The game begins with you thrown into the very first level, and you'll see a pile of rocks ahead of you. You can use your shovel while standing next to it to knock up gems to get some gold. The beetles ahead can be defeated in one hit, causing them to usually drop a gem or a magic refill pot (which doesn't help much at the moment).
The big blocks of dirt can be destroyed with one hit of your shovel, and they sometimes drop some gems, so make sure you destroy them unless they would get you killed. When you reach the blocks underneath you, jump up and then press down while in mid-air to perform a downward strike with your shovel. A little tip to help much later is that you can stop this downward strike by attacking with your shovel in mid-air.
On the next screen will be a bubble (it can hurt you), which you can hop off of using your downward strike. The next screen will have your first checkpoint, which you can't break in this level, but can in later ones to get gold. If you do this, however, that checkpoint cannot be used again for the duration of the game.
Keep going until you encounter a sleeping dragon. You can simply defeat it by bouncing on its head (its impervious to damage otherwise) a total of seven times; it drops a lot more gold than other enemies. The skeleton on the next screen takes two hits to defeat, so get rid of it and keep going down. It may look like a dead end, but you can hit the spot on the right to destroy the wall, as well as the one at the top.
When you get to the bottom, you should see a skeleton on the left side of some spikes. Jump over the spikes, defeat the skeleton and destroy the wall in the lower left to reveal a secret area. In here will be one of the game's collectibles, a Music Sheet (this is #20), so grab it and then go to the right of the spikes to continue.
Watch out for the slimes here and don't go destroying all of the dirt blocks, as there's a hidden area behind a destroyable wall in the top right, which contains a pink diamond (worth 200 gold). Continue as normal until you come to two moving platforms. Instead of using the ladder to go up, jump right and break the wall to reveal another hidden area.
Use the bubbles to cross the gaps and grab a second Music Sheet (#21), then return and use the ladder to continue. Break the wall on the bottom, grab the gems (watch the skeleton), then jump onto the thin ledge and hit the wall to your right for another secret area. Climb the right ladder to find a chest (hit it and then approach to get the goodies inside), then go back down and climb the left ladder to continue.
Go right here, watching out for the flying creatures and you'll encounter another dragon in the next room. Be careful with the skeleton after that, as you can just lure it over and it will fall off by itself. Climb the ladder and watch out for slimes underneath all the dirt, as the grass obstructs your view. There's a breakable wall in the bottom left, with a gem behind it.
Climb the ladder and you'll be able to go either right or left, so go left for now. At the end of this path is a chest with some gems in it, so grab them all and head back to the right. You'll see a lone checkpoint, which is indication in this game for an upcoming boss.
| BOSS: Black Knight |
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| The Black Knight only has three main moves in this battle, with the first one being a normal shovel hit like yours, which he does if you get too close. The second attack to watch out for, and probably his most dangerous, is when he jumps into the air and does a downward strike. He'll do this about four times before he stops. His final attack, which might never get a chance to come out, is a fireball he shoots that can be reflected back at him if you hit it. The best way to defeat the Black Knight is to probably utilize your downward strike maneuver, as it's possible to get multiple hits in before he jumps or moves away. Just make sure you avoid his downward strikes whenever he does that attack, as his jumps will likely be out of reach of your own. Note that you can get a Feat/Steam Achievement if the last hit that defeats him is a reflected fireball. |
