- Shovel Pirate is a cutesy puzzle-platformer out now
- You play as a piratical penguin pilfering buried treasure
- It’s a simple yet effective take on the 2D platformer formula
As we write about hundreds of mobile games weekly if not daily, it’s not uncommon for some of them to slip under our radar. And we assume that’s the same for you so we’re always eager to spotlight ones that we catch out. Enter Shovel Pirate, a fun-looking 2D platformer very much in the vein of other genre classics that has you playing as a piratical penguin digging up and pilfering various goodies as you move through 15 handcrafted levels.
What’s a penguin doing in tropical waters?
Before you ask, yes we know there are tropical penguins.
Coming from developer Neutronized, responsible for the Slime Labs and Super Cat Tales series, Shovel Pirate is out now for Android and iOS. While Shovel Pirate is the first of their games to make the jump to Steam, they did cut their teeth on mobile so it’s nice to see the game being available there too. It’s also unique to find a straightforward platformer on mobile that isn’t coming from an existing franchise or has some other twist on the existing formula.
You can check out the trailer for Shovel Pirate below! You can also check out Neutronized’s website for updates about their upcoming games and existing catalogue.
It’s rare to see something that’s such a throwback without, as we said, some kind of twist (although there’s definitely a bit of Wario sprinkled in there). And while it’s always good to experiment there’s something to be said about taking an established formula and executing it well. We’re excited to see what Neutronized comes up with next, and whether they’ll keep returning to mobile!
Meanwhile, if you’re eager to keep up with what’s new for mobile this year, you can check out our comprehensive – and growing – list of the best games for mobile in 2024. Or if you’re someone who spent most of their time chilling with Netflix Games’ rather impressive back-catalogue of titles you can look at our own top 10 to see if there’s anything you’ve missed!
