Despite coming out back in 2021 it's been a busy few days for Shovel Knight Pocket Dungeon. The single-screen falling-block dungeon puzzler saw the release of a beta test on Steam of its online multiplayer on July 2, starting off a two-week trial to put the Pals Pack DLC that the online component is a part of through its paces. This continues Pocket Dungeon's annual tradition of the last few years, with the Puzzler's Pack coming out June 2023, Paradox Pack in August 2024, and soon enough the Pals Pack DLC once the feedback from the weekend's test is integrated. Admitted, it's hard to say why it's called "DLC" when they've been more like major game updates, no separate download required, but it's still a fairly ambitious update cycle for a game that's now almost four years old.
The Answer to "Will It Blend" for Game Genres Is Frequently And Surprisingly "Yes!"
The core gameplay of Shovel Knight: Pocket Dungeon is a combination of turn-based movement in a single-screen arena and falling-block puzzle game which, yes, is a very strange combination that's even more impressive due to how well it works. The blocks are mostly monsters but...
