Developer: Nitrome, Yacht Club Games
Platforms: Apple Arcade, PC (Reviewed), Switch
Genre: Action
Publisher: Yacht Club Games
Shovel Knight Dig is a 2D side-scrolling dungeon-crawler roguelite platformer. It is designed to look like a retro 16-bit game. Shovel Knight Dig is from the Shovel Knight series that has been developed and published by Yacht Club Games. Shovel Knight Dig has been developed by Nitrome and Yacht Club Games. There are more that are very similar to this game which falls under the Shovel Knight series game.
The story behind the game is that you are a knight whose weapon is a shovel, and your objective is to reach the ‘meta knight’ who stole your sack of jewels. This is a single-player game that is filled with loads of fun as you progress through various levels to end up in a boss fight.
You go about by making your way underground, using your trusty shovel to dig out paths to collect numerous; jewels and keys, as well as beat up any monsters in your way. You collect all these jewels and come upon cash stations where you can buy/upgrade different items to help on your adventure. This game includes many more new characters, knights and enemies; it is also filled with tons of humour!
I find the default controls to be a bit hard to use. You have your hands mainly over the entire keyboard layout when you are only using three main keys. For example, when using the dig control, you have to hold down the arrow key and press J, which is a bit difficult to get a hold of right away. The good thing about the controls is that they are extremely simple, as you only press three keys: space (jump), J (dig/attack) and the arrow keys (to move around).
I personally love any game that is in the 16-bit style, and this game has such a vibrant bright colourful design to it. With the vibrant look, it feels as if you, too, are going on this adventure as the knight. The choice of colour, especially for the knight, makes it stand out very well. I enjoy how the gems and monsters look, not; just that but the animation for when digging as well as hitting an enemy is done really well. My personal favourite enemy hit animation would be when killing the skeleton that holds a sword, the skeleton’s head; just flies off. The game would not be as good without the sound effects and the soundtrack. The animation and design of the game compliment the choice of songs the developers picked and the little trinket’s noises. For example, when opening the menu of the game, you hear a little ping noise when selecting over certain options, which creates nostalgia for those who would play 16-bit games back in the day but also creates a subtle yet nice familiarity. Also, the soundtrack is so upbeat and gets you in an adventure-going mood. It is another pulse-pounding soundtrack in a new style by astonishing virtuoso Jake Kaufman!
I found this game to be great fun when wanting to play something you can wind down to or play after a long day. The game is not very hectic: which is great, making it a lot more inviting. Plus, once you get along to progressing; through the levels, you get a bit addicted to wanting to progress through more and more. I would end up dying multiple times, yet that wouldn’t stop me from restarting the game and playing through it again to reach the boss. What I also like about the game is that the levels; are randomly generated, meaning that no two levels are the same making the gameplay, to some extent, endless. I love the soundtrack to this game so much as it gets you going and is very amped up, making the game even more exciting to play.
If you want to play a game where you make your way down into the depths of the earth whilst getting wealthier and beating up a bunch of enemies in your way, then this is the game for you! Even if you have or have not played the other Shovel Knight games, you can still play this one and enjoy it equally or even more! Become a bright blue knight and use your trusty shovel to dig your way to the riches and keep unlocking further items and get closer to the end!
Overall: 8/10
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