Shovel Knight
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…
Shovel Knight is an adventure developed by Yacht Club Games, released 26 June 2014 on Nintendo 3DS, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4 and PlayStation Vita. The main story takes about 7.6 hrs to finish.
What Shovel Knight is
Shovel Knight is an adventure game developed by Yacht Club Games and released in 2014. It is available on Nintendo 3DS, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita, Wii U, Xbox One, PlayStation 3, Linux, Mac and PC (Microsoft Windows).
The premise, in the publisher's words
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.
How it plays
It is played from a side view perspective. Its themes are action, comedy and fantasy. It is a single-player game with no multiplayer component. Available modes: Co-operative, Multiplayer and Single player. There are 45 achievements to unlock.
Where it sits in the Shovel Knight series
Shovel Knight is the first of 12 entries we hold in the Shovel Knight series. The next entry was Shovel Knight: Plague of Shadows in 2015. Its critic score of 89 is 7 points above the series average of 82. The highest-rated entry is Shovel Knight: Plague of Shadows at 95.
How it was received
Shovel Knight holds a critic score of 89 out of 100. That places it above 91% of the 7,525 rated adventure games in our database, which average 72. Games released in 2014 averaged 69, so it scored 20 points above the year average. Player ratings track closely with critics at 87, across 549 votes.
How long it takes, and what that costs
The main story runs about 7.6 hrs. Completing everything takes closer to 10 hrs, roughly 1.3 times the length of the critical path.
What you need to run it
The minimum specification calls for Intel Core 2 Duo 2.1 ghz or equivalent, 2 GB RAM and 2nd Generation Intel Core HD Graphics (2000/3000), 512MB. At 2GB of RAM, it will run on essentially any working PC — that is below what a budget laptop ships with today.
What it launched against
Shovel Knight launched on 26 June 2014, within three weeks of Shovel Knight: Treasure Trove, Divinity: Original Sin, Valiant Hearts: The Great War and Rise of Nations: Extended Edition. It reviewed better than 2 of the 4. It arrived 1 year into the PlayStation 4's life, so it was built for hardware developers already knew well.
Released around the same time: Shovel Knight: Treasure Trove, Divinity: Original Sin, Valiant Hearts: The Great War, Rise of Nations: Extended Edition.
Cheats and codes
We have not confirmed any working cheat codes for Shovel Knight yet. Rather than reprint a list we have not tested, this section stays empty until one is verified.
Official trailer
Sourced from the publisher’s YouTube channel. See all 6 videos →
Screenshots
All media
Dlc
Expansions
Quick answers
Shovel Knight — frequently asked questions
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