Shovel Knight Pocket Dungeon Reviews

Shovel Knight Pocket Dungeon is ranked in the 95th percentile of games scored on OpenCritic.
GameSpew
Top Critic
7 / 10.0
Dec 20, 2021

Despite its frustrations, you’re likely to get sucked into Shovel Knight: Pocket Dungeon‘s gameplay loop. With an adventure mode, a daily challenge and a versus mode, there’s plenty to go at, too. Even if you do die frequently, you’ll probably want to jump straight back in, each time vying to get just that bit further. And the assistive options are a nice touch, even if they do disable trophies and achievements.

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8 / 10.0
Dec 12, 2021

Shovel Knight Pocket Dungeon ticks all sorts of boxes. It is absolutely a puzzle game. You need to deal with falling “blocks” in a timely fashion. It also feels like an action-RPG. You need to consider your health, your equipment, and the amount of damage you’ll take. Roguelike elements come up too, due to being kicked back to camp when you die and opportunities to unlock relics for future runs.

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8 / 10.0
Dec 13, 2021

Though pieces of its are familiar and taken from long standing genres, in uniting them with the series’ panache and pixels we get something unique to pick up and play again and again. Though I might be content to set it aside for now, that fine tuned gameplay and infectious soundtrack have made sure I won’t be gone for long.

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8 / 10.0
Dec 18, 2021

It’s brilliant how crazy you can make this Pocket Dungeon, and it gives me a proud joy to say that this puzzler was easily the biggest sleeper hit of the year: despite being tough to explain, it just has a flow that is silky smooth!

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8 / 10.0
Dec 13, 2021

Shovel Knight Pocket Dungeon is a really successful spin off that offers us an original approach to the classic game genre.

Review in Polish | Read full review

4 / 5.0
Dec 13, 2021

Ultimately, Shovel Knight Pocket Dungeon is a great success. It managed to meld a classic indie series with a dynamic new style, and for the most part, it works pretty well. Yes, it may be a bit too challenging for its own good, but not so much I ever put it down for long. If you’re a fan of the series or just enjoy new puzzle games, I’d definitely check it out. Besides the main adventure, there’s a ton of other modes to explore, as well as secrets to uncover. Here’s hoping the next offshoot title from Yacht Club Games continues this positive trend.

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8 / 10.0
Dec 13, 2021

Shovel Knight Pocket Dungeon is the new spin-off adventure by Yacht Club Games involving puzzling your way through a rogue-lite world. It looks and sounds great while offering a variety of fast and challenging gameplay.

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8 / 10 stars
Dec 27, 2021

Shovel Knight Pocket Dungeon brings one of the best puzzle games of the year while staying true to its roots.

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8 / 10
Dec 13, 2021

There’s not significant variety across these extra modes — and no online multiplayer is unfortunate — though when the core gameplay is this good, it's not a major detractor. Yacht Club Games and VINE ultimately provide an excellent puzzle spin-off, one that’s accessible for all players that'll appeal to existing fans. You won’t necessarily be here for a long time, but it’s an addictive experience that’ll keep you coming back for more.

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80 / 100
Dec 12, 2021

‎Pocket Dungeon is a small and pleasant surprise, a puzzle game that finds its originality by merging perfectly with elements of dungeon games. It's simple to play, and complicated to master. Perhaps the most "negative" aspect is that, as a roguelike, it may not conquer everyone.‎

Review in Spanish | Read full review

8 / 10.0
Dec 12, 2021

Shovel Knight Pocket Dungeon might turn some people off with its roguelite framework and randomization, but there’s a deep puzzle game at work here; one that’s worth exploring if you’ve grown up on the action-puzzle genre. This is something I can see myself playing again in the years to come, especially with versus mode augmenting some of the leaner elements.

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GameSpot
Top Critic
8 / 10
Dec 14, 2021

Shovel Knight: Pocket Dungeon combines familiar tile-matching puzzle mechanics with rogue-lite elements to make one of the best puzzlers in years.

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Metro GameCentral
GameCentral
Top Critic
8 / 10
Dec 16, 2021

Shovel Knight's first spin-off is just as good as his mainline games, with a clever take on tile-matching puzzlers that offers an enjoyably unique challenge.

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8 / 10.0
Dec 12, 2021

Shovel Knight Pocket Dungeon is a wonderful spin-off that combines block-falling puzzle and roguelite mechanics in remarkably clever ways, resulting in yet another excellent entry in the Shovel Knight series.

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85%
Jan 9, 2022

Combining an action roguelite and tile matching puzzle game into one game is pretty wild, but Shovel Knight Pocket Dungeon somehow makes it work really well and the result is a very fresh and quite addicting title.

Review in Slovak | Read full review

8.5 / 10.0
Dec 15, 2021

A puzzle-adventure game that lives up to the name Shovel Knight, as well as being a very interesting and well-executed challenge.

Review in Spanish | Read full review

8.5 / 10.0
Dec 14, 2021

Shovel Knight Pocket Dungeon turns the charismatic universe of the knight with the shovel in an excellent and addicting action puzzle. The main concept of running into enemies to attack them is simple, but, in order to survive, it's essential to make combos to attack various opponents simultaneously, which isn't always [an] easy [task] to execute. Some of the fun comes from being able to make huge combinations able to clear a big chunk of the screen. Different types of monsters, heroes with unique skills and many items add diversity to the adventure, and so do the game modes. As a negative point, sometimes the matches are way too similar and the action gets confusing in the midst of the visual chaos of certain situations, however those details can be overlooked. In the end, Shovel Knight Pocket Dungeon is captivating with its creativity and is a recommendation for people who appreciate action puzzles.

Review in Portuguese | Read full review

8.5 / 10.0
Dec 13, 2021

With Shovel Knight: Pocket Dungeon, Yacht Club Games has made its versatility evident in creating gameplay radically different from Shovel Knight: Treasure Trove, without losing a hint of the quality that made the developer's original game so acclaimed. The end result is a phenomenal and refined puzzle game that is complex without being alienating and has a variety of options to enhance the fun of both novice and experienced players alike. Just missing extra modes that put rules or special events in normal gameplay, thus increasing the (already immense) replayability value.

Review in Portuguese | Read full review

8.5 / 10.0
Jul 14, 2022

Shovel Knight: Pocket Dungeon relishes in the idea of punishing you. The roguelike nature and quick action puzzle elements can feel overwhelming, and it'll feel like a miracle when you beat the game for the first time. The solid mechanics are enough to keep you coming back, and the bevy of unlockable characters makes this similar enough to the original Shovel Knight in that the content will seem endless. For fans of unusual puzzles and Shovel Knight, Pocket Dungeon is perfect for you.

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85 / 100
Jan 2, 2022

Methodical puzzle games and frenzied roguelikes sound like apples and oranges, but Shovel Knight Pocket Dungeon makes a delicious smoothie out of the two genres suitable for all tastes.

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