Shovel Knight: King of Cards Review

With three excellent Shovel Knight games down already, it’s no surprise that the latest, Shovel Knight: King of Cards, is another great 2D platforming adventure with excellent level design, charming characters, and fun new mechanics. What is a bit of a surprise, however, is how King of Cards grafts a well designed but tonally inconsistent collectible card game onto the usual Shovel Knight platforming package, and how that card game is integral to both the story and progression of your new protagonist. As a result, King of Cards is a bit at odds with itself. While this is the largest Shovel Knight game yet (clocking in at about 11 hours for me), with a great refocusing on a higher quantity of shorter levels with alternate pathways, its card game’s intrusion can make it feel like a delicious meal with a strange, unfamiliar sauce poured all over it that I would have rather ordered on the side.

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