Joustus

Joustus is a card game first introduced in the King of Cards campaign, where it also served as a mini-game. The game itself is played with cards representing enemies and characters encountered all across the Valley.

A Joustus Card is also one of the items of Showdown, and the cards also reappear in the Puzzler's Pack DLC, thanks to a Quandary challenge that unlocks for King Knight the ability to use them in combat.

Story

In the timeline of events, Joustus was first briefly mentioned in Shovel Knight Dig by Duelist Di, who was an already seasoned and successful player. This seems to imply that a form of the game existed even before the sudden explosion in popularity seen in King of Cards. Shovel Knight could also see the moment in which she and Cooper, struck a deal with each other and began their ill-fated partnership.

In King of Cards, the inhabitants of the Valley were all taking part in a competition of Joustus, the fabled Joustus Crown, in places called Houses of Joustus. The title of King of Cards was to be awarded to the best tactician among them, one capable to best the three Joustus Judges.

King Knight, hoping to become a true king, entered the competition, quickly finding himself supported by captain Cooper, the Bard and the rest of the Glidewing's crew, as the daring airship pilot, seeing the tournament as an opportunity for riches and fame, had already tried to recruit a champion to represent them. Sadly their previous candidate, Duelist Di, had tragically died in the area surrounding the Lich Yard, forcing Cooper to seek another player.

Eventually it was revealed that the entire competition, as well as the sudden explosion in popularity of Joustus, were all a plot orchestrated by the recently resurrected Enchantress, who had used her armies to mass produce the Joustus cards. By creating the tournament, as well as appointing a puppet third Judge, King Birder, The Enchantress had originally planned to lure into a trap the other two Judges, King Pridemoor and the Troupple King, so that she could brainwash them into servitude. She however later changed her mind, as the tournament itself already proved to be such an effective distraction, that she had amassed enough power to be one step away from victory.

After King Knight accepted the witch's proposal, betrayed his allies in exchange for Pridemoor Keep's throne, and was nominally named King of Cards, the tin-pot dictator's first order was to get rid of all the Joustus cards, not wanting for anyone to ever challenge his new-found title. As such the various Houses of Joustus were detonated, thanks to the assistance of Plague Knight, Mona and the Hedge Pupil, while the cards themselves were shoved inside some brass horns at Pridemoor Keep.

In Specter of Torment, King Knight was later briefly seen using said horns to expel damaging Joustus cards during his brief struggle with Specter Knight, who had come to force the wannabe ruler to stop wasting time in his opulent and superfluous renovations of the castle.

A Joustus gaming board also makes a minor cameo appearance on a table at the Camp of Shovel Knight Pocket Dungeon, once King Knight is recruited, and he can also attempt a Quandary Challenge centered around the card game at Castle Quandary.

Gameplay

The main objective of a game of Joustus is to claim more gems than the opponent, by finding ways to push their own cards to gems. To start the game, one has to pick a card from their deck. Each card has one or more arrows pointing in a certain direction; the arrows indicate where one can push another card towards.

The game has three end conditions:

1. When no more valid moves can be made.
2. When all of the open squares are full.
3. When a player has no cards left at the start of the turn; should this happen, the other player automatically wins regardless of the status of the gems (although a Gem Sweep, a victory with all gems claimed by a single player, can still occur).

Rules

• A player cannot put a card directly on a gem, they have to push one to the gem.
• One cannot place a card on graveyard squares, but they can be pushed there. That is, unless the card has the "Grave" ability or it pushes another card that has said ability.
• Players can't push a card against a card with an opposing arrow more or equal in strength to the card they're pushing with.
• Cheat Cards can be purchased to have an advantage, and they are single-use items.
• There are different arrows (e.g. Double) and abilities (e.g. Slam).
• At the end of the game, the player who has the most gems is declared the winner.

Joustus Cards

Push Arrow types

• Standard - Pushes cards without opposing arrows and blocks standard arrows.
• Double - Pushes standard arrows and blocks double arrows
• Bomb - After placement, pushes cards to blow them up!
• Conveyor - A double arrow. After placement, tries to push every turn.
• Count - A triple arrow that disappears after 3 turns of play.

