Shovel Knight Pocket Dungeon

Shovel Knight Pocket Dungeon is yet another game that benefits from the cult platformer Shovel Knight. This time, the creators of the original from the Yacht Club Games studio took their inspiration from puzzle games in the style of the cult Tetris and combined them with dungeon crawler and roguelite games. Vine studio, who have experience with the genre thanks to Puzzle Knights, helped in the game design.

Plot

The game presents a completely new story in the universe of Shovel Knight. This time the hero follows Puzzle Knight, trying to escape from the pocket-sized dimension. The game is kept in a humorous style full of twists and turns, known from the original Shovel Knight.

Mechanics

Shovel Knight Pocket Dungeon is based on the scheme developed in Puzzle Knights, a modified version of Tetris in Wario's Woods style from 1995. We control the hero vertically and horizontally on small boards, on which, apart from stone blocks, monsters and various objects fall. Our task is to bring the knight to the end of a given level, which requires removing objects until the exit appears. However, instead of - as in typical representatives of the genre - moving elements around it, we can destroy them by moving our character so that it falls on them. You have to be careful, because when we face the enemy, he can start attacking us, which will quickly lead to the loss of health points and the death of the hero. Fortunately, if we hit a group of enemies (or other objects) of the same type, hitting one of them will hurt them all at once. In addition, if you defeat three or more opponents in this way, you will be rewarded with additional treasures. The more monsters fall after our single attack, the more riches we will get.

In order to guide the hero safely, it is also necessary to use items. We will find healing potions and various types of bombs (including those that freezing). From time to time we also find crates containing valuable treasures and reinforcements or giving access to the shop. In shop we buy additional equipment, including weapons with greater range, power or useful effects. This allows us to adjust the knight's abilities to our preference or new enemies, including powerful bosses. However, it should be remembered that - in accordance with the convention of roguelite games - after death we lose all the items we have acquired and we are forced to start playing from the beginning.

Game modes

Shovel Knight Pocket Dungeon offers multiple game modes, including a single player campaign and the ability to compete with other players. The developers also provided additional attractions, including daily challenges.

Technical aspects

The developers kept the two-dimensional style known from Shovel Knight, although they modified it for the new game. A new soundtrack was also prepared, for which Jake Kaufman, the composer of music for the first instalment of the series, is responsible.