Shovel Knight: King of Cards

Genre: Action-Platformer

Players: 1

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Review:

(Note: this game is included in Shovel Knight: Treasure Trove, along with Shovel Knight: Shovel of Hope, Shovel Knight: Plague of Shadows (only in Shovel Knight: Treasure Trove), Shovel Knight: Specter of Torment, and Shovel Knight Showdown.)

Shovel Knight: King of Cards is an Action-Platformer that was created as a standalone expansion for Shovel Knight, the third of four such expansions, with the first three each casting a different boss from Shovel Knight in the role of the game’s protagonist (and the fourth being a Platformer/Fighting Game hybrid). As such, each of these games re-uses some of the assets of Shovel Knight, while including some new visuals and music as well. King of Cards, as the name implies, focuses of the character of King Knight.

While there are definitely some re-used visuals here, the recycling isn’t nearly as extensive as it was in the Plague of Shadows. In part that’s because King of Cards, like Specter of Torment, is a prequel, apparently taking place before any of the other games in the series. Because of this, King of Cards gives us alternate versions of those games’ locales, with re-imagined music and visuals, with much of this game presented in a more light-hearted manner to reflect its somewhat more goofy protagonist.

As for the gameplay, like the previous Shovel Knight expansions, King of Cards gives us a protagonist who has yet another unique move set that the game is structured around, with the focus here being on King Knight’s ability to do a dashing shoulder bash on the ground or in mid-air, which can then be followed up by a spinning pirouette jump, with the potential for players to go back and forth between the two, building a perpetual combo. This plays very differently than Shovel Knight did, yet works on many of the same basic principles – the level design here is absolutely solid, and it’s fun to see where your new abilities make some old encounters more challenging, and others easier. It’s also fun to see how the game re-imagines the Shovel Knight formula to make sense for this new protagonist. And really, it’s a lot of fun to bounce around in combos as King Knight – he’s not quite as well-rounded and versatile as Shovel Knight, nor as fast and momentum-driven as Plague Knight, but he has a very fun feel that’s all his own.

What’s more, this time around, the developers have worked into the game a unique card game called Joustus that forms the basis for the plot – where Plague Knight was collecting potion ingredients in his expansion and Specter Knight was collecting loyalty pledges in his, King Knight is collecting cards to challenge the heads of a card game contest, looking to secure the winnings of the tournament. It’s a really different approach to the Shovel Knight universe, and it’s consistently funny thanks largely to King Knight’s delusions of grandeur, though I don’t think Joustus is quite as engrossing a card game as the creators want it to be. Also, it’s disappointing that the world map in this game is very limited, with players often only given one new location to explore at a time.

I should note that the Nintendo Switch version of the game is unique in that it supports the use of Amiibos, though I was not able to test this out as I do not own any Shovel Knight series Amiibos.

In the end, while it’s not perfect, this is an absolutely excellent addition to the Shovel Knight series, and those who enjoyed the original Shovel Knight would do well to get this game also, or simply get the Treasure Trove that contains the whole set. This isn’t quite as good as the original game, but it’s still a superb Action-Platformer that’s one of the best games in the genre.

tl;dr – Shovel Knight: King of Cards is a standalone expansion to Shovel Knight, the third expansion out of four. This is an Action-Platformer that follows the King Knight boss from the first game, who has a unique and fun move-set built around combo-ing shoulder bashes into pirouette spins. The game design and level design here is every bit as good as the first game, though it does re-use some assets and makes some changes to the map that are a bit disappointing. Also, the newly-added card game is decent, but nothing truly great. Still, this is a solid entry in the series and an excellent Action-Platformer well worth playing.

Grade: A-

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