Abilities

• Slam - On placement, all arrows try to push at once.
• Grave - Can be played in graveyard squares!
• Switch - After placement, arrows reverse sides after each push.
• Cascade - On initial push, any card pushed will swap teams temporarily (until end of battle).

Cheat Cards

• Gem Thief - All cards on a gem flip to become yours!
• Beeto Swap - Change your opponent's hand to 3 weak cards!
• Play Em' All - Play all 3 cards in your hand at once!

List of Cards

During a match, the cards owned by yourself are of a blue color, while the ones of the adversary are red. During the King of Cards campaign, King Knight can buy from Mr. Hat a cosmetic upgrade, Gilded Deck, for 10000, that turns the back of his cards golden, more ornate and with his face printed on it.

Blue	Red	Name	No.	Rarity	Abilities
		Propeller Rat	1	Common	Standard
		Blitzsteed	2	Common	Standard
		Blorb	3	Common	Standard
		Beeto	4	Common	Standard
		Dozedrake	5	Common	Standard
		Invisishade	6	Common	Standard
		Zamby	7	Common	Standard
		Fleeto	8	Common	Standard
		Divedrake	9	Common	Standard
		Boneclang	10	Common	Standard
		Wizzem	11	Common	Standard
		Super Skeleton	12	Common	Standard
		Griffoth	13	Common	Standard
		Goldarmor	14	Common	Standard
		Flailarmor	15	Common	Standard
		Rookie	16	Unique
		Bard	17	Unique	Standard
		Cooper	18	Unique	Standard
		Rat King	19	Common	Double
		Fairy	20	Common	Double
		Tadvolt	21	Common	Double
		Torpeeto	22	Common	Double
		Hedge Pupil	23	Unique	Standard Double
		Duelist Di	24	Unique	Standard Double
		Ruffian	25	Unique	Standard Double
		Croaker	26	Unique	Standard Double
		Gastronomer	27	Unique	Standard Double
		Goatician	28	Unique	Standard Double
		Ledge Farmer	29	Unique	Standard Double
		Skip	30	Unique	Standard Double
		Chester	31	Unique	Standard Double
		Traitorus	32	Unique	Standard Double
		Hedge Farmer	33	Unique	Standard Double
		Farrels	34	Unique	Standard Double
		Playing Kid	35	Unique	Standard Double
		Barton	36	Unique	Standard Double
		Hoop Kid	37	Unique	Standard Double
		Grandma Swamp	38	Unique	Standard Double
		Hengineer	39	Unique	Standard Double
		Troupple Missionary	40	Unique	Standard Double
		Black Knight	41	Unique	Standard Double
		Shovel Smith	42	Unique	Standard Double
		Armorer	43	Unique	Standard Double
		Troupple Acolyte	44	Unique	Standard Double
		Gouache	45	Unique	Standard Double
		Doe	46	Unique	Standard Double
		Lunkeroth	47	Common	Double Slam
		Boneclang Honcho	48	Common	Double Slam
		Teethalon	49	Common	Double Slam
		Sumo Goldarmor	50	Common	Double Slam
		Baz	51	Unique	Standard Slam
		Terrorpin	52	Unique	Double Slam
		Mom	53	Unique	Double Slam
		Mole Knight	54	Unique	Double Bomb Slam
		King Pridemoor	55	Unique	Double Slam
		King Knight	56	Unique	Double Slam
		King Birder	57	Unique	Double Slam
		Troupple King	58	Unique	Double Slam
		The Big Creep	59	Unique	Double Grave
		Phantom Striker	60	Unique	Double Grave
		Specter Knight	61	Unique	Double Grave
		Luan	62	Unique	Double Grave
		Gall	63	Unique	Double Conveyor Grave
		Red	64	Unique	Count Grave
		Scarlet	65	Unique	Count Grave
		Whippicles	66	Common	Double
