Nearly seven years ago, Yacht Club Games launched the Kickstarter for Shovel Knight, thus beginning the long journey towards building one of the most recognizable characters in the indie gaming space. After a record-breaking response from the community, not only did the game receive the funding it needed, but all the stretch goals for additional content were also met. Amongst other things, these stretch goals included additional modes in which you could play through the base campaign as one of three of the boss knights. Most developers in this situation would’ve simply added three relatively low effort extra characters to the main game and called it good; Yacht Club decided to swing for the fences instead.
Both the Plague of Shadows and Specter of Torment updates in 2015 and 2017 showcased what could be done when a little more spit and polish was applied to these extra characters. Each campaign was designed as a bespoke adventure for its starring character, complete with fully redesigned levels, new storylines, and various experimental, supplementary game mechanics tossed in to make each release feel in many ways like a sequel to the original 2014 release of Shovel Knight. Now, Yacht Club has finally reached the end of the development road with its latest King of Cards expansion, which easily feels like the most ambitious and expansive campaign yet. The perfect marriage of foundational elements – such as familiar characters and stage themes – with fresh content like the new Joustus card game demonstrates how much the studio has matured over the years, making this the perfect sendoff for a modern classic.
The story of King of Cards takes place a little before the base Shovel Knight campaign, starting off at a time in which the oafish King Knight lives with his mother and his only ‘subjects’ are the rats that scurry around his room. A popular new card-game sensation called Joustus has swept across the land and – echoing a certain monster-catching Nintendo franchise – King Knight has set his sights on becoming the very best by defeating the three Joustus Judges and becoming the titular King of Cards. Right from the off, it’s especially noticeable how this is a much more lighthearted and smaller-stakes adventure than the weighty and sombre tale that drove Specter Knight’s adventure in the last campaign. King Knight is as boisterous and buffoonish as ever, and the writing is spectacular as he interacts with various characters and recruits them to his flying airship base.
As you’d expect, King Knight has a new move set to drive the platforming, all of which centres around his shoulder bash move. A quick button tap will send King Knight ploughing into whatever’s immediately in his path, and once he makes contact with it, he launches upward into a pirouette that functions similarly to Shovel Knight’s downward shovel bounce. This makes for an interesting rhythm with level pacing, as many obstacles require you to chain together multiple dashes and bounces in quick succession, introducing an almost puzzle-like quality to certain segments. At first, this shoulder bash-to-bounce combo can be a little hard to get to grips with, but much like each of the previous characters, it soon becomes second nature as you dance through enemies and careen over high walls.
Level design this time around has taken a notable break from the ‘norm’ of previous Shovel Knight campaigns by carving up the levels up into a high number of brief and focused challenges. Previously, levels were long gauntlets with six or so checkpoints and a high number of unique gameplay concepts being tested at once. Here, levels only have one or two checkpoints and are more akin to certain Nintendo platformer releases in which a single gameplay idea is introduced and iterated on throughout the course of that level. We rather enjoyed this revised approach, as it gives each level a more focused and intentional feel while also allowing for the overall campaign to have more variety and memorable moments.
The overworld map designed has been rejigged to be far more non-linear as well, drawing plenty of parallels with Super Mario World. Your goal is to get to the King level at the end of each world, and the path you can take there is entirely up to you. Some stages have secret exits that lead to extra levels, and you can bypass whole areas of a world if you’re crafty in how you plan your route. Of course, boss knights and other optional challenges roam the routes between, and these often act as nice breaks from the core gameplay while also giving you some much-needed cash for upgrades and collectables. In many ways, the design of the map here feels like a perfected version of the map that first showed up in the original Shovel Knight, placing emphasis on player agency while also enticing you with plenty of secrets and alternate paths.
Character progression echoes much of what we’ve seen in previous Shovel Knight campaigns, with your collected gold going towards new outfits and upgrades that help to give you an edge in the more difficult portions of the late game. Along with this, each level has (usually) three collectable Medals that act as a sort of secondary currency which is used to unlock more items for King Knight to use. A bit like in Specter Knight’s campaign, you use these medals to pay for new items, and then run through a brief level that showcases various ways you can use that new thing. We rather appreciated how many of the moves from King Knight’s original boss move set have been repurposed here, and the new additions to his arsenal are organically integrated and give you a diverse toolset for overcoming certain obstacles.
