How Long Is Shovel Knight? Your Complete Playtime Guide

So, you’ve heard the buzz about Shovel Knight, the indie darling that’s taken the gaming world by storm. Perhaps you’re eyeing it on a sale, or maybe a friend has been singing its praises. Whatever the reason, a crucial question likely pops into your mind: ‘How long is Shovel Knight?’

It’s a fair question, and one we’re here to answer comprehensively. Understanding the playtime of a game can significantly influence your purchasing decision and your expectations. You want to know if it’s a quick weekend adventure or a sprawling epic that will consume your evenings for weeks.

The beauty of Shovel Knight, and indeed many indie games, is its ability to deliver a substantial and memorable experience without necessarily demanding hundreds of hours. But ‘how long’ is subjective and depends on your playstyle. Let’s dig into the details, shall we?

Unearthing the Playtime: How Long Is Shovel Knight?

When we talk about the ‘length’ of Shovel Knight, it’s not just a single number. The game, originally released in 2014, has since expanded with multiple campaigns, each offering a distinct experience and varying playtime. Yacht Club Games, the brilliant minds behind Shovel Knight, have consistently delivered exceptional value, and understanding the playtime of each component is key to appreciating the full scope of this beloved franchise.

The Original Campaign: Shovel of Hope

The journey began with Shovel of Hope, starring the titular hero. This is where most players will first pick up their trusty shovel. For a standard playthrough, focusing on completing the main story and defeating the bosses, you’re generally looking at a playtime of approximately 6-8 hours. This is for players who are actively progressing through the levels, enjoying the platforming challenges, and engaging with the story.

However, like any great game, Shovel Knight offers more than just a linear path. If you’re the type of player who loves to explore every nook and cranny, find all the secrets, collect all the upgradeable relics, and master the shovel-drop attack for optimal combat, your playtime can easily extend to 10-12 hours. This includes revisiting levels to find hidden paths, engaging in optional boss fights, and completing the game with a higher completion percentage. For speedrunners aiming for the fastest times, the Shovel of Hope can be completed in under an hour, but for the average player, 6-8 hours is a solid benchmark.

Plague Knight’s Potion Commotion: Plague of Shadows

Following the success of the original, Yacht Club Games introduced the first free DLC campaign: Plague of Shadows, starring the alchemist Plague Knight. This campaign offers a significantly different gameplay experience, focusing on Plague Knight’s unique bomb-throwing mechanics and his penchant for brewing volatile concoctions. The levels are redesigned to accommodate his abilities, and the boss encounters are also tailored to his skillset.

Playtime for Plague of Shadows typically falls in a similar range to the original campaign, around 6-9 hours for a standard playthrough. Plague Knight’s movement and attack mechanics are more complex than Shovel Knight’s, which might lead some players to take a little longer to master them. The exploration and secret-finding aspects are still present, and players aiming for 100% completion in Plague of Shadows will find themselves spending around 10-14 hours delving into its alchemical challenges. (See Also: how to get shovel knight spirit)

Specter Knight’s Spectral Sojourn: Specter of Torment

The third major campaign, Specter of Torment, puts players in the spectral boots of Specter Knight. This campaign is lauded for its unique structure and narrative. Instead of a linear progression, Specter Knight explores a hub world, the Prismatic Palace, and can tackle missions in a non-linear order. This freedom of choice can influence playtime, but the core gameplay loop remains engaging and challenging.

For a first playthrough of Specter of Torment, you can expect to spend roughly 7-10 hours. The game’s emphasis on combat and Specter Knight’s dash-slash abilities offer a fast-paced and fluid experience. Completionists who want to uncover all the secrets, collect all the “Chaos Crystals”, and achieve all the optional objectives will likely find themselves spending 12-16 hours with Specter Knight. The narrative depth and the unique mission structure encourage thorough exploration.

King Knight’s Royal Rumble: King of Cards

The final free DLC campaign, King of Cards, introduces King Knight as the playable character. This campaign is perhaps the most distinct in terms of gameplay, incorporating a unique card-based combat system alongside traditional platforming. King Knight’s “charge-throw” ability and his royal swagger define his playstyle.

On average, a standard playthrough of King of Cards will take around 8-11 hours. The card combat system, while intuitive, can take some time to master, and the game features a larger world map with more branching paths and side activities. Players aiming for 100% completion, which involves collecting all the “Joustus” cards and completing all optional challenges, can expect to invest 14-20 hours into King of Cards. It’s a campaign that truly rewards thorough engagement.

Shovel Knight: Treasure Trove – the Complete Package

It’s crucial to understand that these campaigns are not separate purchases. They are all bundled together in Shovel Knight: Treasure Trove. This means that when you buy Shovel Knight today, you’re getting all of these incredible experiences for one price.

