Yacht Club Games is the celebrated development studio behind the original 2014 smash indie hit, Shovel Knight, however, it is only co-developing this title, with developer Nitrome leading the charge. Nitrome is best known for free-to-play browser games, yet, its inclusion in this project was met with a mostly positive reaction. Back in 2019, Shovel Knight Dig’s first trailer had many fans exclaiming their fond memories of the Nitrome website.
Therewasa portion of the Yacht Club audience who expressed concerns that this would be a shallow mobile iteration of the franchise, especially since it wasn’t being helmed by Yacht Club themselves. This was especially poignant since it was before Yacht Club had announced it was working on its upcoming full-fledged title, Mina the Hollower, so it was unknown if Yacht Club would make another proper game on its own. When it comes to Shovel Knight Dig, there have been many details revealed over time that have ameliorated these concerns.
Shovel Knight Dig’s mere presence on PC and Switch expresses a clear intent of presenting this product to other types of audiences outside of the mobile space. The gameplay seen in trailers, including this most recent one, has shown a surprising amount of variety, in terms of enemies, bosses, and environments. The title is also priced at a standard premium amount for indie games.
It does differ from the original Shovel Knight in that it does not have traditionally designed linear levels, but instead has “pixel-perfect level chunks” which are procedurally stitched together in a rogue-like fashion. The blog post released alongside the trailer states, “Each trip down the well will bring you closer to discovering the secrets lying at the bottom.” The main premise of the game revolves around Drill Knight stealing the protagonist’s loot, and going to the furthest depths he can to keep Shovel Knight from getting it back.
