Indiana Jones and the Great Circle
Indiana Jones and the Great Circle
Game
Game2023
Kingdom Shell
Developer Cup of Pixels
Kingdom Shell is an atmospheric 2D platformer with a captivating storyline. Explore the local lands to stop the invasion of nightmarish creatures and unravel the mysteries of the Kingdom. From the Steam store page
159 reactions from 2 sources (Steam reviews, Bluesky) · newest Oct 6, 2026 · last updated Oct 8, 2026 · How this works
Audience score
86
LovedLoved
134 positive · 21 negative
95% range 80–91%
| Source | + | − | = |
|---|---|---|---|
| Steam reviews | 134 | 21 | 0 |
| Bluesky * | 0 | 0 | 0 |
* shown, not counted in the score (label accuracy below our 85% bar or not yet audited).
4 newer reactions are still waiting for a label.
Steam's own rating
Very Positive
253 of 287 reviews positive (all languages, per Valve)
What people are saying
Summary pending — the reactions are listed below.
Reactions
60 of 159 · most liked firstAhhh, this one stings because I can tell how much passion has gone into making the game and I really wanted to leave a positive review. As a whole, Kingdom Shell is a good game that is unfortunately let down by a couple of abysmal - and I mean ABYSMAL - design choices. First of all, you drop coins every time you die. And there's nothing you can do to prevent it. Hollow Knight catches some flack for its corpse run mechanics but at least it gives you a way to retrieve all your lost currency.…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It's a competent Metroidvania with decent level design and some secrets to discover. It's bog standard, though with nothing unique that stand out from the crowd. Combat is simple and satisfying. Subweapons are actually nice and pretty much essential part of combat even during bosses. Bosses are bit on easy side but pretty fun and fair. There's also a good amount of them! Healing is quite restricted, they don't refill flasks on respawns until much later and you lose a tiny amount of money on…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Updated 14OCT2023 Well i can't say my opinion has changed. I slogged my way to the final area, more out of spite than any real enjoyment. My original review remains my opinion after 14 hours of play. I will give compliments though on the puzzles as i enjoyed getting notes and working out codes to access certain areas. Overall though i did not enjoy this game enough to complete it. Original I always hate to leave a negative review on a small publisher, but i'm not really loving this…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →---see where this game landed on my Metroidvania tier list beneath this review!--- The game is competent enough in most areas and is fairly enjoyable for an indie title. It plays a bit like a less compacted Momodora: Reverie under the Moonlight. It's pretty slow and challenging in places and it was a good 6 hours before I found a 'movement' type upgrade to alleviate some of this. My initial impressions of this game were not very high. There was a little bit of jankiness with the Lurker…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I really liked what I've played so far! A very 90s feeling Metroidvania, which also feels refreshing at the same time. The game has a strong atmosphere and interesting mechanics, this one is a proper Metroidvania too with ability gating and backtracking. It also controls great and is decently balanced. The things I liked less were that it's sometimes hard to see what are platforms and what is background elements and the pits which do damage are also hard to spot. I also did not like some of the…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The game was okay until I unlocked the double jump. It's just frustrating to use. Every segment where you have to use it feels so bad. Combine that with insta death lava pools = uninstall
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →*Finished off-line* Absolutely brilliant, epic game ! Such art and absorbing story, now one of my favorites. Bought on Steam just to leave my grateful review here. --- Disclosure and spoilers: 69 y.o. slow gamer. Didn't enjoy the game at first as too unforgiving for me, started it various times. Finally used C.E., and it became a joyful complex romp. C.E. for the old gamers: Health is Type Double. Each full flower. 3 petals + short stem, equals Value 2.0000 (search for that, ever in the…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Check out our [url=store.steampowered.com/curator/36364102-Horny-Hentai-Festival/]Steam curator , [url=www.youtube.com/curatorhhf/]YouTube channel and [url=twitter.com/hhfcurator]Twitter! Traditional style 2D metroidvania platformer with good hand-drawn pixelart. To save the kingdom, embark on a mysterious adventure. Massive boss battles.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →....I'm not gonna lie ... this game is insanely boring and basic. I REALLY tried to get into it, but just had to accept it. I feel bad for being this honest. i think this game would have been good in like 1994. there is probably more excitement in clipping your toe nails.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Boring and annoying... and not fun Terrible checkpoints and cheap tricks Just avoid and play something else
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Seems like the developers focused only on the first 2-3 hours of the game, so players don't refund. Because after that the game gets worse and worse the farther you get. The worst part is a boss after a long way of platforming with no checkpoints, that one-hits you with everything. You also stand on just a small platform and you instantly die when you fall off.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Please give this a go without reading the negative reviews. This game is not perfect but it plays fine and the dev is listening and working on updates constantly. LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this game!! I have only played just over two hours so far and for sure still have a long way to go. The controls are great, the confusion is fantastic. In my opinion this is a Metroidvania in it's best form. I am super excited to keep going and find, enjoy heaps of secrets and answers that I am sure will follow. The…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Kingdom Shell is a solid Metroidvania inspired by the more older archaic metroidvanias rather than modernized genre experience. Made by a Russian or Ukrainian solo Indie developer, this game was made with passion and I appreciate that it was graphically updated and not abandoned. I recently played & enjoyed "Ghost Song", another metroidvania that is very different in gameplay feel and story vibe. I've mentioned how the genre is split into two camps: 1) The majority purists who want to chew…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This