Game Over: Fights in Tight Spaces

I was looking forward to playing Fights in Tight Spaces when I found out about it in a YouTube video. I bought this game a while ago, played it to death, and then stopped when I had other games I needed to focus on. Now, in the hopeful year of 2024, it’s high time I talk about it.

I played in Dark Mode.

Fights in Tight Spaces is all about… fighting. In tight spaces. You play as Agent 11, a spy specialised in close-quarters combat. Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to stop criminal organisations from all over the world. This plays out in a roguelike fashion, where you must travel through a branching map full of events and battles, and you fight using cards to attack and move. In the end, you face the boss of the area before moving on until you beat the final bad guy. There is a plot, but you’re not here for that; you’re here for kicking people in the face.

The game isn’t kidding with its title, which I’m pretty sure was a placeholder until it was considered too appropriate to change. You’ll often find yourself in enclosed spaces with not a lot of room to work with in a game where your position is just as important as your punches and kicks. The smallest map, the Elevator, is only 3x3, and you’re expected to eliminate every enemy that spawns. You do have several advantages, such as being able to move first and see what the enemy will do on their turn. Still, it’s an uphill battle. The enemies you face can destroy you in only a few hits, with some of them being able to counter your attacks, dodge, or always keep you in their line of sight. However, this can be used to your advantage because friendly fire is definitely a thing. It can be very amusing and awesome to clear out an entire room using only trickery and their allies against each other.

You can also take advantage of the environment, as some cards encourage getting into certain situations. Back against the wall? Kick off it and deliver a flying haymaker. An enemy next to a wall or object? Smash their face into it. Hell, you can instantly kill enemies by just pushing them over the edge. This does include some bosses, so some fights can end in one turn with the right cards and terrible spawn positions. The thrill of booting a tough guy off the building cannot be replicated. This can happen to you though, so try to avoid standing near edges.

But that all depends on the cards in your hand, especially depending on the starter deck you choose before you go out and start bashing heads. There are quite a few for you to choose from. There are the Balanced, Aggressive, and Counter Striker decks for some conventional play styles, you could focus on grappling and throwing your enemies with the Grappler deck, or you can use the Trickster deck to confuse and redirect your enemies. They’re all really fun, and hey, you can always add and replace cards to fit your own style.

When I returned to the game, I also got the Weapon of Choice DLC, which adds a humble yet effective pistol to your repertoire, the Gunslinger starter deck, and a new campaign with a few new enemies. With the right cards, you essentially turn into John Wick, blasting enemies with ruthless efficiency. Who knew bringing a gun to a fistfight would be so effective (though, to be fair, they brought shotguns and rifles first)?

Now, this may all sound a little intimidating or maybe even a little easy, but you’re covered there. There are a bunch of difficulty settings you can choose to make your experience easier or harder. When I finally beat the game, it was on Classic Plus, where you’re always able to draw one movement card, and you can roll back turns up to three times per fight. And that took dozens upon dozens of runs to even get there… after giving up on Classic difficulty, which doesn’t give you rollbacks. Like a true roguelike, the only thing separating you from winning the game is your skill and strategy. You only unlock more cards to use in your run every time you either die or finish a playthrough.

I’m pretty sure I’m skipping over some details, but that’s essentially Fights in Tight Spaces. It’s brutal not only in its combat but also in its difficulty, even in its basic settings. You’ll need to think multiple cards ahead, or else you’re going to be backed into a corner, quite literally, in fact. It’s really fun, and I encourage anyone into these types of games to give it a shot.