds energy, since a successful operation can still become a contest over who bags the most criminals. Players who enjoy the squad coordination of co-op action games, the emergent mess of environmental combat, and grim fantasy cities with a satirical streak should find plenty to like, especially with a regular group of friends.