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Shovel Knight Pocket Dungeon

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Shovel Knight Pocket Dungeon
Developer(s)
Publisher(s)Yacht Club Games[a]
Designer(s)Russell Rafferty
Programmer(s)
  • César Domínguez Garza
  • Jaime Gifte
  • Juju Adams
  • Joe Dolan
  • Vadym Diachenko
Artist(s)
  • Russell Rafferty
  • Michael Hussinger
Composer(s)Jake Kaufman
SeriesShovel Knight
EngineGameMaker Studio
Platform(s)
ReleasemacOS, Switch, PS4, Windows
December 13, 2021
Android, iOS
June 6, 2023[1]
Genre(s)Puzzle, dungeon crawler
Mode(s)Single-player, multiplayer

Shovel Knight Pocket Dungeon is a dungeon crawler puzzle game developed by Vine and Yacht Club Games, and published by Yacht Club Games. It is a spin-off of Shovel Knight. It was released on December 13, 2021 for Windows, PlayStation 4, and Nintendo Switch. The story follows protagonist Shovel Knight as he becomes trapped within a magical artifact, the Pocket Dungeon, and is forced to fight his way out while battling other knights who befell the same fate.[2] The game was positively received by critics, who noted its graphics, soundtrack and easy-to-learn yet deep gameplay as strong points.

Gameplay

Shovel Knight Pocket Dungeon is a roguelite puzzle game.[3][4] Players take control of Shovel Knight and other playable characters as they attempt to escape the titular Pocket Dungeon.[4][5] The player character is set on a 8x8 grid, where they can move in four directions.[3][6] Enemies spawn at the top of the grid and gradually move to the bottom. The player character attacks foes by moving into the spaces they occupy, reducing their health. Damaging enemies causes the player character to lose hit points, though the player avoids this loss if their attack manages to kill the monster.[3][6] If player attacks an enemy that has at least one creature of the same type adjacent to it, the connected enemies take an equal amount of damage, allowing the player to defeat several foes at once. Lost hit points are restored by collecting potions that intermittently spawn alongside the enemies.[3][7]

Enemies and other objects move down the screen every time the player character moves or attacks, and continue to move at a slower rate if the player remains idle.[7] A game over occurs if the player character loses all their hit points or if the grid becomes completely filled with enemies.[b][8] Defeating enemies grants the player gems and allows them to fill their "gem meter", which gradually depletes over time. Adding to this meter by killing enemies in quick succession allows the player to yield an increasing amount of gems.[7] These gems can be spent at shops in exchange for items called Relics, which provide useful effects such as increased hit points.[3]

New playable characters are unlocked by defeating bosses and progressing through the game, and each features its own special abilities. For example, Specter Knight has the ability to regain hit points by slaying creatures, Prism Knight teleports around the grid, and Plague Knight poisons enemies after attacking them.[3][7] When the player experiences a game over, they keep a portion of their gems which can be spent at a shop to unlock new Relics that can be randomly purchased and discovered inside levels.[3][7] The game's features accessbility options that are used to alter the playable character's health and attack damage, and a multiplayer mode where players face each other in a split-screen. In multiplayer, players compete to slay as many enemies as possible through chain attacks, and killing enemies causes the grid of the other player to fill up at an increased rate.[7]

Plot

A mysterious cube appears at Shovel Knight's campsite. When he investigates it, he is magically trapped in a realm inside the box called the Pocket Dungeon. There, he meets a man named Puzzle Knight, who has remained trapped inside the cube for many years. He tells Shovel Knight that the only way to escape the Pocket Dungeon is to transverse the realm and defeat a being called the Pocket Dungeon Master. Later on, Puzzle Knight informs Shovel Knight of the existence of a magical key inside the Pocket Dungeon that was broken into several parts, asking him to collect these fragments. While journeying through the Pocket Dungeon, Shovel Knight encounters other knights who became trapped, defeating and recruiting them to his side. On the final level, Puzzle Knight reveals himself to be the Pocket Dungeon Master, and that he sent the knights on a quest to find him in order to find a powerful warrior who could act as his replacement, allowing him to escape. The chosen playable character defeats Puzzle Knight, escaping the Pocket Dungeon alone.

By collecting the four key fragments located in some of the levels, the player experiences the true ending.[9] After the battle with Puzzle Knight, a warrior named Prism Knight appears and informs him of the key's completion, and he uses it to unlock a secret level called the Tower of Fate. Inside, the three knights meet the Enchantress, who reveals that Prism Knight was responsible for trapping all of the characters inside the Pocket Dungeon; the Enchantress had manipulated her into using her powers to lure knights to the cube, claiming that doing so would allow her to locate her missing father. In the absence of the knights, she plans to dominate the world, and turns Puzzle Knight into a powerful monster to ensure they remain trapped. The chosen knight defeats the monster and reverts Puzzle Knight to his original form. The Pocket Dungeon collapses, and all the knights manage to escape. In a post-credits scene, Puzzle Knight is revealed to be Prism Knight’s father, relating in a conversation that he first became trapped in the dungeon while searching for an heirloom. He gives Prism Knight this artifact, a magic telescope that causes a shooting star to appear in the sky.

