Summary
- Ground Shatter’s Knights in Tight Spaces adds swords and sorcery to the tactical combat mix.
- Knights offers improved narrative, visuals, and gameplay over the original Fights in Tight Spaces.
- Fights stands out with its fluid animations and tight combat spaces, making it the superior game.
When Ground Shatter launched its roguelike deckbuilding small-space fisticuffs simulator in 2021, it was clear that it was onto something special. It’s rare to find a game with such an emphasis on tactical hand-to-hand combat, where positioning matters and one space is often the difference between dodging a hit cleanly and eating a knuckle sandwich.
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While the sequel was expected given the novelty of the game, the move from modern spycraft to medieval magic-land a la D&D with Knights in Tight Spaces was more surprising. They’re pretty similar, but the latter adds swords and sorcery to the mix. So, who did it better? The kinetic classic or its spell-slinging sequel? It’s Fights vs. Knights, and we’re breaking down the strengths and weaknesses of both games.
7
Plot
Knights In Tight Spaces
Knights in Tight Spaces’ plot casts you as the Hustler, an individual caught up in a web of conspiracy involving magic-users and secret societies, all vying to hire or kill you. In Fights, you’re the suave Agent 11, sent across the globe to eliminate criminal organizations one brawl at a time.
While the former’s story isn’t exactly Shakespeare or even tailored to your specific character, at least it exists. Outside of the finale, the description above is pretty much the entire plot of the game. This even bleeds into the writing for Event spaces, where the writing in Knights is more narrative and the choices more impactful but for Fights they feel like an afterthought.
6
Graphics
Fights In Tight Spaces
Both games are not graphical powerhouses, nor do they need to be as long as the punches and kicks fly. Their aesthetics fit their themes well. Fights bears a stylized look of vibrant colors against bright white, calling to mind Superhot. Knights meanwhile is done in muted colors with more detailed faces, with crosshatch detailing reminiscent of medieval paintings. However, when it comes to animations, Fights edges out the win.
The environs of Knights are much prettier and have some nice animations, but the model movements in it feel more stilted and slow to the point where it feels like enemy turns are taking longer. As nice as the extra graphical flourishes are, it the most important part is watching them throw down. After all, they come with a replay function for a reason, and replays of Fights tend to be much more fun to watch.
The minimalist look of Fights really works for it and the animations are more fluid and punchy, which sells the fights all the better.
5
Sound
Fights In Tight Spaces
The music in both games are not particularly memorable, but they fit the action well, really getting you into the respective vibe of each game. Fights’ soundtrack brings to mind the stylish action movies that clearly inspired it like the Matrix or John Wick. Knights on the other hand leans more into epic swords-and-sorcery tunes, but underlined by a more modern-sounding beat that calls attention to the action movie fisticuffs the game is centered round.
As of this writing, the music cuts out whenever you run a replay in Knights. It’s likely a bug that will be fixed so we’re not holding it against the game.
Fights’ sounds work well to sell each hit, shot, and miss. Knights is largely the same, but the blade slashes can sound kinda hokey and the magic attacks tend to lack oomph.
4
Gameplay (Strategy)
Knights In Tight Spaces
Both games operate on the Slay the Spire model of map progression. You advance through levels by picking stages on a branching map, with the stops being a fight, an event where you make a choice, and a place to heal or alter your deck.
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It’s safe to say that in this regard Knights is an improvement over its predecessor in every way. You have more options on the map, and the events are more meaningful both narratively and mechanically. The addition of other party members and equipment opens up a whole new layer of strategy and customization.
3
Gameplay (Combat)
Fights In Tight Spaces
Fights and Knights are near-identical in most aspects, with the latter adding more – options, tactics, party members, and unfortunately, spaces. That’s right, the edge Fights has ultimately is in the name: tight spaces, and it makes all the difference in the world.
Most of the maps in Knights just feel too big, and your movement options are mostly the same as in its predecessor. The result is that you end up with more dead turns as you need to close in on enemies, and enemy turns are much slower as they have to do the same.
The change is likely to accommodate new party members, but it’s agonizingly slow to play these larger maps solo, and not that much better as a duo. Fights gets the pacing perfectly, and you’re never more than a turn away from landing a hit, getting hit yourself, or both.
2
Value
Knights In Tight Spaces
Knights keeps most of what made the first game great, and adds many new and exciting mechanics. The addition of multiple-unit parties alone is a huge addition, but there are also new cards and an equipment system not found in Fights.
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It’s already a great value proposition, but its base price is also cheaper than the previous game at $19.99 USD to the original’s $24.99 USD. Now, granted that the original is on sale as of this writing and will likely be cheaper at every Steam Sale, but when it’s not Knights is still the cheaper option.
1
Winner
Fights In Tight Spaces
Knights in Tight Spaces is by no means a bad game and is in fact a worthy successor to Fights in Tight Spaces, it does what all great sequels do: take what was good about the original and then add to and expand it.
However, it really works best to play it after Fights and not before or instead. Fights was a focused vision: stylish fist fights as a card game, and because of that focus, it works much better.
Knights adds a lot of cool things and changes the theme drastically, but something was lost in that change-over. Still it’s quite nice when you’ve exhausted all there is in Fights, but are still hungry for tactical close-range action.
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