Two knights charge at each other down the tilt barrier of a crowded tournament ground.

A medieval jousting career sim · PC

Knightmaster

Break lances. Take ransoms. Carry your scars.
And when your knight finally falls, his squire rides on.

  • Free demo · Nov 2026
  • Release · 2027
  • Windows · Steam

Closed alpha · October 2026

Ride in the first tourney

We're looking for alpha testers to joust, break things and tell us what hurts. Leave your email and we'll send you a key and a short survey when the gates open. No spam, no newsletter — one email per milestone, and you can leave any time.

The year is 1173

You don't play a knight.
You manage a career.

Sir Aldric Thornwald is past his prime, short on silver and long on old injuries. Pick his tourneys, buy and lose armour, trade horses, flatter rivals — and decide, pass after pass, how much he is willing to risk.

Every lance you break pays. Every fall costs. Knights age, learn from what they actually do, and carry every wound into the next season. Nobody lives forever — and Knightmaster doesn't pretend otherwise.

  • I

    The Tilt

    Secret choices before every pass, then one split-second call: strike or pull.

  • II

    The Fair

    Armourers, horse traders, heralds, barbers, rivals with long memories.

  • III

    The Legacy

    Death is not game over. Your squire inherits the name — and the debts.

Pillar I

The Tilt

Two riders, one barrier, three passes. Before each charge both knights commit in secret — then the lane decides.

Two knights meet at the barrier, lances lowered, a split second before impact.
One heartbeat before impact: strike, or pull.
  1. Aim the shield for a safe point, the body for two, or the helm for three — if it holds.
  2. Guard high, middle or low. Read your rival; he is reading you.
  3. Lance light, balanced or heavy. Heavy lances unhorse. Light ones break clean.
  4. Give Yourself — commit everything. Far more likely to unhorse him. Far more likely to get hurt.
  5. Strike or pull in the last moment before impact.

Try a pass

Pick your line. Your rival picks his. Odds are adapted from the game's combat tables and simplified for the browser.

Aim
Guard
Lance
Commit

Choose your line and charge.

You
0
Rival
0
Pass
0 / 3
Animated: an armoured knight on a barded horse gallops with lance couched.

Hand-made, low-poly, all in-engine

Every gallop is a decision you can't take back.

Knightmaster is built in Godot by a solo developer. Everything on this page is a real in-game capture — no pre-rendered trailers, no generated art.

“Fall in the first pass and you lose the horse. Fall in the third and you might lose the knight.”
A busy tourney fair: tents, banners, stalls and townsfolk around the lists.

Pillar II

The Fair

Between bouts, the tourney ground is a town. Walk it, haggle in it, get patched up in it.

The armourer

Lose a bout and your harness is ransomed. Buy it back, patch it, or win a better one off the next fool.

The horse trader

Coursers, destriers and nags. Unhorse a rival in the first pass and his mount is yours.

The herald

Reads your arms, cries your name, and knows who is riding where this season.

The barber-surgeon

Stitches, splints, beards and a fresh cut for the heir. Some wounds never fully close.

The cookfire

A good meal before the lists steadies the hand. Fortune tellers, farriers and beggars share the lane.

The rivals

Around sixty circuit knights who remember every insult, every ransom, every lance you broke on them.

Faces of the circuit

  • A grey-bearded veteran with a topknot
  • A hooded, weathered traveller
  • A young blond squire
  • A bearded tradesman in a leather jerkin
  • A dark-bearded man in a hooded cloak
  • A moustached man with a headband
  • A dark-haired young townsman
  • A hooded woman of the fair

Harness, from padding to plate

  • Padded and leather armourPadded & leather
  • Mail armour with blue detailsMail
  • Full plate harnessPlate

Horses worth fighting for

  • A chestnut horse
  • A grey horse
  • A bay horse
  • A black horse

Pillar III

Death is a season, not a game over.

Every pass carries a tiny chance of catastrophe. Aim for the helm, give yourself, ride heavy — and that chance climbs. Ride every tourney like it's your last, and it may be.

When your knight dies, his squire inherits the name, the house, the horses that survived and the debts that did too. The circuit remembers the father. It will judge the son. There is no save to reload — the game autosaves every moment.

How long does a knight last? Simulated careers by riding style.
Riding styleMedian age at the endMedian seasons
Cautious4517
Balanced4214
Risky314
Reckless292
The character sheet: age, skills learned through use, and a record of old injuries.
Skills grow from what your knight actually does. Wounds stay.

Know your rivals

  • The Crusher rides heavy and aims to unhorse.
  • The Technician hits the same spot, pass after pass.
  • The Green Boy is fearless, wild, and dangerous to you both.
  • The Old Wolf has seen your trick before. Twice.
  • The Showman plays to the stands — and the stands pay him.

The road to release

Roadmap

  1. Closed alpha

    First testers ride. Keys and a short survey go out to the alpha list.

  2. Steam page

    Store page goes live. Wishlists open.

  3. Demo

    A first-season slice: about thirty minutes on the circuit.

  4. Steam Next Fest

    Public demo, feedback, and a lot of broken lances.

  5. Release

    The full career — and every heir after it.

Questions from the stands

What kind of game is Knightmaster?

A single-player career sim about a jousting knight. Half of it is the tilt — tactical, simultaneous choices and a timing call each pass. The other half is the life around it: money, gear, horses, rivals, injuries, ageing, and the heir who takes over when you're gone.

When is it coming out, and how much will it cost?

A demo is planned for November 2026 and the full release for 2027 on Steam, at a fair indie price.

How do I get into the alpha?

Leave your email in the sign-up box. Alpha keys go out in waves by email together with a short survey.

Which platforms?

Windows PC via Steam at launch. Other platforms aren't planned yet.

Can my knight really die?

Yes. Rarely, if you ride carefully — often, if you don't. Death passes everything to your squire, and the circuit carries on with him.

Is there AI-generated art in the game?

No. Every model and screenshot here comes from the game itself, built in Godot.

I'm press or a content creator.

Head over to the press kit for facts, screenshots and logos.

The herald is calling your name.

Wishlist on Steam to hear the moment the demo lands — or sign up to ride in the alpha now.