		Macawbe	67	Common	Double
		Serprize	68	Common	Double
		Memmec	69	Common	Double
		Grapps	70	Common	Double
		Hoppicles	71	Common	Double
		Mole Minion	72	Common	Double
		Toadsdrake	73	Common	Double
		Jumbolorb	74	Common	Double
		Big Bohto	75	Common	Double
		Charflounder	76	Common	Bomb
		Ratsploder	77	Common	Bomb
		Hermittack	78	Common	Bomb
		Moler	79	Common	Bomb
		Plague Minion	80	Common	Bomb
		Troupple	81	Common	Bomb
		Gulper Mage	82	Common	Bomb
		Blazorb	83	Common	Bomb
		Birder Bearer	84	Common	Bomb
		Kettleleg	85	Common	Bomb
		Ratsploder King	86	Common	Bomb
		The Alchemeister	87	Common	Bomb
		The Dinghy Dropper	88	Common	Bomb
		Birder	89	Common	Double Switch
		Gobcano	90	Common	Double Switch
		Hootstack	91	Common	Double Switch
		Mantar	92	Common	Double Switch
		Tadfloat	93	Common	Double Switch
		Toader	94	Unique	Bomb Switch
		Leo	95	Unique	Double Switch
		Oolong	96	Unique	Double Switch
		Dancer	97	Unique	Double Bomb Switch
		Percy	98	Unique	Double Bomb Switch
		Plague Knight	99	Unique	Double Bomb Switch
		Mona	100	Unique	Double Bomb Switch
		Treasure Knight	101	Unique	Double Switch
		Clockameleon	102	Common	Conveyor
		Electrodent	103	Common	Conveyor
		Rail Rider	104	Common	Conveyor
		Tinkerbot	105	Common	Conveyor
		Floundair	106	Common	Double Conveyor
		Tundread	107	Common	Double Conveyor
		Blorbsidian	108	Common	Double Conveyor
		Goldome	109	Common	Conveyor Switch
		Rungstrider	110	Common	Double Conveyor Switch
		Spinwulf	111	Common	Conveyor Switch
		Cinderwulf	112	Common	Double Conveyor Switch
		Cogslotter	113	Common	Double Conveyor Switch
		Sine Dagger	114	Common	Double Conveyor Switch
		Polar Knight	115	Unique	Double Conveyor Slam
		Tinker Knight	116	Unique	Double Conveyor Switch
		Planto	117	Common	Double Cascade
		Hover Meanie	118	Common	Double Cascade
		Floatsmall	119	Common	Double Cascade
		Hoverhaft	120	Common	Double Cascade
		Floatsome	121	Common	Double Cascade
		Hurlsvelgr	122	Common	Double Cascade
		Blubber Meanie	123	Common	Double Cascade
		Bladescale	124	Common	Double Cascade
		Yoppler	125	Unique	Double Cascade
		Reize	126	Unique	Double Cascade
		Fish Head	127	Unique	Double Conveyor Cascade
		Mr. Hat	128	Unique	Double Cascade
		Propeller Knight	129	Unique	Double Cascade
		Liquid Samurai Reaver	130	Common	Count
		Liquid Samurai Swordsman	131	Common	Count
		Liquid Samurai Archer	132	Common	Count
		Flarey	133	Common	Count
		Axolongl	134	Common	Count
		Slimulacra	135	Common	Count
		Dark Acolyte	136	Unique	Count
		Missy	137	Unique	Count
		Manny	138	Unique	Count
		Edge Farmer	139	Unique	Count
		Horace	140	Unique	Conveyor Count
		Shield Knight	141	Unique	Double Count Cascade
		Shovel Knight	142	Unique	Double Count Slam
		Dark Reize	143	Unique	Double Count
		Donovan	144	Unique	Conveyor Count Slam
		Cloaked Figure	145	Unique	Double Count Cascade
		The Enchantress	146	Unique	Count Cascade
		Cardia	147	Unique	Count Slam
		Giga Cardia	148	Unique	Bomb Count Slam

Joustus matches

King of Cards

These are the Joustus players met during the King of Cards campaign, as either participants of the Joustus Crown or casual players.

