Shovel Knight Cheats, Codes, Cheat Codes, Walkthrough, Guide, FAQ, Unlockables for PC

Shovel Knight

Cheat codes

Select the “Start Game” option, and create a new character. Then, enter one of the following cheat codes as your character name. Select “Yes” to confirm the code, then you can rename your character as desired. Note: Only one code can be enabled at once. Additionally, you cannot earn achievements while using cheat codes.

Plague Of Shadows mode (“Plague Of Shadows” DLC)

At the title screen, hold [Attack] and press Up two times, Right, Down, Left two times to unlock Plague Of Shadows mode.

Extra Challenge mode (“Plague Of Shadows” DLC)

At the title screen, hold [Attack] and press Up two times, Left, Up two times, Right, Up, Down, Up to unlock an additional Challenge mode.

Play as Plague Knight (“Plague Of Shadows” DLC)

Successfully complete the original campaign to unlock the Plague Knight.

Pandemonium Chalice (“Plague Of Shadows” DLC)

Collect all 420 Cipher Coins, then talk to Percy or Mona (depending if Mona is in the lab or not) to get the Pandemonium Chalice.

Pandemonium Cloak (“Plague Of Shadows” DLC)

Give the Pandemonium Chalice to the Troupple King to get the Pandemonium Cloak.

New Game+ mode

Successfully complete the game to unlock New Game+ mode for the current profile. In New Game+ mode, the difficulty is increased, but you will retain your previously obtained armors, feats, magic, and upgrades.

Fight Kratos

Once you can access the Hall Of Champions, go to the second floor. Go to the right, and fight through the enemies until you find a breakable wall at the end of the room. Hit the wall, and enter the secret area. It contains a music sheet as well as a breakable floor at the lower right corner. Perform a downward attack to fall through the floor and fight Kratos. Defeat him to get the Grave Digger Shovel. You can then Bring the Grave Digger Shovel to the blacksmith to get the Chaos Armor.

Game developer logo

At the start of the “Pridemoor Keep” level, go left to enter a secret area with a Music Sheet. Hit the top area with your shovel to make the walls come down and expose the Yacht Club Games logo.

Recovering lost money

After falling and dying in a pit, return to it and drop a line into the pit with the Fishing Rod to collect any floating bags that were dropped upon death.

Recovering money from Mr. Hat

After paying off the characters inside the Armor Outpost’s hat shop, you can chase Mr. Hat around the outpost to get your money back. Immediately after winning the battle inside the shop, go outside to find Mr. Hat standing on top of the shop’s sign. Use the airship to get on the rooftops and jump over to him. He will give you 1,000 gold and run off. Return to the airship to find him again for another 1,000 gold before he jumps down a hole. After the two-way catapult on top of the airship is available, go there to find him again. He will pay you the final 1,000 gold before catapulting away.

Defeating Tinker Knight

Attack Tinker Knight with the Mobile Gear during the first phase of his battle to immediately win.

Kickstarter project references

Give Music Sheet #23 to the Bard in the Village, and he will say “My first publicly performed lair theme. You might say it Kickstarted my career!”

Enter the Hall Of Champions, and look at the portraits on the walls. Each of them represents someone who donated at least $200 to fund the game’s Kickstarter project.

During the ending sequence, you can see five enemies grouped together under the name “The Wandering Travelers.” These enemies were actually created by five people that participated in a “Director For A Day” reward for contributing at least $1,000 to the game’s Kickstarter project. They are the “Liquid Samurai” enemies; Reize, the Phantom Striker, the Haberdasher, Mr. Hat Boss, and Baz.

Easy “Arc Of Iron” achievement

Go to the room near the middle of King Knight’s stage, just after fighting the first gryphon. There are four flying mice that are in a good position to get knocked down by a single anchor.

Easy “Bomb Jump Blitz” achievement (“Plague Of Shadows” DLC)

You must defeat an Order Knight without damaging it in any way other than the splash damage from the standard bomb burst. Bombs can be thrown, but none should cause any damage to it. Arcania can be used, with the same limitation, but do not cause any damage. Berserker Brew should not be used because it damages enemies on contact. However, the Smoke Bomb is useful. You also cannot damage any of the Boss’s destructible shots with anything other than the bomb burst. For example, when facing King Knight, you cannot allow your bombs to damage any of the falling confetti.

