Shovel Knight has had so many cameos since his debut in 2014. According to his Wikia page, he has appeared in 30 different games in various forms like a chatty NPC in Yooka Laylee, a guest character in Indivisible, and was even honoured with the role of an assist trophy in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. 

One of Shovel Knight's most recent appearances is in the gothic metroidvania, Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night that released earlier this year. If you apply a piece of armour to your character, they transform into the blue knight who looks pretty buff in 3D. 

But, Shovel Knight isn't done with Bloodtsained quite yet, the free fan-made game Shovel or Whip casts him back into the metroidvania's dark universe. But this time it is to the series' great NES ancestor, Castlevania. He's not alone though, Miriam, Bloodstained's main protagonist, is also there but she is less than happy to see him. 

Shovel or Whip is a fan-made mini-game that consists of a single boss fight, you play as Miriam trying to defeat Shovel Knight who has made himself at home in the castle comfortably sitting on his throne. Although it's only one fight, Shovel or Whip is carefully crafted to keep true to the atmosphere and feel of the Castlevania games. Both Miriam's moveset is a direct callback. The way she slides across the floor, how her axes arc when she hurls them, and, obviously, she has Castlevania's iconic whip. 

Shovel Knight has some pretty slick moves too, he can bounce around on his shovel to avoid your attacks, summon a giant golden gauntlet that slams into you, and uses his shovel to dig up parts of the castle floor to hit you. He's a tricky opponent but it's more fun then difficult to beat him, but there are two more difficult modes if you're up for a challenge. The game also offers controller support and re-bindable keys. 

Shovel or Whip is a short, fun, and loving ode to Shovel Knight, Bloodstained, and the history of the Castlevania series, and the best thing is that it's totally free and available to download and play over on itch.io. For more excellent free games make sure you check out our list of the best free games on PC.

Five years after the release of the original Shovel Knight, developer Yacht Club Games has dropped word that a new game is on the way. Shovel Knight Dig is a collaborative effort between Yacht Club and Nitrome that will tell an all-new story about Shovel Knight and his dastardly nemesis, Drill Knight.

As the title suggests, Shovel Knight Dig will take players underground, where they'll dig up vast riches that will enable the purchase of new, more powerful items and upgrades. Visually, it's a big step forward from the first Shovel Knight, with 16-bit-style "high color pixel graphics" and hand-crafted levels that are "stitched together using proprietary generation techniques" to provide long-term replayability. Players will encounter new knights, enemies, and other characters on their travels, but the tale will be told with the same lighthearted humor as the original game.

Dare to compare:

The title and the trailer are both reminiscent of the robotic spelunker Steamworld Dig, although Shovel Knight's take on tunneling looks a little more frantic than I recall Steamworld's being. There's no word on when we'll find out how the two actually compare: Yacht Club said Shovel Knight Dig has been in development for more than a year, but "it’s got quite a ways to go still."

Shovel Knight's final two expansions will launch in April—and one of them is a newly-announced, local multiplayer add-on called Showdown.

Showdown will bring together all the key heroes and villains of Shovel Knight (16 of them), and some of them are playable for the first time. You can brawl one-on-one with a friend, with up to four players in a free-for-all, or in teams against each other or AI opponents, taking on modes such as Gem Clash and Showdown.

The expansion also has a story mode, which is customised to each character, and includes mini games and and all-new final encounter.

Showdown will be free for all owners of any edition of Shovel Knight, but it will also release as a standalone game. Developer Yacht Club Games has not yet announced a price for the standalone version.

You can watch ten minutes of gameplay, courtesy of IGN, below.

It's out on April 9 alongside the King of Cards expansion, which adds a card game, naturally, but it's a full campaign in its own right. You control King Knight on a thirty-stage adventure that spans four different worlds. That, too, will be free to owners of the base game, and will also be a standalone game.