When it comes to indie game publishers, only a distinct few manage to churn out hit after hit consistently, and doing so typically involves doubling down on a specific niche. Devolver Digital does the opposite of what most indie publishers do, however.
Devolver instead invests in the unusual and charming, and sometimes the downright weird. This has led to the publisher holding on to a roster of indie hits, ranging from the maliciously adorably Cult of the Lamb to outright malicious Hotline Miami. With such a diverse portfolio, it’s still surprising to see a family-friendly themed indie like The Plucky Squire—developed by All Possible Futures—being nurtured under the Devolver Digital umbrella.
And yet, The Plucky Squire is exactly what you’d expect and want from a Devolver Digital game.
What is The Plucky Squire?
The Plucky Squire is an action-adventure platformer from All Possible Futures and published by Devovler Digital. All Possible Futures was cofounded by James Turner, a former artist for Game Freak who was responsible for working on a variety of Pokémon titles, and Jonathan Biddle. Biddle had previously worked as a creative director for Devolver Digital on the 2019 action adventure, The Swords of Ditto.
In The Plucky Squire, players are introduced to the titular Jot, a heroic adventurer and mighty wordsmith who documents his adventures against the troublesome Humgrump in a variety of storybooks. Jot always wins, and Humgrump always loses—that is, until Humgrump becomes aware of his status as a storybook villain and seeks to rewrite the story to his own liking. Using the power of magic, Humgrump ejects Jot from the storybook. Having been touched by magic, Jot learns he can break the storybook’s fourth wall, using magic portals to teleport between the 2D world and the 3D. With the help of his friends, a little bit of magic, platforming, and puzzle solving, players can help Jot overcome the obstacles thrown at him by Humgrump as he attempts to save his storybook from being shelved.
The Plucky Squire is available on Xbox Series X|S, PC, Nintendo Switch, and PlayStation 5. The game is not available as part of Xbox Game Pass at launch, but it is included at no extra charge with a PlayStation Plus subscription.
The Plucky Squire: Story and gameplay
Upon first introduction, The Plucky Squire paints itself as a standard 2D action-adventure, something akin to an old-school The Legend of Zelda. Set in the fairy tale land of Mojo inside a literal storybook, the game begins by setting players off on a quest to recover some beeswax for the local wizard who has developed a fondness for music records. We become acquainted with Jot and his abilities, limited though they may be in the beginning, and we ultimately finish the tutorial segment by playing a round of fisticuffs with a very hangry honey badger. Early introductions to Jot and his crew go on a little long, but it’s after an altercation with the game’s antagonist, Humgrump, that the story really gets rolling.
Humgrump has discovered that he is nothing more than a villain in Jot’s storybook. In a desperate attempt to change and control the narrative, he forcefully ejects Jot out of the 2D book and into the 3D world of the desktop. The desk belongs to ten-year-old Sam, who is creatively inspired by The Plucky Squire’s book and has littered his room with drawings and paintings that Jot can enter via magic portals. While on the desk, Jot appears in 3D and must interact with the 3D world with platforming and occasional stealth. However, Jot can return to 2D when entering Sam’s drawings and doodles, or returning to the storybook itself. Once the player locates magical gloves, Jot is even able to interact with the book in the 3D space, turning pages and tilting the book to affect the 2D world contained inside.
While Jot is clearly the protagonist of the story, The Plucky Squire embraces the importance of those around Jot in helping him to complete his quest. The friendship between Jot and the extended cast of colorful characters adds an extra layer of charm to the story. While the game certainly has narrative beats that adults will find entertaining, it is plenty suitable for younger audiences, as well. Some children may require assistance in overcoming some of the more elaborate puzzles, such as rewriting sentences to change the scene of the story.
However, All Possible Futures has included a variety of accessibility features to improve The Plucky Squire’s approachability—including two gameplay difficulties, a toggle for invincibility and one-hit enemy kills, and jump assistance. Adults may find that the guidance from non-player characters may be heavy-handed during puzzle-solving sequences. Often, characters spout out obvious solutions almost immediately upon encountering an obstacle, even if the player chooses not to interact with the Minibeard guides.
The Plucky Squire: Should you buy it?
The Plucky Squire is an unapologetic love letter to the creative. The story champions the importance of the media we grow up with and its role in helping to shape the people we become. From the Sonnet Swamps, where the populace speaks in rhyme, to the colorful cast of characters inspired by artists throughout time in the kingdom of Artia, The Plucky Squire shows us the importance of creative inspiration by putting the idea into practice. This expands to gameplay mechanics, as well.
The Plucky Squire’s gameplay similarly oozes with the inspiration of gaming mechanics from yesteryear, putting the gameplay itself on par with art and literature as important for the overall creative experience. At no point in the game’s run time did it feel like any of the mechanics were shoehorned in just to serve as gimmicks. Instead, each new addition to Jot and the team’s abilities are purposeful toward progressing the overall story.
The only downside is that many puzzle-solving mechanics are used only a few times before we learn a new skill or gain a new item. Players can find themselves with a few puzzle-solving mechanics that aren’t useful outside their specific narrative purpose and are forgotten once the obstacle is overcome.
Overall, The Plucky Squire is a charming, surprisingly family-friendly win from Devolver Digital that is both accessible and approachable for most ages. I wouldn't be surprised to see the title being heralded as one of 2024's best games for kids and adults alike.
