Shovel Knight Pocket Dungeon Review (Steam)

by Jim Smale · December 16, 2021

Delve with our Shovel Knight Pocket Dungeon Review and into the depths of the Pocket Dungeon in an action-packed puzzle adventure mashup like none other!

Shovel Knight Pocket Dungeon Review Pros:

Glorious pixel art graphics.
Download size.
Steam achievements.
Full controller support.
Graphics – fullscreen, shake intensity slider, flashing effects, windowed mode, and overscan.
Can rebind controls for both keyboard and the controller.
Game settings – lives, levels, bosses, speed, starting health, attack damage, items, and relics can all be turned off and on.
The tutorial section is optional.
Puzzler gameplay.
Feats act as the games owing in-game achievements system.
Daily run.
Adventure mode is the main game.
Vs mode is against the CPU or another local player and can use either controller or keyboard.
Online leaderboards.
The game revolves around enemies, items, and blocks dropping down, you have to hit them to clear them.
Enemies will hit back X amount of damage when attacked.
Chains are formed by clearing all connecting blocks/enemies/items together.
Gems will pop up as you clear the level.
Keys drop and are collected to open chests for power-ups and you also need a key for the exit door.
You can play long after you get the door to spawn.
Gems are used as the currency and you can spend it on new items/buffs etc in the shop found in the hub world in between levels.
The game and movement are based on a grid system.
Hub world with new features unlocked as you play, the levels themselves are represented on a world map level select.
Keeps the charm of the Shovel Knight series.
Gets quite addictive.
Items you buy in the shop enable them (relics) to appear randomly in games going forward.
The guidebook that can be found in the menu shows all unlocked characters l, discovered relics, and items along with a full stats page.
You can quit a run back to the camp.
Quick restart option.
Every game is random.
At the end of a level, you get a breakdown of your performance showing steps taken, kills, gems and time.
Speed run timer option.
You get two lives and when you die you drop everything but you can get it back by hitting the death marker.
Play how you want.
Short bite-sized levels.
Fast loading times.

Shovel Knight Pocket Dungeon Review Cons:

Takes a while to get used to it all.
The tutorial is very basic.
Can get hectic quickly.
Not always sure what items and relics do when in the middle of a level.
Returning to camp loses progress and gems found so far.

Shovel Knight Pocket Dungeon:

Official website.

Developer:Yacht Club Games

Publisher:Yacht Club Games

Store Links –

Steam

9/10
Graphics - 9/10
8/10
Sound - 8/10
8/10
Accessibility - 8/10
9/10
Length - 9/10
10/10
Fun Factor - 10/10

8.8/10

Summary

Shovel Knight is jumping into the puzzle genre and it does so in a way that compliments the series and gives the player a rather challenging yet fun experience. You will have seen puzzle games like this before in terms of clearing blocks and enemies as they fall down onto the grid, Shovel Knight builds off of that by adding in combat, items, relics, and a multitude of ways of playing. I initially bounced off the game however as you need to train your reflexes, the game is not just hot a load of blocks and score, hitting enemies do damage to you and them, you need to plan your actions or you will get frustrated and confused. After an hour of the emotional roller-coaster that is learning, I fell in deep with the game, more mechanics and relics were dropping, I found I could chain higher scores, I learned enemy weaknesses and it all felt so good. I would honestly say it’s one of the better puzzle games around at the moment, I prefer it on the handheld rather than a pc but that’s a personal preference. I just like that they were able to seamlessly integrate and maintain the Shovel Knight brand into another genre. Pocket Dungeon is a must-have for Shovel Knight fans and puzzle fans alike.