Yacht Club Games stuffed a lot of cheats into Shovel Knight, 324 to be exact. Many change how the game is played, but some others simply change Shovel Knight’s armor color.
The list below does not include the armors you can get in-game, nor the ones with special abilities attached to them (I’m sure there are some unique to other codes). This is just meant to give a look at the vanilla armors available via cheat codes, without having to input them all yourself.
The cheats I used are from this Steam Community Guide on Shovel Knight cheats, written up by one Steam user on a quest to uncover the secrets of the codes. I simply repeatedly entered them into my game to test. I do not believe this is all of the color options.
How to enter cheats
- When making a new save game, use the cheat you want to use as your character name.
- If you input it correctly, the game will ask if you want to activate the cheat. Say “Yes.”
- The game will then prompt you to input the actual name you want to use for that save slot.
- If done correctly, you will see a large blue pumpkin sprite next to Shovel Knight in save selection.
Basic cheat code armor colors
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Two random color codes
Two cheats in particular give you a random armor color when you begin the game: QAGFXTQN and IZETYNHQ. I have not tested these extensively, but do know that when you begin the game and get a color you do not want, you can go back to the main menu and reload for a new one.
The colors available between the two seem to pull from different pools of already-established colors given by other cheats.
QAGFZTQN seems to have the smaller pool and defaults to Shovel Knight’s standard colors often. IZETYNHQ’s pool is much larger. Below are some (but not all) of the colors I got via this cheat code. These are all available via other codes, whether vanilla (no other effects) cheats or those that alter gameplay.
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For curiosity’s sake
These are just a couple codes that have notable effects. There are a few codes with similar effects (water kicking up behind you, bubbles from your helmet, giantism). These images are just to give a look at them in case you’re curious (but not curious enough to test the codes).
 | Kicks up water when you turn. |
 | Air bubbles rise from your helmet as if you are underwater. |
 | The biggest giant sprite, as far as I know. |
 | Large sprite with bubbles coming from your helmet. You also get a Ducktales-style pogo jump, 10,000 gold, every upgrade and level up to the Tower of Fate entrance unlocked, and your color changes every time you jump or move to another screen. |
Published: Jul 9, 2014 09:57 am