Glidewing

Individuals already present or recruited onto the Glidewing.

• Cardia
• Hedge Pupil
• Traitorus
• Skip
• Barton
• Troupple Acolyte
• Duelist Di
• TMK-500

Traveling bosses who will visit the Glidewing once defeated as a special guests. Only one will appear at the main dining table at a time. Leaving and reentering the room will change the current guest.

• Baz
• Phantom Striker
• Plague Knight
• Treasure Knight
• Mole Knight
• Propeller Knight
• Tinker Knight
• Polar Knight
• Specter Knight

House of Joustus

• The Playing Kid
• Goatician
• Croaker, who proposes three Joustus themed riddles
• The Ruffian
• Black Knight, the Joustus Boss of the House of Joustus

Cavern of Joustus

• The Armorer and the Shovel Smith, challenged as a pair in a single match
• One Mole Minion
• A Blazorb and a Blorb, who are treated as separate opponents, despite they being actually the same individual, who had its flames extinguished
• Toader, who proposes three Joustus themed riddles
• Mona, the Joustus Boss of the Cavern of Joustus

Crag of Joustus

• Leo
• A Cogslotter
• A Hover Meanie
• Croaker and Toader as a pair, who again propose three Joustus themed riddles
• A group of three Spinwulves, who play as a single player as the Joustus Boss of the Crag of Joustus

Tower of Joustus

• Missy
• One Liquid Samurai
• Red
• Horace, the Joustus Boss of the Tower of Joustus

Challenge Mode

These matches are only available in Challenge Mode, as there is not an occasion for a Joustus match, friendly or otherwise, during the King of Cards campaign.

• King Pridemoor
• Troupple King
• King Birder
• Mom
• The Enchantress

Exhibition Matches

By pressing [UP] at the mirror in King Knight's room at The Homestead, it is possible to play optional customizable Joustus matches; in this match-up, it is possible to choose the stage type, the background location, the opponent and the playable character and, if one so chooses, to even face another player in a match.

Showdown's item

The Joustus Card is one of the various Powerup items that can appear in a Showdown match. It is a powerful and dangerous item: once activated it will hover in the air for a few seconds, position itself, then charge towards the nearest adversary of who activated it. If its target is not quick enough to dodge, the card will trap them inside itself, creating one of the cards seen in King of Cards and making the adversary immediately lose one of their stocks, which may result in a game over for them.

That being said the Card moves relatively slow, so any fighter who is well aware of their surroundings or a CPU with an high level of difficulty should have no problem dodging it, unless encroached by other obstacles or attacks. The Joustus Card also will fail to capture its target if they are currently in an invincibility frame.

Pocket Dungeon's Challenge

In the Puzzler's Pack DLC of Pocket Dungeon, King Knight can attempt the Quandary, Joustus Judge, in which King Knight is given the ability to collect Joustus cards from chains and use them to attack enemies or gain a temporary effect; once the Quandary has been cleared, this Refract Ability is permanently unlocked for King Knight, allowing him to switch between it and his standard Shoulder Bash, at any time at either the Camp or Castle Quandary.

Pretty much every single enemy, boss, and chainable object like potions, the various dirt blocks, and turkeys, can be collected as a Joustus Card, each one with unique, slightly different effects; all of the cards of returning foes, such as Beetos, Boneclangs, the members of the Order of No Quarter, or The Enchantress, have the same effect they had in King of Cards, while new characters like Prism Knight, Puzzle Knight, the Shrinemaster, or The Master Mind, all obtain cards for the first time. In order to obtain their cards, minor enemies and objects must be destroyed with a chain (how big depends on the target), but on the other hand, major enemies and bosses do not need to be chained.

Due to the fact that this Refract Ability is exclusive to only King Knight himself, It is not possible to obtain a King Knight's Joustus Card during normal gameplay.

Gallery

The back of a blue Joustus card.

The back of a red Joustus card.

The back of a gold Joustus card.

Sequentially-numbered Joustus cards.