Knight of the Lions

Knight of the Lions, developed and published by Eugene Zubko, is a 2D narrative-driven platformer that blends thoughtful puzzle design with a quiet, emotionally grounded story. Rather than presenting a conventional medieval adventure filled with combat and heroics, the game uses the imagery of knighthood as a metaphor for resilience and personal growth. At the center of the experience is Vita, a teenage girl navigating a world that feels fractured both physically and emotionally. Her journey is less about defeating enemies and more about rebuilding herself piece by piece. The gameplay focuses on precise platforming interwoven with environmental puzzles. Movement mechanics are straightforward—running, jumping, interacting with objects—but the challenges gradually increase in complexity as players advance. Early sections introduce core mechanics gently, allowing players to acclimate to the physics and pacing. As the story unfolds, puzzles become more layered, often requiring careful observation of the environment and thoughtful timing rather than reflex-heavy action. The deliberate pacing encourages players to slow down and absorb the atmosphere rather than rush toward the next chec…

A great and very emotional narrative platformer which tells the personal story of a girl in the context of a present day real life war. The notebook artstyle is great and works perfectly with the narration, complemented by very good voice acting. The platforming gameplay has some kind of a twist, as you normally can't jump or dash, you get those abilities for a short time when you touch some colored blocks, so there's some puzzle elements since you often have to find out the correct way to proceed. Since many sections are timing-based some parts could be a little frustrating and require much precision, but nothing too difficult since there's plenty of checkpoints. Despite the short length, there's quite a bit of variety in the gameplay, including some minigames.

:´(

My brain is not wired to properly execute the dash jump up :S

This is so vividly real. I know that, not firsthand, but from a close friend from Ukraine. This game conveys the feelings of pain and struggle and helplessness really well. It's a masterpiece. Thanks to the dev for sharing this story. I truly believe it's a valuable message. The gameplay went a bit too hard and too pixel-precise for my taste, but I felt like I had to hear the whole story, even if it offered little to no knew perspective to me personally. But a little struggle with passing a level or two is nothing compared to what the people amidst the war went through.

TBH the platforming part is really hard and frustrating since the error tolerance is ultra low. But the story part feels good.