Shovel Knight Pocket Dungeon | Mac Review

August 28, 2022 Scott Clark

Shovel Knight is a fantastic series of platforming games that clicked with me on multiple levels. From the base game to the multiple expansions where you play from the boss’ perspective, I adored every iteration. To be clear, Shovel Knight Pocket Dungeon from Yacht Club Games is not that type of game. This is a puzzle game with some roguelike sensibilities. As a fan of puzzle games, roguelikes, and the Shovel Knight franchise, this seemed like a match made in heaven for me. Although the game is well-made (and makes sense on paper for me), it’s definitely made for a different audience than myself.

Familiar, Yet Different

Fans of Wario’s Woods (NES/SNES) will feel right at home with Shovel Knight Pocket Dungeon. The grid playfield will start to fill with blocks, enemies, treasure chests, and health potions from the top of the screen. This happens at a very manageable speed, but there’s one catch. Anytime you move Shovel Knight from one square to another, everything from the top shifts down one square as well. So basically, any time you move, so does everything else. It’s a very clever way to force the player to limit their movement and strategize their next move.

Your goal is to survive the stage until an exit door appears to take you to the next level. To keep your board clear, you must shovel away dirt blocks or enemies in order to line up like enemies before attacking. Defeat one enemy, and every other one linked to that one also gets destroyed. But attacking enemies isn’t as simple as it sounds. You have a limited amount of hit points, as does each enemy. Depending on the enemy type, you’ll take a certain amount of damage yourself when attacking. So not only are you managing the board, but you’re also managing your health. This is where the red potions scattered on the screen come in handy, as they replenish your hit points.

On top of all that, Pocket Dungeon has roguelike elements as well. You’ll progress through levels until you ultimately fail. As expected, you’ll be able to spend the loot you’ve gathered on upgrades to make your run that much easier. There’s quite a selection of special abilities at your disposal, all with a Shovel Knight flourish.

Blood Pressure Rising

Nearly everything about this game is top notch. The sprites are beautiful, the music is just as iconic as in previous titles, and the controls work perfectly. The boss designs are also very clever and offer unique challenges. Everything should work for me on a personal level.

But it simply doesn’t. Every time I tried a new run, I felt completely stressed out. Although there’s no actual “timer” present, I felt punished for making any movement across the screen. It felt impossible for me to keep my board managed in any way, but that’s more attributed to my lack of skill. When I play a puzzle game, I like to take my time to work out a strategy. I found myself experimenting more than actually setting up chains like you’re supposed to. Because of this, I wound up getting overwhelmed far too often.

In most roguelikes, perishing never feels like failure, but in Pocket Dungeon it totally does. Even though I was able to better equip myself on a new run, it felt more repetitive to start from scratch after losing. I found myself dreading starting from the top instead of enjoying the game for what it was. Again, this is more of a personal issue than a design issue. I wanted to like this much more than I did, but I found it impossible for me to wrap my head around a solid strategy.

Shovel Knight Pocket Dungeon Final Verdict

Reviewing a game like Shovel Knight Pocket Dungeon is one of the hardest things for me as a critic. There’s simply nothing wrong with the design of this game. I should have absolutely loved it, but it just never quite clicked for me. Although I’m coming across quite negative on this one, I’ll be the first to admit that this is more of a me problem than one of Yacht Club’s. I’m completely terrible at it, and I have zero problem admitting it. This is a quality game that is simply not for me. If you’re a fan of Wario’s Woods, it’s an easy recommend, especially if (like me) you love the art and music of the Shovel Knight series. Thankfully, it won’t diminish my adoration for the platforming games, and they are still fantastic.

To hear me talk more about Shovel Knight Pocket Dungeon, be sure to listen to Episode 376 of The Gaming Outsider Podcast around the 57:30 time stamp.

This review is based on a Mac (Steam) copy of Shovel Knight Pocket Dungeon provided by Yacht Club Games for coverage purposes. It is also available on PlayStation, Microsoft Windows, and Nintendo Switch.