Yacht Club Games may bid farewell to Shovel Knight after December. Until then though, it’s hard at work with King of Cards and Shovel Knight Showdown, the latter focusing on four player competitive battles. In a new blog post, the developer has detailed some of the essential mechanics that players can utilize in the fighter.

Hit Flash is one of the more familiar mechanics – it grants the player invulnerability for a short period of time after taking damage. You have a brief window to counter-attack your opponent, but this will immediately cancel the invulnerability. The start-up time for the attack is also increased, so a skilled opponent could counter your counter if they know it’s coming.

There’s also Parry, which is enabled with a button press. Before an attack connects, Parry it and your opponent will be knocked back. The downside is that it does no damage and doesn’t trigger Hit Flash, so opponents can keep attacking. Finally, there’s Clash – when two opponents connect with their attacks at the same time, they’ll both be pushed back.

Shovel Knight Showdown will be a free update to owners of Shovel Knight: Treasure Trove across various platforms. It can also be purchased standalone when it releases in December. Even more Shovel Knight is on the way with Nitrome’s Shovel Knight Dig, so stay tuned.

If you had any doubt that Shovel Knight was a bona fide sensation, today should have dispelled any of that. Not only did a full-fledged spin-off get announced in the form of Shovel Knight Dig, but a host of previously announced content got release windows, including the much anticipated physical release of  Treasure Trove.

First up, the last free expansion to the series, King of Cards, will come in December. It will bring 4 new worlds and 30 new courses as you play King Knight to see if he’s ready for the responsibility of ruling the kingdom. It will be available to all current owners of the game across all the many, many platforms the game is on.

Next up is Shovel Knight Showdown, a multiplayer fighter featuring characters from the series. In it you will have to scramble after gems to win, but there’s also a story mode to dig into. It will also come in December for all the same platforms as King of Cards, with the exception of 3DS and Vita.

And finally, rounding out the news, the physical edition of Treasure Trove will come to PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Switch, also in December. It will include Shovel Knight and all of its expansions, along with Showdown. The physical release will also come with a free update with some minor tweaks that you can read all about through here.

All this content will come in December and will mark the end of the update schedule for the indie title. Talk about a run. You can also check out two new trailers for King of Cards and Showdown below.

The Shovel Knight hype train seemed to be rolling at speed, especially after the announcement of the fighting game-esque Shovel Knight Showdown. However, Yacht Club Games has announced a delay for Shovel Knight Showdown and Shovel Knight: King of Cards, the latter being the final story expansion for the game. Originally slated to release on April 9th, the developed has confirmed that they’ve been delayed by “several months”.

If that weren’t enough, the physical edition of Shovel Knight: Treasure Trove has also been delayed. The developer said, “We need a little more time to make this happen, and so we are pushing the release back one last time. We’re still aiming to release everything at once, so this this delay applies to everything: physical editions, digital update, and Treasure Trove amiibo 3-pack.”

It did note that this wasn’t a “major delay” as much as “more space to bring everything together for a polished and complete finale. As always, these last steps require coordination with many teams beyond our own.” Due to any disappointment caused by the delay, the development team has confirmed that a new date will not be announced “until we know one for sure, from all partners involved. All builds shipped out, updates ready to launch, for everybody and everyone. We will announce it for good once it is 100 percent all across the board!”

Shovel Knight: King of Cards will feature over 30 courses – though they’re shorter than the base game’s levels – and King Knight as the protagonist. Shovel Knight Showdown is also fairly massive, with numerous characters, modes, configurations, and a Story Mode as well. If you own Shovel Knight: Treasure Trove, then both King of Cards and Showdown will be free for you.

Yacht Club Games has unveiled its “all-new game” for Shovel Knight: Treasure Trove and it’s a real doozy. Shovel Knight Showdown essentially adds a four player battle mode with 16 different characters to battle with. This is one of two final components in the studio’s post-launch support, the other being King of Cards, which receives a release date later this week.

As for Shovel Knight Showdown, it will be coming to all platforms that have Treasure Trove for free. It will also be available as a standalone purchase, but not on the Nintendo 3DS or PlayStation Vita. The content it offers is pretty extensive. Along with a 4 player battle mode that includes characters like Shovel Knight, Shield Knight, King Knight, Specter Knight and so on, there will be 1v1 duels as well.

Players can also team up cooperatively to fight AI enemies. Available modes will include Gem Clash, Showdown, and so on. Furthermore, the Story Mode will offer a “multistage journey” for each character with a “rival”, various opponents, minigames, and an “all-new final encounter”. New stages, new songs, and much more will be coming. For actual gameplay, check out IGN’s video below.

Yacht Club Games’ Shovel Knight is one of the most beloved indie titles to have released this generation. The developer has been doing a great job to support it with alternate storylines like Plague of Shadows and Specter of Torment. However, it teased an “all-new game” that will be coming to Shovel Knight: Treasure Trove. The reveal will happen later this week.

What’s interesting about this is that King of Cards was supposed to be the third major storyline for Shovel Knight. Set to release later this year, it sees players taking on the role of King Knight. Could this “all-new game” be related to King of Cards, or is it something else entirely?

Shovel Knight has maintained a pretty healthy presence in the gaming world outside of his own game. He’s made a cameo in Yooka-Laylee and will be appearing in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate for the Nintendo Switch as well. If you’re keen to experience his original adventures, then Shovel Knight: Treasure Trove is your best bet. It’s available for PS4, Nintendo Switch, 3DS, PC, PS3, Wii U, PlayStation Vita, and Xbox One.

Knights assemble!

Stay tuned to @IGN next week for the first look at an all new game coming to Shovel Knight: Treasure Trove. We can't wait to throw down the gauntlet and show you what we've been working on!

— Yacht Club Games (@YachtClubGames) August 25, 2018

Yacht Club Games’ perennial 2D platformer Shovel Knight has done extremely well for itself. The developer announced that the series has now sold over 2 million copies as of February 2018 end.

In a recent blog post, Yacht Club revealed that 24.4 percent of sales came from the Windows version with around 70,000 units sold on the platform in launch month. The 3DS version makes up 23.9 percent of sales while the Nintendo Switch – despite its relatively younger age – comprises of 17.6 percent of sales.

Around 110,000 units were sold during the Switch version’s launch month, faster than any other platform, and 370,000 units have been sold thus far. Wii U makes up 14.3 percent of sales followed by PS4 with 9.1 percent. The Xbox One, SIEE Cross-Buy, PS Vita, Mac and other platforms encompass 10.7 percent of sales.

Despite releasing numerous expansions like Plague of Shadows and Specter of Torment on top of the base game, Yacht Club is also preparing another expansion with King of Cards. This will include 30 new courses spread across four new worlds. Stay tuned for more information on its release date.