Easy “Boom!” achievement

Reach the secret room where you get the Alchemy Coin in the “Explodatorium” level. This room has six enemies in a narrow corridor at the bottom, with a lone Greenarmor above. Drop down and use your relic when at least five enemies are clustered together. If needed, leave the room and re-enter to try again.

Reach the area with several Propeller Rats in the “Pridemoor Keep” level. Move around until you get five of them near you. Note: This may require a few attempts. To retry, scroll out of the area, and return to force the enemies to respawn.

Easy “Clearing A Path” achievement

Reach the secret room where you get the Alchemy Coin in the “Explodatorium” level. This room has six enemies in a narrow corridor at the bottom, with a lone Greenarmor above. Cast the Mobile Gear down there, jump on it, then allow it to crush all the enemies. Note: You do not need to ride the Mobile Gear; just jump on it so that it activates. It is recommended to wait until all the enemies are on one side before using the relic for the best results.

Easy “Creep” achievement (“Plague Of Shadows” DLC)

Defeat King Knight and Spectre Knight with Plague Knight. You will return to the lab and see Mona dancing the tango by herself. Do not press anything to interrupt her.

Easy “Defend The Lab!” achievement (“Plague Of Shadows” DLC)

Use Lob Casing, Short Fuse, and Bullet Burst. Do not throw the bombs directly into a wall, and they should never fall on the bricks. Do not constantly toss bombs at Shovel Knight. When he is low on health, he will begin shoveling your own bombs back to you, and they will fall and break bricks. Instead, aim Bullet Burst directly at the horns on Shovel Knight’s helmet. He will always jump up into the shot. Bullet Burst will not break the bricks below you; also use it while you are standing. The Staff of Surging, can also help with some extra hits. If you break a brick, allow Shovel Knight to kill you and try again from the checkpoint. After respawning, collect the red potion in the blocks to the left. If you die frequently, save five red potions and use them all during the same attempt.

Easy “Flare Wander” achievement

To get the “Flare Wander” achievement, you must kill an enemy approximately an entire screen width away with the Flare Wand. This is difficult, as the camera usually moves to keep your character in the center of the screen. You must find an enemy you can defeat while standing at the end of a horizontally scrolling room. A good place to do this at is a room about halfway through the “Plains Of Passage” stage. It features a large mound of dirt blocks with a turkey platter underneath. Instead of using the flying green lizard to jump up to a diamond, leave it alive. Instead, destroy some of the dirt blocks that are in the way, and stand at the very right side of the screen. Then, shoot at the lizard when it gets in range.

Easy “Flying Feat” achievement

You have to defeat three enemies while in the air, but you do not need to attack three times. This can be done by defeating multiple enemies with a single attack. Somewhere in the middle of the “Pridemoor Keep” level, you will reach an outdoor area with several Propeller Rats. Try to attract them so you can attack several of them in mid-air. If needed, move around the area to make the enemies respawn.

Easy “Get Out Of My Room!” achievement (“Plague Of Shadows” DLC)

In the Explodatorium, do not drop down to the Shovel Knight battle. Instead, throw bombs at the far wall across the pit to open a secret passage to Plague Knight’s room. Once inside, blow up a shelf to uncover some of Plague Knight’s masks.

Easy “Impossible!” achievement

To complete the game without dying, press [Esc] if you die, and select the “Return to map screen” option to reset your death counter and any gold or relics that were obtained in the dungeon. There are also enemies wandering on the map screen. Make sure to avoid these encounters, because if you die in one you will automatically be teleported to the map screen, and the game will auto-save.

Easy “No Damage!” achievement

In the first stage, get past the second dragon by rushing into the room and shovel down through the bricks as quickly as possible. When you hit the ground, immediately use the Phase Locket and run through the bubbles. Then, bounce over the dragon and get past him. At the Boss, kill him by repeatedly hitting it with the Flare Wand. Note: You can also earn the “Sparker” achievement by getting him down to half a heart and finishing him off with a sword spark.

Easy “On A Diet” achievement

Food only appears in a few places on “The Plains” stage and can be avoided. Both dragon mini-bosses drop an apple. Do not fight them, and instead down-stab around them. There are a few platters of food in the stage that are easy to avoid. Near the end of the stage, a hidden area contains a dirt pile that drops a carrot. Leave that dirt pile untouched or avoid that area altogether.