So, to answer the question ‘how long is Shovel Knight’ in its entirety, we need to sum up the playtime of all the campaigns. For a player who enjoys the core gameplay and completes each campaign without aiming for absolute 100% completion on every single one, a rough estimate would be:

• Shovel of Hope: 6-8 hours
• Plague of Shadows: 6-9 hours
• Specter of Torment: 7-10 hours
• King of Cards: 8-11 hours

This brings the total playtime for a standard playthrough of all campaigns to approximately 27-38 hours. This is a substantial amount of high-quality content, offering excellent value for money. (See Also: how do you spell shovel)

If you’re a completionist, someone who wants to see and do everything each campaign has to offer, the playtime can skyrocket. Adding up the higher estimates for completionists:

• Shovel of Hope: 10-12 hours
• Plague of Shadows: 10-14 hours
• Specter of Torment: 12-16 hours
• King of Cards: 14-20 hours

This brings the total playtime for dedicated completionists to approximately 46-62 hours. That’s well over 50 hours of expertly crafted platforming, challenging boss fights, and charming storytelling. For a game that started as a passion project, this is an astonishing amount of content.

Beyond the Campaigns: The Added Challenges and Modes

The playtime estimates above primarily focus on the main campaigns. However, Shovel Knight: Treasure Trove offers even more to sink your teeth into:

• Challenge Levels: Each campaign features numerous standalone challenge levels that test your mastery of the character’s abilities. These can add significant playtime, especially if you’re striving for perfect scores or fastest times.
• Co-op Mode: In some versions of Treasure Trove, you can play through the campaigns with a friend in local co-op. While this doesn’t drastically change the core playtime, it can make the experience more enjoyable and perhaps slightly longer as you coordinate with your partner.
• Body Swap Mode: This is a fantastic unlockable mode that swaps the genders of the characters, offering a fresh perspective and slightly altering dialogue. It’s a fun bonus that can add a few extra hours for those who want to experience every nuance.
• Battle Mode: Certain campaigns include competitive battle modes where you can pit characters against each other. This is more about replayability and fun with friends than adding to the core story playtime.
• New Game Plus (NG+): After completing a campaign, you can often start a NG+ mode, which offers increased difficulty and sometimes new challenges, encouraging further replay.

These additional modes and challenges can easily add another 10-20+ hours to your overall engagement with Shovel Knight: Treasure Trove, depending on how much you delve into them.

Factors Influencing Your Playtime

It’s important to remember that playtime is not a fixed metric. Several factors can influence how long you’ll spend with Shovel Knight:

• Skill Level: Naturally, more experienced players with a knack for platforming and combat will progress faster than newcomers.
• Exploration Habits: Do you meticulously search every corner, or do you focus on reaching the end goal? Your tendency to explore will significantly impact playtime.
• Difficulty Settings: While Shovel Knight is generally challenging, some versions or modes might offer slight variations in difficulty that could affect progression speed.
• Use of Guides: Relying on walkthroughs or guides will undoubtedly shorten your playtime as you’ll spend less time figuring out puzzles or finding secrets.
• Personal Enjoyment and Replayability: Some players simply fall in love with a game and want to experience everything it has to offer, leading to many hours spent replaying favorite sections or tackling optional content.

Shovel Knight: Treasure Trove vs. Original Releases

It’s worth noting that if you played Shovel Knight back in its original release year, you would have initially paid for just Shovel of Hope. The subsequent campaigns were added as free updates. This generosity is a hallmark of Yacht Club Games and is why Shovel Knight: Treasure Trove is such a celebrated package. If you’re buying it now, you’re getting the full, definitive experience.

Comparison with Other Games

To put the playtime into perspective: (See Also: how to shovel car out of snow)

As you can see, Shovel Knight: Treasure Trove offers a playtime that rivals or even surpasses many other acclaimed action-adventure and platforming titles, especially when considering the sheer volume of unique content across its four main campaigns.

The Verdict on Playtime

So, how long is Shovel Knight? It’s a question with a layered answer, but the overall takeaway is overwhelmingly positive. You’re not just buying one game; you’re investing in a collection of distinct, high-quality experiences that offer dozens of hours of engaging gameplay. Whether you’re a casual player looking for a fun weekend adventure or a dedicated gamer aiming for 100% completion, Shovel Knight: Treasure Trove delivers substantial value.

The playtime is robust, the quality is consistently high across all campaigns, and the additional modes ensure that your engagement with the world of Shovel Knight can extend far beyond your initial playthroughs. It’s a testament to the passion and dedication of Yacht Club Games, who have crafted a truly timeless adventure.

the question ‘how long is Shovel Knight’ doesn’t yield a single, simple answer. Instead, it reveals the incredible value packed into Shovel Knight: Treasure Trove. Across its four distinct campaigns – Shovel of Hope, Plague of Shadows, Specter of Torment, and King of Cards – players can expect a combined playtime of roughly 27 to 38 hours for a standard playthrough. For those who delve deeper to achieve 100% completion, this can easily extend to 46 to 62 hours or more, especially when factoring in challenge modes and unlockables.

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