So for those unfamiliar with Shovel Knight, let’s do a quick recap. You can find the other review right here and here.

Recap time:

Shovel Knight is a 2D side-scrolling platform game with an 8-bit graphical style. In the game’s first campaign, Shovel of Hope, players controls the eponymous protagonist as he collects treasure and fights against the Order of No Quarter. Shovel Knight’s primary means of attack is his shovel, which he can either use to attack enemies head-on and dig up treasure, or aim below him while jumping to bounce on enemies, similar to the pogo jump from DuckTales or the downward thrust from Zelda II: The Adventure of Link. By finding a salesman named Chester hidden in most levels, the player can purchase secondary items known as relics that can be used with a limited supply of magic. These include long-range projectiles, gloves that can punch through dirt blocks, and a locket that makes the player invincible for a brief period.

Aside from the main quest, which involves fighting through each level and defeating the boss at the end to progress through the world map, players are encouraged to collect as much treasure as possible. Treasure can be obtained by defeating enemies, finding chests, digging through the environment, and finding note sheets that also unlock music tracks. Any money earned can be spent in villages on various items, such as upgrades to health and magic, secondary items sold by the salesman, and armor and shovel upgrades that grant bonus skills. While the player has infinite lives, dying will cause the player to lose some of their money, though the player can recover it by collecting the flying sacks around where the player last died. For an added challenge, players can also choose to destroy checkpoints to earn more treasure at the risk of being sent back further should they die.

Shovel Knight Dig, Dig, Diggy Hole

When Drill Knight and his dastardly digging crew blast apart Shovel Knight’s peaceful campsite and steal his loot, he grabs his trusty Shovel Blade and starts tunneling after them! Meet new friends and foes, visit strange lands, and outfit yourself in your quest to keep the entire land from collapsing underfoot! Jump, slash, and dig your way down an ever-changing chasm of mystery in Shovel Knight Dig, an all-new Shovel Knight adventure!

So much for the story! Discover it yourself; play this game since it’s fantastic—time to drop the horizontal and go vertical (well, in a way). Shovel Knight Dig adopts a more Steamworld Digesque approach. The concept is to dig your way down to the bottom of the well, defeat Drill Knight, and recover your bag! Of course, if you fall in battle, you’ll reappear to the surface. But don’t be discouraged! Reequip yourself and try again. Every trip down the well will bring you one step closer to your ultimate goal.

Randomizer & Items

And since the dungeon keeps changing, every trip down into the well will be different. Once you defeat the first boss, you can buy a shortcut from the smuggler to end up in the second ‘world,’ which will make your trips less infuriating. By grinding down and down and down, you unlock more relics to find and upgrades to make the trips down easier. Some stuff you can see are items like: