Five games in one package
Shovel Knight: Treasure Trove collects the whole saga into a single bundle of five games. Shovel of Hope follows Shovel Knight and his Shovel Blade on a quest for his lost beloved, with the Order of No Quarter and their leader The Enchantress in the way. Plague of Shadows puts you behind the mask of Plague Knight, where you combine bomb parts into custom loadouts and hunt for new items, areas, and bosses. Specter of Torment is a prequel built around Specter Knight's wall-climbing dashes and scythe work, with levels redesigned for his movement. King of Cards is the biggest entry, starring King Knight with Shoulder Bash moves and a card-playing quest. Shovel Knight Showdown is a platform fighter that runs separately from the rest.
Playing together
Shovel of Hope has a fully cooperative campaign, so one friend can join you and run through the whole adventure side by side. Showdown supports up to four players locally, either brawling over gems or working through Story Mode together. Showdown also has its own Story Mode to dig into on your own. Remote Play Together lets people join over a connection rather than sitting at the same screen. Body Swap mode changes the genders of the main characters in Shovel of Hope with new designs for each.
Before you start
The controls are simple to pick up, but the difficulty is real throughout, so expect to retry sections. You collect gold and riches to upgrade armor and weapons, and relics show up along the way. Challenge Mode holds over 100 challenges if you want something beyond the main runs. New Game+ lets you go through the adventure again with the world's secrets still waiting. The presentation sticks to an 8-bit look with detailed animation and layered parallax backgrounds, and the music comes from Jake "Virt" Kaufman with additional tracks by Manami Matsumae. The writing keeps a light tone with humor and levity rather than heavy narrative.