Shovel Knight: Shovel of Hope similar games & best alternatives

Shovel Knight: Shovel of Hope - shovel-knight-shovel-of-hope_1.avif
Shovel Knight: Shovel of Hope - shovel-knight-shovel-of-hope_2.avif
Shovel Knight: Shovel of Hope - shovel-knight-shovel-of-hope_3.avif
Shovel Knight: Shovel of Hope - shovel-knight-shovel-of-hope_4.avif
Shovel Knight: Shovel of Hope - shovel-knight-shovel-of-hope_5.avif
Shovel Knight: Shovel of Hope - shovel-knight-shovel-of-hope_6.avif

Shovel Knight: Shovel of Hope

2019

Should you play it?

Shovel Knight is a sweeping classic action-adventure game with awesome gameplay, memorable characters, and an 8-bit retro aesthetic. If you love games with perfect platforming, beautiful art, infectious music, lovable bosses, humor and levity, and real heart… Shovel Knight is for you!

What works

  • Tight and responsive controls
  • Challenging but fair difficulty curve
  • Excellent retro pixel art and music
  • Engaging and humorous story and characters
  • Good value especially with treasure trove bundle

Things to keep in mind

  • Some find difficulty frustrating and punishing
  • Lack of mid-level save points frustrates some players
  • Gold retrieval mechanic can be annoying
  • Limited co-op and social features
  • Plague of shadows dlc not included in base game, requiring purchase of bundle

What to play next

Top picks

Games that feels the closest overall

  • Super Hydorah

  • Shovel Knight: Treasure Trove

  • Infernax

  • Enter the Gungeon

  • Voidigo

  • Tearscape

Less social

Games that feels like Shovel Knight: Shovel of Hope but with less teamwork and cooperation

  • Shovel Knight: Specter of Torment

  • Cathedral

  • Angry Video Game Nerd II: ASSimilation

  • FLARE NUINUI QUEST

  • Cursed Castilla (Maldita Castilla EX)

  • The Messenger

Choose your own criteria ->

Similarity map

How to use the graph

Similarity map

Each dot is a game placed from its motivation profile relative to this page’s game. Direction shows which motivation differs most; distance along that axis shows how large the gap is.

  • Purple star: this page’s game at the centre — everything is relative to it.
  • Direction: each axis is a main motivational difference vs this game (e.g. more / less competitive).
  • Distance on an axis: how large that difference is (ring scales show +/− points).
  • Coloured chips: click to highlight games that mainly differ on that motivation; click again to reset.
  • Dotted line: link between this page’s game and the one selected for comparison.
  • Hover a dot to preview that game in the panel on the right; click to keep that comparison.
  • Scroll or double-click the chart to zoom.

How to read the map This is a polar difference map: direction = which motivation differs, and distance = how much (same units as the sidebar deltas).

Shovel Knight: Shovel of Hope: Broadly representative of its motivational profile, with a few distinct shifts. Motivations that often define this kind of title include Violence, Survival, Fellowship, Intimacy. Here, the score leans higher than usual among comparable games on Cooperation, Fellowship. It leans lower than usual among comparable games on Relaxation.

Last update: 04/08/2026