Shovel Knight is often considered the king of indie games, and for a good reason. He's often a go-to guest character for other indie titles, but also shows up as alternate costumes, exclusive gear, or an NPC players encounter randomly in another game (even once facing off against Kratos). Shovel Knight probably has more cameos than any other video game character, because everyone hopes for his kind of success.

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Yet Shovel Knight has quite a few games of his own, with five appearing in Shovel Knight: Treasure Trove and two somewhat spinoffs as well. Some of these games are shining pinnacles of the retro genre, while others are mediocre entries coasting on the IP.

7 Shovel Knight: Pocket Dungeon

A puzzle game that took the series to new and unfamiliar places

Shovel Knight: Pocket Dungeon takes the world and characters of Shovel Knight and uses them to explore the puzzle genre. While receiving mixed reviews upon release, there's plenty to keep players busy, and the puzzles themselves are quick and sure to keep players on their toes.

Unfortunately, the main gameplay loop of the series (delving through levels, finding items, and fighting bosses) is largely missing from this game. While this should be expected, it still makes it one of the worst games in the series for Shovel Knight fans, but gamers looking for a brain-teaser might still enjoy it.

6 Shovel Knight Showdown

A fun Smash Bros clone

• Platforms: PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Wii U, Nintendo Switch, PC, macOS, Linux
• Release Date: December 10, 2019
• Developer: Yacht Club Games

When Shovel Knight was revealed as an assist trophy for Smash Bros, many fans were thrilled, while others were disappointed (although he never really had a shot). Thankfully, they wouldn't have to wait long for Shovel Knight to get his own platform fighting game. While less mechanically complex, it is still an amazing opportunity to play up to 20 other characters from across the series.

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Unfortunately, this game doesn't bring much to the table besides its initial wow factor; its local-only play means that players have to find other Shovel Knight enthusiasts to enjoy the game's main mode. However, the game's Adventure Mode has unique battles, dialogue, and narrative arcs for each character. Ironically, it's for that reason, and not the multiplayer aspect, that this is considered a good game.

5 Shovel Knight Dig

The long-awaited sequel that didn't live up to the hype

• Platforms: Nintendo Switch, PC, macOS, iOS
• Release Date: September 23, 2022
• Developer: Nitrome, Yacht Club Games

While Shovel Knight got several side stories developed into full games, fans had to wait eight years to play as the Blue Burrower again. While not quite living up to the dreams of Shovel Knight 64, this game changed the genre but kept the core mechanic of traversing levels based on a core theme while adding more player choice in what rooms Shovel Knight could go through.

However, even if the gameplay is fun and new, its bare-bones story means there really isn't a reason to revisit the game after the credits roll. So, while it is an impressive game, it needs more than a few tweaks to be great, and will most likely be forgotten in favor of the other games in the series.

4 Shovel Knight: Plague Of Shadows

Redefined what a Shovel Knight game could be

• Platforms: PlayStation 3, PlayStation Vite, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo 3DS, Nintendo Wii U, PC, macOS, Linux
• Release Date: June 26, 2014
• Developer: Yacht Club Games

Being the first of the secondary campaigns, not many players had expectations for Shovel Knight: Plague of Shadows, but the game certainly exceeded them. While it is the most similar to the original game, playing this game almost feels like looking behind the scenes of the original story: side characters are revealed to be doing important things off-screen, and Plague Knight (rocking the iconic plague doctor look) often follows a step behind Shovel Knight's original journey, picking up the pieces he needs for his experiments.

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It also has a surprisingly compelling romance with the titular knight. Fans looking for more of what they enjoyed in the first game are sure to find it here in spades, but with a new twist in the form of a new playable character.

3 Shovel Knight: King Of Cards

The weirdest entry in the series, and better for it

The joke with this game is that Yacht Club Games got tired of making Shovel Knight games and wanted to make a card game instead, but still had Kickstarter obligations to meet, so they just did both. While probably untrue, this strange combination sets King Knight's campaign apart from other games of the series in a good way.

Not only does Shovel Knight: King of Cards have a deep strategy card game to occupy players, but it's also hilarious to watch King Knight strut throughout the kingdom, making decrees with absolutely no authority. While some may not enjoy the card game aspect, it doesn't detract from the great and hysterical tale lying underneath.

2 Shovel Of Hope

The original and a benchmark for the rest of the series

The game that started it all still remains one of the best games in the series, lovingly renamed Shovel Knight: Shovel of Hope to differentiate it from the secondary campaigns. It faithfully reimagined a classic genre and added its own flair to it. While it could be thought of as "Mega Man with knights," this game provided more depth in both its characters and storyline (even revolutionizing the classic "princess locked in a castle" storyline commonly used in Mario and Zelda games).

In addition, it used beautiful pixel art and amazing music to create memorable locations worth revisiting in later games. If it wasn't for the foundation this game built, the rest of the games on this list wouldn't even exist.

1 Shovel Knight: Specter Of Torment

Represents the best work of Yacht Club Games

Often considered the pinnacle of the Shovel Knight franchise, Shovel Knight: Specter of Torment allowed gamers to play as the grim reaper before it was cool, taking everything people loved about the original game and improving upon it. It takes the slow and steady pace of the original and speeds everything up with quick scythe slashes and a dash slash for fast aerial mobility.

In addition, it cleverly uses flashback levels to tell the backstory of the Specter himself, as well as Shield Knight, providing some much-needed information about the first game's inciting incident in a tragedy befitting the fan-favorite Knight. Truly, if someone wants to see the best the series has to offer, Specter of Torment is where to find it.

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