Free Steam taster for brutal Kingdom Come-inspired brawler is unintentionally hilarious

Every now and then, you’ll stumble upon a game that just tickles you, and this medieval Steam fighting game is the latest to leave us chuckling.

We know money is tight for a lot of people right now, and not everyone can afford to grab a new game when they cost as much as they do.

Half-Sword is generous, giving players the chance to try this oddly comical fighting game before they buy.

Half-Sword lets you live out your Game of Thrones fantasy in glorious melee combat

Using words from its own Steam description, Half-Sword is a “physics-based medieval combat simulator,” which already puts it off to a great start. As you can expect, the controls are janky and hard to get to grips with at first, but eventually things start clicking into place.

You’ve got a large assortment of weapons to choose from that have all been plucked from medieval history. Swords, axes, daggers, the lot. You’ll also have access to armour from the times, which you’ll need to survive the brutal onslaught you’ll be facing.

Half-Sword’s description also promises “in-depth blood and gore features,” and a simple glance at the provided screenshots and video footage will show you the developers aren’t lying.

Due to this, you’d be forgiven for thinking this is a gritty, realistic battle-simulator where victory against all odds is imperative, whereas fun is a secondary objective.

It can certainly be played that way. You can definitely have some heroic last stands as if you’re starring in the Game of Thrones spin-off, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms.

You should never judge a book by its cover, though. Half-Sword looks serious, but the viral clips that drew us to the game in the first place have been composed of half-naked characters armed with their fists alone, beating the blocks off each other in bloody boxing matches.

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It’s truly a contest of skill rather than strength, but as honourable as those duels can be, we can’t help but find them hilarious. The player’s arms whipping around like pool noodles, knocking people to the floor, it’s priceless comedy.

All of this and more is waiting for you with the Half-Sword demo, which is available on Steam right now and has been for some time.

At the time of writing, the game is still in early access, so it’s still getting updated as time goes on.

The full game is currently only available on PCs, but a console version is expected one day. The Xbox Series X/S and PlayStation 5 versions of the game will likely come after the game has left early access, though there’s no word on when that may be.

In the meantime, feel free to give this one a go for yourself. If you end up liking it, the full thing only costs $24.99/£22.99 without the Supporter Edition DLC. It’s even listed as ‘Playable’ on Steam Deck if that’s more your cup of tea.