Shovel Knight: King of Cards

Yacht Club Games proves that their final Shovel Knight expansion, King of Cards, is no fool’s gold by making their best game to date.

Like its brethren before it, Shovel Knight: King of Cards features some of the best platforming game design ever seen in a video game.

Shovel Knight: King of Cards is a marvelous expansion to the collection of expansions that the original game has been blessed with since its release. Featuring a set of very original levels and a new character with new mechanics and the art style and soundscape that have been consistent with the Shovel Knight series, this is an essential title that should feature in the collection of any owner of a Nintendo Switch.

It's also a strong way to put the Shovel Knight saga to bed, essentially bringing everything full-circle in such a way that it encourages players to go right back to the original Shovel Knight story. King of Cards is aces, in ways I never expected it to be.

While technically a prequel, Shovel Knight: King of Cards is a fitting end to the Shovel Knight saga. It continues the tradition of great graphics, sound, and level design set by the original, while still providing a fresh take on platforming.

Delivering yet another fresh twist on Shovel Knight's peerlessly smooth faux-retro brilliance, King of Cards is a challenging, funny, beautiful game that serves not only as the final chapter in the saga but also as proof of how far its creators have come.

For its last platformer chapter, the Shovel Knight series let us play through the Monty Python King Knight, a wanabee king traveling the world to defeat its potential adversaries. Through this lovely pixel art adventure, the players will also discover the Joustus, a card game within the game, for ever more fun in every tavern of this grotesque world.

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.

Shovel Knight: King of Cards is the proverbial cherry on top of a massive sundae that I’ve enjoyed thoroughly, and I know I’ll look forward to revisiting it in its entirety in the future as well.

King of Cards is the better Shovel Knight campaign yet, and a great goodbye to this wonderful series of games. We really look forward to Yacht Club Games' next work, be it Shovel Knight 2 or else.

King of Cards delivers a great epilogue for an even greater Shovel Knight saga. It is cleverly designed, has that old school vibe we all love, and a really cool move set for our new hero. Joustus, the card game is a great addition, but since it is pretty much a mandatory element, it may throw the entire tempo of the game down to the danger zone.

Shovel Knight is one of the best indie games of the decade, and this is its best expansion. If you wanted more, make sure you don’t miss it.

It's wonderfully refined, boasting a glut of ideas without ever feeling overstuffed. [Issue#342, p.114]

Shovel Knight: King of Cards is a fitting conclusion to an almost perfect saga. Fans of the series will enjoy the new features, especially the implementation of the card game, Joustus, and newcomers will easily fall in love with this much-loved series.

King of Cards is, without doubt, the most risky expansion of all of them. It brings brand new elements, as a complete card game (with collectible cards and fully playable) or a main character that plays very different from the previous ones, but as a whole it doesn't astound at the same level that Shovel Knight did up today.

Shovel Knight: King of Cards is a master-class in platforming, design, pixel art, and much, much more. Offering a good amount of new content, as well as the all-new card mini-game, Joustus, you have an overall package that is hard not to recommend, even if good portions of this feel wholly the same as the original Shovel Knight and its successive releases.

Despite my misgivings with our royal protagonist’s moveset, King of Cards is an excellent cap on what’s become a downright amazing collection of games. Players who already own Treasure Trove get this one for free, and if you’ve ever been on the fence about buying it, I really can’t recommend it highly enough, and keep an eye out for our review of the multiplayer component, Shovel Knight: Showdown, before too long.