Shovel Knight is back, but this time it’s different as we’re in a falling block puzzle world, similar to others like Columns and Tetris. Shovel Knight Pocket Dungeon is the latest entry from Yact Club Games, this one is a little different, but it’s as entertaining as always.
You are probably familiar with other puzzle games similar to this one. A bunch of items is falling from the top of the screen. Normally you’d expect a uniform set of blocks, but in the world of Shovel Knight Pocket Dungeon, you have monsters to contend with. In a unique twist, you are inside the grid. You have you think very quickly here because if you don’t you’re going to get blocked in, and you’ll have that familiar feeling of pieces piling up and losing the game.
Shovel Knight Pocket Dungeon is great fun. It takes a few games to get into the swing of things, but once you are in, it’s a whole lot of fun. I played the game on PC, however, during my playtime I was constantly thinking this would be great either on Nintendo Switch or on the upcoming Steam Deck platform.
Shovel Knight has been the star of many platform games over the years but the transition to puzzle games is pretty seamless. It’s easy to pick up, it’s colorful and grabs your attention and it’s good fun, albeit hard to master. These are the basic ingredients of a good game, and Pocket Dungeon has them all.
Given you are stuck in the puzzle itself, you have to run and jump and smash pieces up. It’s down to you to remove the falling enemies and monsters. Block puzzle logic comes into play too, as if you have a bunch of enemies together and you kill one of them, then they will all die at the same time. So much like getting lines in Tetris, you have to be a little tactical when slaying enemies in Pocket Dungeon. You and your enemies have health meters, and you have to drain your enemies to ultimately rid the board of blocks. It’s all very clever, and a good mix of genres.
As you progress through the game and levels you get new enemies to fight. There’s a good variety in how enemies attack, some are smaller and straightforward, whereas some explode and some warp in and out of play. It’s in your interest to kill as many enemies as possible though because an endless stream of new ones is coming down from above. There are useful items hidden on the map too including health potions, so keep an eye on your energy meter and reach the health potions if you can.
The objective of the game is fairly straightforward. The more enemies you kill, the more loot chests are going to fall from above. We need three keys to ultimately escape the grid and move onto the next level. New levels mean more new enemies and eventually bosses too. Relics are thrown into the mix which provides buffs and modifiers. As you progress through levels the game gets bigger, harder, and more extreme. There are freeze mechanics or slow things down. Abilities and powers you may have become familiar with in Shovel Knight all make an appearance here.
As well as the game gets harder as you progress, you can also unlock more characters. We all start out with Shovel Knight, but we can unlock Plague Knight and Specter Knight too. Plague Knight poisons enemies on the first hit, and Specter Knight manages to wreak havoc onto the game by gaining health when you beat enemies. However, you have to be careful with some of the learned behaviors, because potions harm Specter Knight… which was a bit of surprise when it first happened. The new characters are very welcome and mix up the gameplay really well.
Shovel Knight Pocket Dungeon is a fun puzzler and something you can dip into and out of easily and fast. There’s enough variation in there to hook you in, and I’ve found myself filling little gaps in my day with a quick game. I would love to have this on a handheld platform for this very reason. It’s easy to pick up and play, but damn it’s a challenge once you get into it. If you are a fan of Shovel Knight, this is well worth checking out.
Developers: Yacht Club Games, Vine
Publisher: Yacht Club Games
Platforms: Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PC, Mac
Release Date: 13 December 2021