It’d be impossible to complete a review of King of Cards without paying special attention to one of its headlining new features: Joustus. At first, this fun little card game seems like just a cool distraction from the main game, but it quickly reveals itself to have far more depth than you’d think. The basic idea behind Joustus centres around placing cards down on a 5x5 grid and trying to control more gem panels (there’s usually only three) than your opponent. On a standard table, you can only place cards in the nine squares in the centre of the grid, and once the centre fills up, whoever has more gem panels wins. Each card has arrows on it that indicate which way it will ‘push’ other cards, and putting it down will then shove a chosen card over a certain amount of spaces.
Controlling a desired space on the board often requires a fair amount of planning and thought, as you have to be thinking a couple of moves ahead and play out the possibilities of where your opponent could likely push the cards you place. Things are complicated even further, then, when you factor in that some cards have special properties which can upend the state of the board, such as a card that destroys any cards that it’s pushed into. All of this is to say Joustus is not simply a forgettable diversion that’s tacked on to add more content to the King of Cards expansion; it’s a well-designed mini-game with a high skill ceiling. In fact, when you factor in that there are several dozen cards to collect and loads of characters to play throughout the campaign, you could easily spend as much time playing Joustus as you do platforming as King Knight. Even so, though Joustus proves to be foundational to the identity of King of Cards, it’s never forced on the player. If cards aren’t your thing, you can play through the campaign as a pure 2D platformer and barely touch Joustus, though we would highly encourage you to give it a fair shot.
The overall presentation is perhaps where King of Cards leans most on its predecessors, as the sprite work and soundtrack give off a bit of a ‘been there, done that’ feel. You know what to expect when going to Tinker Knight’s clocktower, for example, and though it is a little disappointing to see the same level themes and enemies used once again, it’s tough to fault Yacht Club for the excellent attention to detail that it's paid to all the artwork. And though much of the campaign does retread familiar ground, there’s still some new level themes, enemies, and music tracks here to help give King of Cards more of a unique feel. Essentially, King of Cards offers up exactly the kind of presentation that you should come to expect from a Shovel Knight release, and though it does feel kind of tired the fourth time around, this is still a shining example of how to do 8-bit right.
Conclusion
Few would’ve guessed back in 2014 that Shovel Knight would still be going strong with brand new expansions five years later; it truly has been the gift that keeps on giving. King of Cards proves that Yacht Club Games has lost none of the zeal or talent that made the original release such a success, as evidenced by the tight level designs, excellent writing, top-notch presentation, and loads of replayability. It’s tough to say whether King of Cards is the best expansion yet, but it certainly meets the ridiculously high bar set by its predecessors. As a standalone release, King of Cards easily trumps most other retro 2D platformers on the Switch eShop at the moment, and you certainly can’t go wrong by picking it up. That being said, we’d encourage you to buy into the ‘full’ Shovel Knight game and play through each campaign in release order, as you get the most out of King of Cards once you understand the context it’s in from both a gameplay and story perspective. Either way, it’s impossible to go wrong with King of Cards, and whether standalone or as part of Treasure Trove, we’d recommend you make a point to play it as soon as possible. This is likely the last we’ll see of the ‘core’ Shovel Knight series for some time, and King of Cards acts as a worthy swansong for a now-legendary platformer. Bravo.
Comments 67
Neat-O. Can’t wait to play it tomorrow.
I'll play it later, tooooo many games to play.
Yeah, I'm stoked!
Shovel Knight has always perfectly tapped in to the fanboy part of my soul that is usually reserved for games I played as a child. And on top of that, their overly-generous DLC approach leaves little to be upset by. I'm so excited to finally get my hands on this grand finale.
More importantly Yacht Club are now finally free from their Kickstarter prison! Sign 'em up Nintendo.
I pre-ordered the Treasure Trove for Switch, and the trio of amiibo, back in February.
