Reviews:
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Original, brilliantly designed, varied, challenging, and loads of fun the Shovel Knight series has shaken up the action puzzler genre nicely
With the likes of Tetris, Puyo Puyo, Grindstone, Puzzle Fighter, and the Lumines series out there (as well as some others) you could possibly feel like you’ve seen just about all the brick (or goo glob) based action puzzle genre has to offer. Pocket Dungeon is absolutely here to point out just how wrong you are. Miles away from merely being a themes cash-in on the popular retro action series, Pocket Dungeon shakes things up wonderfully by using a more combat-based approach and then throwing in a variety of characters and very helpful relics that tend to help keep things from being predictable. Your goal in every level is simply to survive, grab a key, and open the door to the next level, but how you do so can be tricky. One part of your being successful is by carefully managing the blocks, enemies, and potions in your space, being sure not to let everything pile up. The thing is, in order to efficiently clear all of the same piece you’ll likely want to have some patience and help get things in straight lines, so when you destroy one every connected piece of the same size gets knocked out as well. Throw in concerns with moving quickly and decisively to keep your combo meter up and gain maximum rewards for the blocks you clear and there’s a great tension to play. Beyond those fundamentals you then have a cavalcade of series enemy boss battles, a very workable Vs mode if you have someone to play locally, and simply tons of great art and fun synonymous with the series. For the price it’s one of the most original, challenging, and engaging action puzzlers out there.
Justin Nation, Score:Nindie Choice! [9.2]