The Plucky Squire

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The Plucky Squire
The Plucky Squire cover art.jpg
Developer(s) All Possible Futures
Publisher(s) Devolver Digital
Director(s)
  • James Turner
  • Jonathan Biddle
Producer(s) Kitty Crawford
Writer(s) James Turner
Composer(s) Mike Georgiades
Engine Unreal Engine [1]
Platform(s)
ReleaseSeptember 17, 2024
Genre(s) Platform
Mode(s) Single-player

The Plucky Squire is a 2024 action-adventure platform game developed by All Possible Futures and published by Devolver Digital. The game follows the magical adventures of storybook characters Jot and his friends who discover a three-dimensional world outside the pages of their book. It was released for Windows, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S and Nintendo Switch on September 17, 2024, to generally positive reviews from critics.

Contents

Premise

The Plucky Squire is centered around the heroic Jot who is kicked out of his story book by the villainous Humgrump, forcing Jot to explore and face challenges both within his story book and the outside world. When the malevolent Humgrump realizes that he is the villain of the story who is destined to be defeated by the forces of righteousness led by the heroic Jot, he kicks the hero out of its pages and changes the story forever. [2]

In order to restore the storybook's happy ending and save his friends from Humgrump's dark forces, Jot must face various challenges unlike anything he's ever seen. On his journey to restore the book's ending Jot finds himself with the ability to jump between the 2D and 3D worlds encountering puzzles he must solve and mini challenges to complete such as boxing badgers, jetpack flying, and many more obstacles as he becomes the hero of a living storybook. [3] Some of the mini challenges involving playing as Jot's allies: these being Violet, a trainee witch and artist; and Thrash, a mountain troll and heavy metal drummer.

Development

The Plucky Squire was developed by indie game studio All Possible Futures which was founded by James Turner and Jonathan Biddle. [4] [5] Before co-founding All Possible Futures, Turner was a designer for Game Freak and directed the video game HarmoKnight as well as the art for various Pokémon games. [6] Co-founder Biddle has previously worked with Devolver Digital as the creative director for The Swords of Ditto and founded the studio Onebitbeyond who also developed the game. [7] [8]

Characters Jot and Moonbeard were originally created by Turner for an online comic before using them for The Plucky Squire. English actor Philip Bretherton serves as the game's narrator. [9]

Release

The Plucky Squire was originally scheduled to release for Windows, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S and Nintendo Switch in 2023, [10] but Devolver Digital delayed the game to 2024. [11] In August 2024, it was announced that the game would release on September 17. [12] At launch, It was made available to PlayStation Plus Extra and Premium subscribers at no additional cost. [13]

Reception

The Plucky Squire received "generally favorable" reviews from critics, according to review aggregator website Metacritic, [14] [15] and 90% of critics recommended the game, according to OpenCritic. [16]

Awards and nominations

YearCeremonyCategoryResultRef.
2024 Golden Joystick Awards Best Indie GameNominated [26]
Best Game Trailer (Launch Trailer)Nominated
The Game Awards 2024 Best Debut Indie GameNominated [27]
Best Family GameNominated
2025 28th Annual D.I.C.E. Awards Family Game of the Year Pending [28]
Outstanding Achievement in Art Direction Pending
25th Game Developers Choice Awards Best DebutHonorable mention [29]
Innovation AwardHonorable mention

