Shovel Knight Pocket Dungeon is a fantastic puzzle game twist on the charms of Shovel Knight

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I've been a huge fan of Yacht Club's retro love letter Shovel Knight since it first released in 2014, but I had yet to try out the puzzle game spin-off, Shovel Knight Pocket Dungeon. Now that Pocket Dungeon is out on mobile via Netflix, I've run out of excuses to avoid giving it a try. Good news: It totally rules.

Shovel Knight Pocket Dungeon once again put me in control of the delightful and heroic Shovel Knight, along with some other Knight friends I could unlock as I found them hidden away in shrines. This time, though, instead of working my way through NES-style platforming levels, I was led through a series of, well, pocket dungeons by the mysterious Puzzle Knight.

Those dungeons take the form of almost Tetris-esque rooms of falling blocks, enemies, potions, and treasure chests. I had to swing my shovel at these obstacles to keep paths clear, being careful to grab potions when my health drained or duck into shop portals to pick up items that would help me survive longer.

Shovel Knight's digging abilities translated into this new genre much better than I ever could have guessed. Setting up huge combos of enemies to slash down was deeply satisfying, and the deeper I got into the game, the more carefully I had to plan my moves. For the truly talented among you, there's even a roguelike mode that boots you back to the hub area when you die even once. I'm nowhere near ready to tackle that level of stress, sadly.

I'd like to get to that point, though, and the addictive gameplay of Shovel Knight Pocket Dungeon is definitely good enough that I can see sticking with it for the long-term. If you haven't given this a shot already and have an active Netflix subscription, it's worth your time.

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