Falling blocks puzzle games are colorful, sugary, family-friendly games that often simulate the feeling of being buried alive. Tetris panic, screen fills up, music sped up: is the fear you’re feeling a little too raw at the moment that you’re about to lose an easy game? Isn’t there some sort of deeper feeling when you mess up a round of Lumines and there’s simply no room for anything else?
Well, maybe it’s just me. But anyway: if you find falling block puzzlers a little claustrophobic, Shovel Knight Pocket Dungeon, a game I can’t remember the name of at all when I’m discussing it with others, is going to hit you hard.
Why? Because it’s a falling block puzzle game where you are inside a grid! You are moving around as the blocks flow in from above. And they’re not all blocks! Most of them are monsters. If you don’t work fast but think deeply, they will pile up on top of you! They will stop you! As the screen fills and fills up, you can feel the wiggle, get stuck between the block and the hard place, and you can feel the weight pressing down. Puzzle horror!
Take a deep breath. I should h ave said Puzzle Knight now – shovel
I love that this is the sequel to Shovel Knight, a beloved 2D platformer in the spirit of the original Capcom Duck Tales game. I love Puzzle Dungeon – pocket Dungeon! – Not a platformer at all. This is a falling block puzzle game. But the more I play, the more meaningful this type of conversion becomes.
Because people stuck in the middle of this falling block puzzle game don’t necessarily realize they are in a falling block puzzle game. It’s the shovel knight it’s you. So you can walk around like a hero in a platformer and attack the drops around you. Time moves like a roguelike, with enemies falling into the grid in clockwork beats, but you can move a little faster if you want. You fight bad guys, watch your health meter and their dance, your attack stats and theirs. Hit an enemy next to a similar enemy type, and eventually they all strike at the same time – a matching chain in a dozen other puzzle games, of course. But it has a heart-pounding element. It feels like violence, and the countdown combo system encourages you to devote energy and speed to that violence. The puzzle here is combat.
It’s all super smart. Super smart! Enemies change as you move through the game. Simple people don’t do much damage. Simple people can do considerable damage. Snakes take up a lot of space when descending. A monster that transforms when injured. Some raised their shields or exploded. Some people are invulnerable unless you hit something else first. Complete them to make more room on the grid as there is always a torrent from above. Move tactically so you can grab a health potion to chug so you don’t end up being yourself midway through your next encounter. Dead, it takes a painful time for your soul to leave the screen – all the time the screen fills up. Can you rejoin the action before it fills up and ends the game?can you rejoin the action and
The victory conditions are simple. The more bad guys you do, the more chance the box will fall from above. Open three chests – you need three keys – and as you move around the grid, you get the exit. Through it, you will enter the next area. new enemy. Maybe a boss that feels like auto chess or even just chess, you know. New relics with perks – more gems, bigger explosions – and new weapons – freeze your enemies! Do more damage per hit! Time is slow! – This usually confuses and then disappears after you use them a certain number of times. It’s a puzzle game with a Rogue-like single-run mentality, as chance throws items at you and helps you build your current build.
So yes, there are tons of changes in perks and weapons. But the real shovel puzzle – whatever! – just began. At the heart of the game are the different characters you unlock, starting with Shovel Knight himself but expanding in unusual ways.
Gosh, some of those playable characters are incredible. Plague Knight poisons enemies on the first hit, which might encourage you to be a little reckless? My favorite, though, is Ghost Rider, who absolutely turned the game on its head. Ghost Rider gains health by defeating baddies – which means you have to lose health to succeed! It’s sweet. But get this: the potion will damage the ghost rider. So you have to train yourself to avoid at every opportunity what you’ve been working on before.
I like this. I love the dynamism and invention of Pocket Dungeon, a game that dares to change genres but can’t stop intervening, giving you dozens of ways to change the rules and mix things up. I could go on and on about what I like: enemy designs, chunky colorful graphics that seem to be smeared with some funny magazine mimetic ink. Battle Mode! Hub – Hub! – Full of secrets and upgrade opportunities. Who knows how deep the tunnel is? Or the fact that there is a daily challenge, which is something that all special absolute best games have. Daily Challenge! Play it once and it’s gone forever.
All that and the tone itself. Shovel Knight: Pocket Dungeon is really, really hard. Even now, I scoff at it and keep fighting as if eating a hunk of cheese. I like it. I love it all. It’s brutal, creative, and dizzyingly clever. Yes, please!
