Knight Battle

How to play Knight Battle

Knight Battle is a side-on armoured duel against five knights in turn, each the best of three rounds. Everything is heavy: knights walk slowly, every swing has a long wind-up shown by a bar over the knight's head, and a shield covers one line at a time, high or low. A swing at the covered line is absorbed. Move your shield onto the attacked line late, as the bar fills, and it is a parry that leaves the attacker off balance.

So openings have to be made. A shield bash at close range knocks a high guard aside, but a settled low guard braces and the basher bounces off. A feint on the unguarded line can draw the other knight's shield across, where it sticks for over a second. Strike a staggered or off-balance knight, or the line a drawn shield has left, and the blow lands; swing into a raised shield and the blocker may answer with a quick riposte. J strikes on the line your shield is on, or on the line of W or S while you hold it.

Helm, breastplate and greaves wear separately: high strikes hit the helm, low strikes the greaves and bashes the breastplate. Intact armour takes most of a blow; a broken piece lets it all through. Rounds last sixty seconds, and at time the larger share of armour and health left wins and a level count goes to your opponent, so a knight level or ahead is in no hurry to swing. The five are a stubborn high guard, a low-guard sweeper, a feinting duellist, a quick shield-basher and a champion who learns your habits. Lose a duel and the run ends.

Objective

Beat all five knights, each in a best-of-three duel.

Features

• High and low guards, with parries timed on a visible wind-up
• Shield bashes, feints and quick ripostes to open a guard
• Helm, breastplate and greaves that break separately
• Five knights, ending with a champion who reads your habits
• Sixty-second rounds judged on armour and health left

Scores are saved in this browser only. There is no global ranking and nothing is uploaded.