Yacht Club Games Announces Shovel Knight Pocket Dungeon

Yacht Club Games, the studio behind the hit indie platformer Shovel Knight are back again. And they're returning with a new puzzle rougelite game set in the shovel-verse. Introducing Shovel Knight Pocket Dungeon!



Unveiled during a special "Yacht Club Presents" video on Wednesday, Shovel Knight Pocket Dungeon will be the next major project the studio releases. Playing as a miniature Shovel Knight, the player must navigate a puzzle board full of enemies and objects. Over time, more enemies and objects fall onto the board. Attacking large groups will allow for "combos" of sorts while collecting keys, gems, and chests will reward the player will a currency they can use to upgrade their fighting potential.

The game will also feature a dungeon-crawling rougelite style. The player appears to navigate from different worlds and areas to fight against a variety of enemies and bosses, including other Knights from the original Shovel Knight game. All of this is done with the guidance of a new contender: Puzzle Knight!

The design reminds us tremendously of Wario's Woods, an NES puzzle game where the player controlled Toad as they walked on the puzzle board. In that, they picked up and placed down blocks to create combos. Shovel Knight Pocket Dungeon seems to take a more combative approach, allowing the player to attack the enemies directly.

Currently, no price, release date, or platform has been announced. Based on the name, we suspect that the game will be releasing on mobile devices. Mobile games like referencing people's pockets and all. Though knowing Yacht Club, there's a fair chance it will release on home consoles and PC as well. This does bring into question what the monetization system will be. At current, it doesn't appear to have microtransactions. But the method is tremendously popular in the mobile market. Only time will tell.

This is also an interesting decision following a statement they made late last year regarding the end of Shovel Knight. They explained that the original Shovel Knight game has ceased development after the release of the last DLC. And now that it's happened, they'll be working on new games. We took this to mean something non-Shovel Knight related. As it turns out, it was in regards to a new spin-off game.

Regardless, we're confident that they'll develop a tremendously entertaining game. For more information about Shovel Knight Pocket Dungeon, visit the official website.