Today, I got my shipping notification that they're arriving tomorrow.
I can't wait.
Really looking forward to this. So far Plague Knight has been my favourite, even narrowly exceeding the original Shovel Knight in my opinion. I just couldn't click with Spectre but I keep meaning to come back to it. High hopes for this one though.
The real measure of Yacht Clubs dedication and general awesomeness is the fact this is also coming out on Wii U, 3ds, PS3 and even the bloody Vita.
Can't wait. Bit disappointed the DS version got delayed to Friday, but it's only a few more days. Still, beyond pumped
There are so many more Switch games for this to compete for my time with that when I first picked up Treasure Trove, but I'm still looking forward to giving it a try.
@matdub
Aye, I backed the game all thsoe years ago, and aside from bringing the expansions to the original platforms, Yacht Club serves it all for free to their original patrons.
It's a special thing, to be sure.
Glad to hear you don’t have to play Joustus to enjoy this. I HATE card games.
I will buy it instantly when physical is available!
Never played it just watched videos.
Looks incredible!
@Zuljaras
It's available now, and there are four different amiibo available for Plague Knight, Spectre Knight, King Knight, and Golden Shovel Knight.
I'm getting them all from Amazon UK.
@Zuljaras Isn't it already physical in regards to treasure trove?
I think I read something about a delay on 3DS (where I have the game) and Wii U. Don't like it.
But kudos to Yacht Club Games for all the effort, and for free, after these years.
@RupeeClock Can you still buy them? I was interested in the 3 pack too.
Nice. Haven't played my 3DS in months, but I'll be breaking it out when this releases.
@Chunkboi79 I want to have the latest physical with all games on the cart.
@RupeeClock I am still waiting to be available in my retail stores. Well I hope it is.
@Zuljaras Ah so kind of like having it native on the cart instead of downloading it to it?
Great! Now time to start working on Super Shovel Knight!
@Jokerwolf
Yes, Amazon UK are still accepting pre-orders for tomorrow's release date.
Switch game: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07N447DYB
Triple amiibo pack: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07LFVVYD9
Gold Shovel Knight amiibo: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07NBZB79Y
Doesn't have to be Amazon either
https://www.365games.co.uk/nintendo-switch-games/shovel-knight-treasure-trove-nintendo-switch-game
365 games have listings for the amiibo but they are currently out of stock.
https://www.game.co.uk/en/shovel-knight-treasure-trove-2569720
https://www.game.co.uk/en/shovel-knight-amiibo-3-pack-2571051
https://www.game.co.uk/en/shovel-knight-gold-amiibo-2571053
Can't wait to play it.
I kind of agree reading this, the point being made about getting tired of the same background and enemies and stuff, but man, what a desing this game has! I could go through each level thousands of times and somehow I never get tired. The pixel work is so beautiful, and so is the music, making it look eternal (just like playing Super Mario 3).
I'm so looking forward to SK Dig now, and everything else Yacht Club releases.
@Chunkboi79 I think so. Ar least I read that. Otherwise it is pointless to have a new physical edition.
@Zuljaras
Yeah, whilst the physical copies of Shovel Knight for 3DS and Wii U exist, they will grant you access to the update data to play the full Treasure Trove content available for those systems, that data doesn't exist on the cart or disc.
The Switch physical release has the entire content on game card, including King of Cards and Showdown.
I think it's worth it just for being able to play Shovel Knight on the Switch, anyway.
I wonder what their next game would be since they are finally done with the shovel knight kickstarter. I also wonder if they made a profit because this is the most consumer friendly collection of DLC ive ever witnessed in gaming.
Is there any content exclusive to the Switch that you can't play on the 3DS version? I'm thinking about which one to get...
Gameplay sounds like Celeste
@Bobb I believe all versions are equal, content wise.
I have both the 3DS and Switch versions. It looks great on the Switch's bigger screen, but I really like the 3D effect it has on 3DS as well.
I know that doesn't help lol, but you can't really go wrong with either one.
@Cotillion @Bobb
No, each version has some level of exclusivity.
