We are wargamers. We are wargamers in heart and soul and damned be something about our great hobby. Damned be that our hobby is not taken seriously. But what about a game that takes itself pretty serious as a sports game? But what if that game is not serious at all? Enter Half Tilt. Jousting with halflings in a halfling world. It’s a wargame. Damned be us playing that game and not taking it serious. You know where this is going, right? Beer and Pretzels time!
Half Tilt is not a new game.
What is new these days? We live in a world where there is more wargames coming than annual leaves from work to play them. Kickstarters of new games come flying round the corner as if customers have a money machine. This in this context, is nothing different. Half Tilt came out on Kickstarter. It conquered and because of the great British invention called Brexit, died in Europe. Timeskip about a year ahead and we find me spooking out of on distributor shops when we see an announcement. “TTCOMBAT and Kingsley Distribution is coming to EU via us!”
Bloody hell. That means Half Tilt is available. Time to get to work.
But, what is Half Tilt precisely?
Half Tilt is a game about jousting, but with halfling. Why would that be funny or even remotely interesting to play? Because the different factions not only have different stats, but also visually different models. Where the more eastern factions ride on camel sort beings, the more northern factions ride on walruses and there is even a faction that has a flying pig.
Additionally, heroes (which have not yet been ordered) are associated with specific factions and can be used as additional models with improved stats.
What is the Purpose of Half Tilt?
Well, winning of course. You need to put your best jouster to work vs. the enemy on the other side of the court. You need to knock the opponent off of what they use as a steed. Help of understanding comes in the form of stat cards, which show what the jouster can do. You choose the jouster secretly, so you can’t see what the opponent chooses, and it will always be a gamble on what the result is. Further down the line of the match, one might feel certain pressure and make the gamble a bit less “gambly” and more tactical.
Eventually, the opponent who knocks out the most of the opponents jousters, wins. This sounds quite fun to be honest.
Half Tilt is not played on a big mat and can be played on a coffee table. You basically only need room for the jousting track, the two tents where you choose the jouster and a bit of room for the contestants. This means that if you pack it well, you can even take it on trips with you.
Order time
It took me about 5 seconds to have the complete lineup (apart from the extra’s) ordered. Since last time we took a gander at the marvel called Halfling jousting, there were a bit more products added. It seems we do not only have the starter set and 6 other teams, but also expansions for those teams. Since we don’t know if the game actually sells or if this is just one of these wacky fever dream games of mine, I would like to test the waters before we commence fully into the game. We ordered the starter sets and the teams, so everyone and their friend would get a chance at the idiocracy that this game is.
Would you play this?
this is a quirky little game that should not be played seriously. Grab a good glass of something that sucks you in the madness (no, not absinth) and some good snacks and you and your opponents (yes you can play leagues) and have yourself a good evening. Don’t get me wrong, I have a feeling that this is the exact premise you should expect from Half Tilt and nothing more.
We got confirmed that the release date in the EU distributor was around the second of april 2026, so expect it to be found in our shop at around the same time.
To answer the question if you would play Half Tilt, i’m not sure as this special little game has to find it’s audience for it, but our group is at least looking forward to it.