Shovel Knight

The game received critical acclaim, with critics considering it one of the greatest video games ever made.^[8][9][10] With the release of additional campaigns, the original story received the retronym Shovel of Hope. The full game was released in December 2019 as Shovel Knight: Treasure Trove, which includes three other campaigns Plague of Shadows, Specter of Torment, and King of Cards, along with multiplayer fighting game Shovel Knight Showdown.


A spin-off dungeon crawler puzzle game, Shovel Knight Pocket Dungeon, was co-developed with Vine and released on December 13, 2021, for macOS, Windows, Nintendo Switch, and PlayStation 4. Another spin-off, the roguelike Shovel Knight Dig, was co-developed with Nitrome and released on September 23, 2022, for Windows, Nintendo Switch, and Apple Arcade. A remake of the first game called Shovel of Hope DX is planned to be released at a future date.^[11]

Plot[edit]

Shovel Knight and his partner Shield Knight are renowned and successful adventurers, but while exploring the Tower of Fate, an amulet curses Shield Knight and leaves Shovel Knight stranded outside of the sealed tower. Grieving for his friend, Shovel Knight gives up adventuring and goes into self-imposed exile. During his absence, a powerful being known as the Enchantress rises to power, spreading evil across the land. Upon hearing that the Enchantress has unsealed the Tower of Fate, Shovel Knight resolves to journey back to it, hoping to find and rescue Shield Knight. To reach the tower, Shovel Knight confronts and defeats the members of the Order of No Quarter, a group of knights serving the Enchantress.


Along his journey towards the Tower of Fate, Shovel Knight continuously battles with his old rival Black Knight. After he defeats Black Knight for a final time at the outskirts of the tower, Black Knight reveals that the Enchantress is actually Shield Knight, who is possessed by an evil spirit that inhabits the amulet. Shovel Knight ascends the tower and defeats the Order of No Quarter again, before battling the Enchantress. He manages to exorcise the evil spirit, turning her back into Shield Knight. The amulet transforms into a powerful monster known as the Remnant of Fate, which Shovel Knight and Shield Knight defeat together. Shield Knight holds back the Remnant of Fate as the tower collapses, while Black Knight carries an unconscious Shovel Knight to safety. He leaves Shovel Knight by his campfire and departs. A post-credits scene shows Shield Knight, who managed to escape the collapsing tower, lying next to Shovel Knight as he sleeps.

Development[edit]

Designer Nick Wozniak stated that the idea for the game started out as "sort of as a joke conversation over lunch that kind of got too serious".^[34] The team had already planned to make a game in the style of the NES classics that they grew up on, and eventually the sword-thrust move from Zelda II: The Adventure of Link was brought up as a move that both designers liked. They soon thought that this move would be better suited in their game for a shovel instead of a sword.^[34] Other specific inspirations include Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse, DuckTales, Super Mario Bros. 3, the Mega Man series, U.N. Squadron, and Dark Souls.^[35][36] The decision of the character's name was "pretty much settled" after the first brainstorming session, with the name "Plummet Knight" being the only other suggestion.^[37]


The game was announced on March 17, 2013, alongside the launch of a Kickstarter campaign to crowdfund development, with a minimum goal of US$75,000. The campaign reached its objective in late March and went on to collect a total of $311,502, fulfilling all announced "stretch goals" for additional features, by its end on April 13.^[38] Those goals included a four-player battle mode, a mission-based challenge setting, a body swap mode, and additional playable story campaigns for three boss characters.^[39][40] To promote the Kickstarter, Yacht Club distributed copies of its initial Penny Arcade Expo demo to several prominent gaming personalities on YouTube, including Two Best Friends Play and Game Grumps.


According to Shovel Knight programmer David D'Angelo, Shield Knight was originally supposed to be a princess, as the creators were using NES era damsel-in-distress characters like Roll, Peach, and Zelda as inspirations.^[41] Originally, due to her lack of character, she was referred to as "Princess MacGuffin" within the development team.^[42] For the "Body Swap" mode, Yacht Club created male versions of Shield Knight and the Enchantress. The "Enchanter" was one of the first body swap concepts Yacht Club explored, and his creation process led to many of the design rules Yacht Club's artists subsequently imposed on themselves. The Enchantress' design was inspired by traditional Japanese attire, so Yacht Club initially experimented with kimono and robes for her male counterpart as well. When this did not work out, artists moved on to a samurai-inspired design, similar to that of Ganondorf in the Super Smash Bros. series. Yacht Club's artists originally explored skirted designs for male Shield Knight, but these did not make the cut. Certain ornamental aspects of Shield Knight's armor were removed or reduced in size in order to make the character look more masculine.^[43]


Shovel Knight features a chiptune soundtrack in the style of older video games from the NES era composed by Jake Kaufman, with two contributions by Mega Man composer Manami Matsumae. The game's soundtrack was released for download via Bandcamp on the same day as the game, as was a rearrangement album.


Shovel Knight's graphics and music mimic the style of video games from the NES era and shares the NES's limits of color palette (plus four colors) and sprite count. This means that larger sprites are superimposed on a black background to limit the onscreen colors to a realistic maximum. Other trickery to properly honor the NES limitations include camera shakes that only act on a single axis and a GUI that acts as a background layer instead of being overlaid on top of the gameplay.^[44]

Release[edit]

The game was originally slated for release in September 2013, but was delayed into early 2014.^[45] After various further delays,^[46][47] Yacht Club Games announced on June 5 that the game would be released on June 26, 2014.^[48] The game was eventually released on several additional platforms including both the PlayStation 4^[49] and Xbox One, featuring exclusive boss battles, with Kratos from God of War on PS4^[49] and the Battletoads on Xbox One.^[50][51] Various platforms got a physical media release in October 2015.^[52]


Prior to 2017, the game was sold with the name Shovel Knight, with various additional campaigns appearing as free downloadable content. An update in April 2017 made the original story campaign and additional downloadable campaigns available for standalone purchase on certain platforms, with the original campaign being subtitled Shovel of Hope.^[53] A compilation containing all three campaigns was released as Shovel Knight: Treasure Trove, with all previous purchases being updated to the Treasure Trove edition.^[53]


An enhanced edition titled Shovel Knight: Shovel of Hope DX was announced in June 2024, and will be releasing on Steam. The new edition will feature 20 different playable characters, online multiplayer, rewind and save state features, in-game cheats, and additional content and features previously exclusive to specific platforms, such as the Nintendo 3DS version's stereoscopic 3D and Battle Ghost Arena mode (formerly StreetPass Arena).^[54]