The 3DS version does not receive the Showdown mode for example, that's the biggest omission.
Exclusive to Nintendo systems is amiibo compatibility, and exclusive to the 3DS is the StreetPass arena (which isn't much and you're unlikely to ever use it).
Exclusive to the PlayStation versions is a Kratos God of War boss fight, and exclusive to the Xbox versions is a Battletoads stage and boss fight. Not sure if it's also available on PC or not.
@Cotillion @RupeeClock Thank you very much for the quick answer. That was very helpful
@Ooccoo_Jr what do you mean by that?
@luxoricious Tbh it reminds me of a time when I was going through probably the toughest time in my life and my wii u was my escape from reality. So the art style is super nostalgic to look back on and reflect on how far I have come. Sorry to get sappy, but you're right the art style has a ton of charm to it
@Ardisan they've discussed the game's sales in the past and it sounds like they've done very well from it. It's old information from before this last campaign, but I don't think you have to worry about how they've done financially. I think they're in a good position.
First, good to see that this is finally done! The wait for this campaing has been quite a long one. The original game and the two expansions have been fantastic. And it was great being able to get all that included with my initial purchase well after the Kickstarter. I wish all crowdfunded games worked out so well. Even Bloodstained, which delivered a game, didn't work out so well for me. I'm not sure exactly when I will get to King of Cards, as I don't want to dive in immediately, but I look forward to getting started on it maybe at the end of the month. And I'm curious to see what Yacht Club has in store for the future. We've seen them partner up with other developers, but I wonder what their next in-house project will be.
I've heard the complaint about the same level and enemy designs as the previous packs. But they're offered as game expansions, so I think the consistency is better than novelty in this case.
Man, it still baffles me that we got all this amazing DLC for free. I'm not ashamed of having quadruple dipped (WiiU, Vita, PC, Switch) on this game. YCG deserve all the support they can get
@sdelfin Thats great to hear
Can't wait to get my hands on this tomorrow. My only concern( worry is how king knight plays. I struggled with plague knight, so im hoping he controls a little better than plague.
@Ooccoo_Jr I think a lot of people await what they have in store aside from knights and shovels. Sometimes creators are well known for one work and their second or third one eclipses the original so much it is forgotten. Though that would be quite a feat with how prolific Shovel Knight is, few indies worm their way into Smash.
@Panopticon more like Megaman, Mario, and Ninja Gaiden.
@Sinton And later crash and burn with Shovel Knight 3D!
I backed this game for Wii U, then bought it on 3DS. I ended up liking it more on 3DS. Since I retired my Wii U and my 3DS was broken with no replacement, I figured I'd just get it for Switch. Now that the journey is almost over, I will make the dlc my priority to beat after Golf Story. I can't wait!
Yacht Club's dedication to this game has been nothing short of inspiring. These guys are awesome and I can't wait to see what their next game is.
How's the difficulty in these games? Always been interested but afraid of them being too difficult...
@Oubie they're nowhere near as hard as most of the NES platformers that influenced them. It's hard to say how hard you may find them. If you don't play old 8-bit and 16-bit platform games regularly, these might seem really hard. But they never require the amount of precision the hardest NES games do. They also have unlimited continues, lots of checkpoints, auto saving, and the ability to purchase upgrades. And money is easy to accumulate as well. I'd say the challenge is moderate, but quite fair.
@Ooccoo_Jr
I'm definitely excited to see what they come up with next, but I'd prefer they kept the creative freedom that comes with independence - a Nintendo buy-out would be pretty disapointing to me!
@SmaggTheSmug Shovel Knight 64.
@sdelfin Thank you for your reply. Does the game have a skip or auto play function to skip a difficult part? Maybe the upgrades might make a difficult part doable.
I might purchase the whole collection this Holiday because I love the style and the amount of content in the Treasure Trove collection is insane. Fingers crossed for a sale.