Easy “On A Diet” and “Shovel Economy” achievements

During the first stage, use the Dust Knuckles and down-stab to kill everything to progress through the level. Save at least 48 magic for the Boss, then kill him with the Flare Wand to get the “On A Diet” and “Shovel Economy” achievements.

Easy “Reflected Riches” achievement

Use the the Goldarmor enemy in “Pridemoor Keep” (King Knight’s stage). The shield will help keep the coin bouncing back several times, and that particular enemy does not jump.

Use the Dozedrake enemy in “Plains” (introductory stage). The first encounter with the first large enemy is helpful for bouncing the coin due to the large enemy health and the simple ground without hazards.

Easy “Super Sphere” achievement

Reach the secret room where you get the Alchemy Coin in the “Explodatorium” level. This room has six enemies in a narrow corridor at the bottom, with a lone Greenarmor above. Jump down and cast several Chaos Spheres to get the “Super Sphere” achievement. If needed, leave the room and re-enter to try again.

Easy “Untouched” achievement

Note: This only works with one of the main eight bosses, in the “Lair Of ??? Knight” stages. Choose any Boss, and attack them while using the Phase Locket repeatedly to remain invincible. With a fully upgraded magic bar, you will have plenty of magic remaining. Try using this on King Knight. He has poor defense and does not have many invincibility frames. If you get hit, intentionally die and restart the fight from the checkpoint.

Steam achievements

Successfully complete the indicated task to unlock the corresponding achievement. To view your achievements and stats in Steam, select “Community”, “My profile”, “View all my games”, then the game and view stats.

Again!: Finish New Game Plus.
Another Dimension: Collect 2000 worth of gold lying on spikes, while using the Phase Locket.
Arc of Iron: Defeat 3 enemies with one Throwing Anchor.
Boom!: Defeat 5 foes at once using the Booming Horn.
Checkpointless: Destroy every possible checkpoint in the game.
Clearing a Path: Run over 5 enemies using the same Mobile Gear.
Decked Out: Purchase or unlock all relics, equipment, and upgrades.
Dirt Poor: Don’t collect any gold for an entire Order of No Quarter stage.
First Purchase: Buy your first item.
Flare Wander: Defeat an enemy with the Flare Wand from more than 25 blocks away.
Flying Feat: Defeat 3 enemies using the Propeller Dagger without touching the ground.
Get the Point: Destroy all checkpoints in a single stage.
Halfway: Defeat 4 of the Order of No Quarter.
Hall Champion: Solve the woes of the Hall of Champions.
Hey Big Spender: Spend a combined 25000 gold at the shop.
Hooper: Bounce on the Hoop Kid’s hoop for 5 seconds.
HurryUp!: Beat the game within 1 hour and 30 minutes.
I Scream For Ichor: Sample each of the Troupple King’s ichors.
I’m Alive!: Finish any stage without dying.
Impossible!: Finish the game without dying.
Juggler: Impress Mona with your skills.
Knuckle Down: Hang in the air for more than 4 seconds using the Dust Knuckles.
Master Angler: Successfully fish 5 sparkling fishing spots.
Master Shoveler: Purchase all available Shovel Blade upgrades.
Music Lover: Obtain all song scrolls.
Nice Hat…: Help out all the moochers in the fancy shop.
No Damage!: Finish any Stage without taking damage.
On a Diet: Finish a level without eating any food.
Only You: Use caution and common sense around campfires.
Order of Hoarders: Have 50000 gold on hand.
Penny Pincher: Finish the game without spending any money.
Perfect Platformer: Finish the game without falling into a bottomless pit.
Pungent: Listen to all of Croaker’s puns.
Reflect Lord: Hit enemies with a reflected projectile 30 times.
Reflected Riches: Bounce the same Alchemical Coin 5 times in a row.
Relic Roundtable: Defeat an enemy by using each relic.
Shovel Economy: Finish a level and swing the Shovel Blade fewer than 20 times.
Sparker: Finish off any boss using the Ground Spark technique.
Super Sphere: Destroy 5 enemies within 5 seconds using the Chaos Spheres.
Troupple Acolyte: Discover the secrets of the Troupple King.
True Shovelry: Beat the game without collecting any relics.
Untouched: Emerge unscathed from a battle with any Knight of the Order of No Quarter.
Victory!: Finish the game.
Well Met: Defeat all of the wandering travelers.
You’re Fired: Finish off the Black Knight with a reflected shot.

The image featured at the top of this post is ©Square Enix.