Shovel Knight Dig

Shovel Knight Dig
Developer(s)	Nitrome Yacht Club Games
Publisher(s)	Yacht Club Games
Composer(s)	Jake Kaufman
Series	Shovel Knight
Platform(s)	Nintendo Switch Windows iOS tvOS
Release	September 23, 2022
Genre(s)	Platform, roguelike
Mode(s)	Single-player

Shovel Knight Dig is a 2022 roguelite platform game developed by Nitrome and Yacht Club Games. It is an entry in the Shovel Knight franchise and a prequel to the original game. The player controls the protagonist Shovel Knight as he fights enemies and collects treasure while descending down a hole to recover his stolen treasure bag. When the player dies, they lose all obtained upgrades, returning to the surface with a fraction of the treasure they collected while playing. At the surface, they can spend treasure on a variety of items that make gameplay easier.

Yacht Club Games was beginning to show fatigue from supporting the Shovel Knight franchise for several years, and decided to pass on development to mobile game studio Nitrome. Both developers conceived Shovel Knight Dig as an arcade-style game where the player continuously moves downwards. The teams cited Downwell as one of the game's earliest inspirations, and drew further influence from Spelunky and Dig Dug.

Shovel Knight Dig launched for Windows, Nintendo Switch, and iOS and tvOS through Apple Arcade on September 23, 2022. The game received positive reviews from critics, who praised the level design, bosses, graphics and music. However, the roguelike style of gameplay divided reviewers, with many finding it to be an unnecessary addition. A free DLC called Fate and Fortune was released for iOS and PC on March 17, 2023.