@Oubie I don't think it has auto play or anything like that, but there have been updates over the years so I may have missed it if they did add it. The upgrades do make things easier, so that's always an option. It's not the kind of game that's designed to give a maximum challenge or be unfair or require heavy memorization. It's designed to be satisfying and fun. I would say that if you were to get stuck, if you are willing to look at gameplay videos for help, that would probably get you through. It's not a game that requires extreme precision in the main game. There are specific optional challenges that are more precise, but I didn't really play those. And the difficulty is gradual as well. And I don't know about you, but there are some games where I don't need to finish them to feel satisfied with them, and I think Shovel Knight is a game that can be fun in that way as well. Again, I don't think it's especially tough in the first place.
@sdelfin I'm fully convinced now. Thanks for taking the time to write down your experience with the game. Looking for online gameplay videos is indeed always an option if I get stuck.
You got that right regarding feeling satisfied even if you haven't finished a game. Got some games that I haven't finished (due to time or difficulty) but i'm totally okay with
@HimeGyaru You're right of course, I'm just being selfish. Would be interesting to see them given a Nintendo licence though. 2D Metroid perhaps?
@PickledKong64 All these expansions were stretch goals from the original Kickstarter that funded Shovel Knight all those years ago. If I have it right this is the final commitment they had left to their backers (not that Kickstarter is legally binding of course). Will be interesting to see what they come up with next, after Shovel Knight Dig of course (I forget the exact title).
@Ooccoo_Jr oh makes sense. If yacht club was a second party and had funding from Nintendo it would be godly
@Pod yeah it's insane, as not only does it apply to backers, but also early adopters who got it before it became Treasure Trove.
I bought the original for 5€ instead of 15€ on 3DS all those years ago, and I've been receiving every update for free. I feel a little bit guilty lol
Isn’t Shovel Knight Dig due to some out soon too?
@ViewtifulJotun fun part of having multiple characters is you just need 1 to enjoy and the rest are icing.
The free DLC they've given would have been full price sequel releases by a lesser company.
@Ooccoo_Jr
A Yacht Club Metroid or Mario would definitely be absolutely awesome! Maybe Nintendo can rent out their licence in exchange for a cut of the profits or something like that? Like Cadance of Hyrule!
@Muddy_4_Ever
Well, they did increase the price of the Treasure Trove version of the game, and sell later expansions such as Specter of Torment and King of Cards as standalone titles.
Keeping the later updates free for everyone who purchased the base game, which later became Treasure Trove, is highly admirable.
@Illusion I was referring to the dash into jump puzzle platforming, not Shovel Knight as a whole.
@Panopticon yeah about an hour later I started thinking that's what you meant. I agree with you now after watching more vids on it 😅
Finally it is here! Have played through all the other campaigns on several platforms, so this will for sure get a playthrough during xmas!
Nice review and nice score. The ign reviewer didn't like Joustus though, it might be a required taste (maybe). But its something you can mostly avoid, if you don't like it. Now, as a European Wii u owner I have to wait. Hopefully we still see it this year. That being said, I probably don't have time to play it (sooooo many games, I am currently playing the Spyro trilogy).
There is no way to do an 8-bit style "right" outside of actual 8-bit systems. "Shovel Knight's" presentation works, because they took so many liberties with their supposed 8-bit style that it doesn't actually resemble real 8-bit games at all. It's more like a theoretical "12-bit style" as far as I'm concerned, and that's what retro developers should always aim for at a bare minimum.
I want the full shovel knight trilogy physical in one cartridge with a colored booklet
Personally i think this is a mockery to the gilded boy. The game held so much promise with its fantastic platforming, fun level designs, neat heirlooms but the game just falls flat completely because it shoves joustus down your throat. Theres no reason joustus exists and frankly it ruins the game. Instead of the high flying fun platforming action shovel knight is known for, you sit your fat ass down at a table and get your ass pounded by the AI. Every move you make the AI will have a way to win the game in one move. The worst part about Joustus is that its just padding but for no reason. If you removed the Joustus entirely, you'd still have a solid platformer with the best boy himself. Sorry but 5/10 for me.
5/5 for the actual game 0/5 for the wasted *****. theres a reason th made up card game within a game trope fell out of use
Holy ***** sticks! It is out on the Vita. I didn't even know it was a thing (Vita gathering a bit of dust atm)
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