Bladeless, the minimalist fencing game

Think of a simpler version of Karateka but with swords, and you’ve pretty much got Bladeless.

This is Kid Evil’s entry for Ludum Dare 26, a 48-hour online game jam that also gave us the excellent Papers, Please. Made entirely in Adobe Flash, Bladeless simply involves walking up to a series of opponents for a duel. All the player needs to do is to counter the enemy and move in for an attack.

The key is to project where the enemy is going to strike – high, mid or low – and then defending the respective area. If you see him angling the sheath upwards then clearly you’ll need to worry about your head. It takes some time to master but once you get it down, this good-looking indie game is an addictive experience.

Obviously there’s no story but it does get increasingly difficult the further you go. The developer says that “the speed maxes out when you hit 10 kills” and that the enemy’s counter percentage just gets higher. It takes a few hits before either gets dismembered in some way, although the player does seem a little more resilient.

Give Bladeless a try by clicking on the GIF below and let us know how far you get! (Don’t worry, the game’s not that fast.)

[Eurogamer]