Every time somebody pulls the sword in this King Arthur-inspired game, it gets harder

A new King Arthur-inspired indie game has debuted on Steam and it challenges players to pull a sword from the stone except with each person that tries, it gets slightly harder.

'The one who pulls out the sword will be crowned king' is a free experimental game for PC which popped up on Steam just a few days ago. The sword-pulling sim has a run time of around 25 minutes according to the reviews on the game’s Steam page but it isn’t as easy as just pulling the sword up with a drag of your mouse.

According to the game’s developer Majorariatto, each time someone removes the sword from the stone, the game will increase in difficulty with the sword getting longer and heavier. Meaning the more you wait, the harder it will become. Those who do manage to make it through the game though and get the sword out will receive an achievement that proves "you are a king and not a peasant."

If you’re still not sold on this unorthodox indie, maybe some of the game’s reviews will be enough to persuade you. According to one player, The one who pulls out the sword will be crowned king is a "fun little game for 24 minutes, easy 100% achievement game if you're into that sort of thing."

Another player gave an insight into how difficult the game actually is with a review that contained the phrase: "I have never secreted so much sweat from my hands in my life for such an arbitrary reward that does nothing for me." Regardless of this though, they do follow up by saying: "Great game. I couldn't have bled my sweat and tears better than this game. Highly recommend for those who want to become a true king."

It looks like The one who pulls out the sword will be crowned king is the kind of game you need to just experience for yourself. Just don’t blame us for all the hours and tears you’ll waste trying to pull that damn sword from the stone.

Looking for some other hidden gems to play? Take a look at our list of new indie games for inspiration.

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After studying Film Studies and Creative Writing at university, I was lucky enough to land a job as an intern at Player Two PR where I helped to release a number of indie titles. I then got even luckier when I became a Trainee News Writer at GamesRadar+ before being promoted to a fully-fledged News Writer after a year and a half of training. My expertise lies in Animal Crossing: New Horizons, cozy indies, and The Last of Us, but especially in the Kingdom Hearts series. I'm also known to write about the odd Korean drama for the Entertainment team every now and then.