Development and release

Development of Shovel Knight Pocket Dungeon began after the developers had finished creating Shovel Knight: Treasure Trove. An employee of Yacht Club Games found a solo developer called Vine while on Twitter, discovering a roguelike puzzle game the developer was working on called "Puzzle Knights". Interested in both game genres and finding similarities between Puzzle Knights and Shovel Knight, Yacht Club Games established contact with Vine and helped him create a development team.[10] The game was created over the course of three years,[11] with Yacht Club Games and Vine each splitting its $1 million USD budget equally.[12] The soundtrack was composed by Jake Kaufman, who had previously done the same with all the previous Shovel Knight titles.[10] Shovel Knight Pocket Dungeon was first released for Windows, macOS, Nintendo Switch, and PlayStation 4 on December 13, 2021.[13] After release, Yacht Club Games launched a free update to the game containing accessibility controls, and announced three planned downloadable content (DLC) expansions.[14] Ports to iOS and Android were published by Netflix Games and launched on June 6, 2023 alongside the first of these expansions, Puzzler Pack.[15][16] The Puzzler Pack DLC adds playable characters, unlockable Relics, and several new locations.[17]

Reception

The game received an aggregate score of 84/100 on PC, 83/100 on Switch, and 80/100 on PlayStation 4 from Metacritic, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[18][19][20]

Kyle LeClair of Hardcore Gamer rated the PC version 4/5 points, calling the core gameplay easy to learn, yet having a deep level of strategy. Calling the graphics "amazing", he referred to the game itself as a "true gem".[2]

Jenni Lada of Siliconera rated the PC version 8/10 points, calling the game "immensely satisfying" and praising its supplemental modes, such as VS mode.[22] Mitchell Salzman of IGN also rated it 8/10 points, calling it "hard to put down", and noting its "incredible soundtrack". However, he criticized the game's unlockable relics as lacking in utility, saying the most universally useful ones were part of the starting 15. He also criticized the game's lack of online play, as it contains only local multiplayer.[21]

Notes

  1. ^ iOS and Android ports to be published by Netflix.
  2. ^ Optional settings can prevent a game over from losing hit points by allowing the character to slowly respawn while the grid continues to fill.[8]

References

  1. ^ "'Shovel Knight Pocket Dungeon' Comes to Mobile on June 6th With Major New Free DLC Included via Netflix – TouchArcade". June 2, 2023. Retrieved December 22, 2023.
  2. ^ a b LeClair, Kyle (December 15, 2021). "Review: Shovel Knight Pocket Dungeon". Hardcore Gamer. Retrieved July 31, 2022.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Saltzman, Mitchell (December 12, 2021). "Shovel Knight Pocket Dungeon Review". IGN. Retrieved December 29, 2023.
  4. ^ a b LeClair, Kyle (December 15, 2021). "Review: Shovel Knight Pocket Dungeon". Hardcore Gamer. Retrieved December 29, 2023.
  5. ^ "Review: Shovel Knight Pocket Dungeon is Easy to Dig Into". Siliconera. December 12, 2021. Retrieved December 29, 2023.
  6. ^ a b Nelson, Will (December 12, 2021). "'Shovel Knight Pocket Dungeon' review: street rules 'Tetris'". NME. Retrieved December 29, 2023.
  7. ^ a b c d e f Life, Nintendo (December 13, 2021). "Review: Shovel Knight Pocket Dungeon - A Super Addictive, Combat-Driven Puzzler". Nintendo Life. Retrieved January 7, 2024.
  8. ^ a b "Shovel Knight Pocket Dungeon review: When puzzles fight back". Shacknews. December 13, 2021. Retrieved January 7, 2024.
  9. ^ Watts, Steve (December 14, 2021). "How To Unlock The True Ending In Shovel Knight: Pocket Dungeon". GameSpot. Retrieved December 30, 2023.
  10. ^ a b "Shovel Knight Pocket Dungeon Interview: Yacht Club Games on Mobile, Working With Netflix, Spin-Offs, the Future, and More – TouchArcade". April 21, 2023. Retrieved January 9, 2024.
  11. ^ "Shovel Knight's puzzle-adventure spin-off Pocket Dungeon gets December release date". Eurogamer.net. November 24, 2021. Retrieved January 9, 2024.
  12. ^ "In-depth: Yacht Club gets transparent with sales numbers". www.gamedeveloper.com. Retrieved January 9, 2024.
  13. ^ Stewart, Marcus (December 13, 2021). "Shovel Knight Pocket Dungeon Preview - Shovel Knight Pocket Dungeon Impressions – Deep Pockets Of Fun And Challenge". Game Informer. Retrieved January 9, 2024.
  14. ^ "Shovel Knight Pocket Dungeon free update, three DLC packs announced". Gematsu. February 1, 2022. Retrieved January 9, 2024.
  15. ^ "'Shovel Knight Pocket Dungeon' Comes to Mobile on June 6th With Major New Free DLC Included via Netflix – TouchArcade". June 2, 2023. Retrieved January 9, 2024.
  16. ^ "Shovel Knight Pocket Dungeon Switch, PS4, PC, AND, iOS | GRYOnline.pl". Gry Online (in Polish). Retrieved January 9, 2024.
  17. ^ Gregson-Wood, Stephen (April 27, 2023). "Interview: Celia Schilling, Marketing Director at Yacht Club Games, digs into Shovel Knight Pocket Dungeon's upcoming Netflix Games release". www.pocketgamer.com. Retrieved January 9, 2024.
  18. ^ a b "Shovel Knight Pocket Dungeon for PC Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved July 31, 2022.
  19. ^ a b "Shovel Knight Pocket Dungeon for Switch Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved July 31, 2022.
  20. ^ a b "Shovel Knight Pocket Dungeon for PlayStation 4 Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved July 31, 2022.
  21. ^ a b Saltzman, Mitchell (December 12, 2021). "Shovel Knight Pocket Dungeon Review". IGN. Retrieved July 31, 2022.
  22. ^ a b Lada, Jenni (December 12, 2021). "Review: Shovel Knight Pocket Dungeon is Easy to Dig Into". Siliconera. Retrieved July 31, 2022.
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