Shovel Knight: King of Cards

Critic reviews

• SShacknews

  Ozzie Mejia · Dec 18, 2019

  9.0

  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.

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• DSDual Shockers

  Max Roberts · Dec 17, 2019

  10

  King of Cards has reinforced that age-old saying of not judging a shiny knight by his armor, even a Joustus Judge. Years of development, five total games, and countless hours of work shine through every pixel. Yacht Club Games has taken what could have been a palette swap far beyond what anyone imagined. King of Cards may be a narrative prequel to Shovel Knight, but it is truly a sequel in every way. Yacht Club Games has raised the bar for what Kickstarter stretch goals mean to their communities and the video game industry at large.

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• TTechRaptor

  Sam Gowing · Dec 17, 2019

  7.5

  King of Cards is another excellent addition to the Shovel Knight saga - an exciting and grand finale for the series.

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• CCOGconnected

  Scott Sullivan · Dec 14, 2019

  8.9

  Their strong sense of game design is evident throughout each game, but perhaps most creatively so in Shovel Knight: King of Cards. The sky’s the limit for this team and I hope whatever they choose to develop next can join Shovel Knight in this same echelon of excellence. 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.

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• DDarkstation

  Elijah Gonzalez · Dec 11, 2019

  9.0

  Shovel Knight: King of Cards is a successful union of its disparate halves, existing as both a platformer with consistently inventive level design and an engaging collectible card game. Joustus and the platforming offer a well-choreographed sequence of challenges that deliver constant variation.
• GGameSpot

  Alessandro Barbosa · Dec 10, 2019

  8.0

  Whether you're challenging foes at a table in a tavern or bashing them into oblivion with your scepter, King of Cards is like comfort food if you already have a taste for Shovel Knight. It doesn't stray from its established formula and often sticks closer to the format of the first game in the series rather than the more experimental expansions that came after it. And while its well-balanced platforming and demanding combat are a treat, its use of existing boss fights and enemies with little to no change in their mechanics saps some of the surprise out of these exciting encounters.

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