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References

  1. ↑ "Over 80 Unreal Engine-powered games featured during 2022 summer gaming events". Unreal Engine . August 15, 2022. Retrieved August 15, 2023.
  2. ↑ Robertson, Joshua (June 9, 2022). "The Plucky Squire Is A Storybook Action Adventure Game Coming In 2023". TheGamer. Retrieved February 24, 2023.
  3. ↑ Trumble, Brian (June 20, 2022). "Devolver Digital Unveils Storybook Adventure The Plucky Squire". GameTyrant. Archived from the original on June 20, 2022. Retrieved February 24, 2023.
  4. ↑ Castle, Katharine (June 9, 2022). "The Plucky Squire is a 2D storybook adventure with a gorgeous 3D twist". Rock, Paper, Shotgun . Retrieved March 8, 2023.
  5. ↑ "About Us". All Possible Futures. February 15, 2022. Retrieved February 19, 2023.
  6. ↑ Hagues, Alana (June 9, 2022). "Pokémon Sword & Shield's Art Director Announces New Game Studio". Nintendo Life . Retrieved February 19, 2023.
  7. ↑ "Curve Digitals Jonathan Biddle Leaves to Form New Studio Onebitbeyond Ltd". Destructoid . March 12, 2015. Archived from the original on February 19, 2023. Retrieved February 19, 2023.
  8. ↑ Pearson, Dan (March 11, 2015). "Curve co-owner Jonathan Biddle leaving to become indie dev". GamesIndustry.biz . Retrieved March 8, 2023.
  9. ↑ Hagues, Alana (July 1, 2024). ""A New Surprise On Every Page" - How Kids Helped Shape 'The Plucky Squire'". Nintendo Life. Retrieved July 3, 2024.
  10. ↑ Romano, Sal (June 9, 2022). "Action adventure platformer The Plucky Squire announced for PS5, Xbox Series, Switch, and PC". Gematsu. Retrieved June 9, 2022.
  11. ↑ Romano, Sal (August 7, 2023). "Anger Foot, Pepper Grinder, The Plucky Squire, Stick it to the Stickman, and Skate Story delayed to 2024". Gematsu. Retrieved August 7, 2023.
  12. ↑ Romano, Sal (August 15, 2024). "The Plucky Squire launches September 17". Gematsu. Retrieved August 15, 2024.
  13. ↑ "Plucky Squire launches on PS5 September 17 as part of PlayStation Plus Extra and Premium". PlayStation.Blog. August 15, 2024. Retrieved September 13, 2024.
  14. 1 2 "The Plucky Squire (PC Critic Reviews)". Metacritic . Retrieved September 19, 2024.
  15. 1 2 "The Plucky Squire (PlayStation 5 Critic Reviews)". Metacritic . Retrieved September 19, 2024.
  16. 1 2 "The Plucky Squire Reviews". OpenCritic . September 17, 2024. Retrieved September 19, 2024.
  17. ↑ Benson, Madison (September 17, 2024). "Review: The Plucky Squire". Destructoid . Retrieved September 19, 2024.
  18. ↑ Franzese, Tomas (September 17, 2024). "The Plucky Squire review: meta adventure is bursting with creativity". Digital Trends . Retrieved September 19, 2024.
  19. ↑ Donlan, Christian (September 17, 2024). "The Plucky Squire review — the power of imagination". Eurogamer . Retrieved September 19, 2024.
  20. ↑ Watts, Steve (September 17, 2024). "The Plucky Squire Review — Every Trick In The Book". GameSpot . Retrieved September 19, 2024.
  21. ↑ Wickens, Katie (September 17, 2024). "The Plucky Squire review: "A fascinating interplay of 2D and 3D puzzles that makes no apology with its bodacious references to a bygone era"". GamesRadar+ . Retrieved September 19, 2024.
  22. ↑ LeClair, Kyle (September 17, 2024). "Review: The Plucky Squire". Hardcore Gamer. Retrieved September 19, 2024.
  23. ↑ Plant, Logan (September 17, 2024). "The Plucky Squire Review". IGN . Retrieved September 19, 2024.
  24. ↑ Tailby, Stephen (September 17, 2024). "The Plucky Squire Review (PS5)". Push Square . Retrieved September 19, 2024.
  25. ↑ Mejia, Ozzie (September 17, 2024). "The Plucky Squire review: A storybook journey". Shacknews . Retrieved September 19, 2024.
  26. ↑ West, Josh (October 4, 2024). "Astro Bot and Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth lead the shortlist for the Golden Joystick Awards 2024, nudging out Helldivers 2 and Balatro for the most nominations". GamesRadar+ . Archived from the original on October 4, 2024.
  27. ↑ Maas, Jennifer (November 18, 2024). "Game Awards Nominations 2024: 'Astro Bot,' 'Final Fantasy VII Rebirth' Lead With 7 Nods Each". Variety .
  28. ↑ Welsh, Oli (January 10, 2025). "Indiana Jones and the Great Circle is a GOTY front-runner at the DICE Awards". Polygon . Retrieved January 10, 2025.
  29. ↑ Yang, George (January 28, 2025). "Game Developers Choice Awards 2025 Nominees Revealed". GameSpot . Archived from the original on January 28, 2025.
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