Game

Shovel Knight

2014 · PlayStation 3 · PlayStation 4 · Linux · Nintendo 3DS · PC (Microsoft Windows) · Mac · Platform · Adventure · Indie

87IGDB player score
549 ratings

Previously Take

An 87 average from 549 ratings: not perfect, but the kind of game people keep recommending anyway. An adventure game leaning hard into fantasy, comedy — more about the journey than the destination. Come for the campaign, stay because your friends won't let you leave the lobby.

About this game

Shovel Knight is a sweeping classic action adventure game with awesome gameplay, memorable characters, and an 8-bit retro aesthetic. It's a hot mashup of new and old! You play as the eponymous Shovel Knight, a small knight with a huge quest. Shovel Knight has come to this land with two goals: to defeat the evil Enchantress and quest for his lost beloved. He wields a Shovel Blade: a multipurpose weapon whose techniques have now been lost to the ages. Always honest and helpful, Shovel Knight is a shining example of the code of Shovelry: Slash Mercilessly and Dig Tirelessly! But, between Shovel Knight and his beloved stands a cadre of villainous knights. These terrible foes, known as The Order of No Quarter, have been dispatched to prevent Shovel Knight from reaching the Enchantress, and will pursue their mission at any cost. If you love games with perfect platforming, beautiful art, infectious music, crazy bosses, humor and levity, and real heart… Shovel Knight is for you!

Shovel Knight and his partner Shield Knight are renowned adventurers, but during an expedition into the Tower of Fate a cursed amulet strikes Shield Knight down and seals the tower, leaving Shovel Knight stranded outside. Grieving the loss of his companion, he gives up adventuring and withdraws into exile. In his absence a powerful figure called the Enchantress rises and spreads evil across the land, eventually unsealing the Tower of Fate. Learning this, Shovel Knight sets out to return to the tower in the hope of finding and rescuing Shield Knight, facing the Enchantress and her Order of No Quarter along the way.