game is an example of a "mid" Metroidvania. It satisfies all the general requirements of the genre without doing anything unique. Pros: Very accessible game without being too easy or too difficult. Can be completed within a reasonable amount of time while not being too short. The achievements can be all accomplished in one play-through, and the only missable achievement is if you kill a gnome, which the game warns you against doing. Cons: I found the healing system to be an…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It won’t blow you away with originality, but it delivers exactly what you need from a good metroidvania. You play a prisoner who is set free from his endless captivity to save the world. However, there is a catch. Demon blood pours in your veins, which is also why you were imprisoned in the first place, so you are not regarded as a hero. The character does not talk, but you learn more about him as you progress through the game. The controls are very normal for a platformer/metroidvania…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Its a good classic metroidvania, but it suffers from the darksouls/hollow knight sickness, and in this case it's the fact that you just loose a precentage of your total money every time you die, its an insanely frustrating design because its basically tells you to dont open chests(99%´is gold) unless you have something you can buy. so heres how it goes if you struggle on a boss, you loose money and then you need to buy a estus flask becuase they dont give you a full refill unless you pay for…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →========= Disclaimer I am in the credits of this game! However, this is not a sponsored review or anything like that. I just helped out with some localization stuff. ========= Really excellent metroidvania. Simple but enjoyable combat, great enemy and location variety, lush, memorable pixel art throughout the game's multiple biomes, a neat and concise backstory with some additional lore to uncover...there's just a lot on offer here. Shoutout to the excellent soundtrack as well, SamDee nailed…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →As far as the enjoyment goes, the game is a solid metroidvania with very little hand-holding, and a strong focus on exploration. It plays very smoothly, but several features are weaker than they could have been. For instance, it is quite possible to miss items that would greatly simplify your run up until a time where you no longer need them. However, on Easy the game is forgiving enough that one doesn't need to worry too much. Completionists beware: There is one missable achievement quite…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The game's large maps encourage you to roam around and acquire new abilities, but they're still solid enough to keep you curious about new things to explore.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I had a chance to test Kingdom Shell. I went through the game, and I can safely say that it is a GREAT game. It is an exemplary story metroidvania - with a variety of enemies, bosses, abilities, and interesting situations. It's all the more amazing that the game was made by essentially ONE person! And he did it for five years. I feel how integral the world, story, movement turned out to be. Let's highlight the pros: + Excellent balance, "inspiration" system, responsive controls + A sense of…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →An attempt to capture the vibes of both Hollow Knight and Blasphemous simultaneously and the result is...actually solid! I consider this game the quintessential 7 out of 10. Every single thing this game attempts (combat, story, art style, music, platforming, level design) is done well. None of it is great, but ALL of it is good, and sometimes that's exactly the flavor of game I'm looking for. The fact that a solo dev managed to make a decent metroidvania to begin with is worthy of a ton of…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Kingdom Shell has gorgeous pixel art and fluid animations—its strongest selling point by far. Visually, it's beautiful, and the smoothness of the combat animations initially drew me in. The story is incoherent, but thankfully, cutscenes are skippable, which I consider a major plus. Combat starts off slow and unengaging, but it picks up after the first hour. Most bosses went down within 1–2 tries, but the Queen boss stands out as a genuine challenge. That fight required me to really learn her…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Hollow knight but it looks and plays bad
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I'm getting close to the finish line with this one and no not at 100% by any means but I've never been a completionist. I see a lot of negative reviews here that seem a bit petty. In all honesty this is absolutely a good metroidvania, especially during a time when they seem to be abundant. You can tell the developer (solo) put a lot of time into crafting the world, everything connects pretty seamlessly, and you can interact with different characters/races that come with some lore. The visuals…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →ENG: I finally got to the review of the game. And yes, I haven't completed it yet, but so far. Oh, this is a difficult thing, because I am torn apart in different directions. But... I want to be honest to the end. On the one hand, I will praise this game. Yes, that's right – to praise! Because the way the game looks graphically and the way the author presents the plot and makes various narrative jokes, just melted my heart. The music is also good. But the scenery in the background is just a…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I love this game, it remind me of Castlevania SOTN game
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Great game, beautiful pixel art graphics and a fun/cute story! I had such a blast playing this game (even though I had a couple oh good hell this is tough moments lol) but that is what I enjoyed. The combat was great, enemies were fun and if you are into puzzles this game covers that too! The puzzles (IMO) were not easy but not overly difficult so when you solved them you had a nice feeling of accomplishment. I also really enjoyed the secrets hidden around, some in not so obvious places and…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →A pretty incredible and challenging metroidvania game. Interesting and unique bosses which genuinely challenged me, and some tough puzzles as well. Great pixel art too. A must-play for metroidvania fans.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This game is an odd case for me. I played it on launch and had many issues with it, but most of them were fixed as I was playing over the coming days. Putting that into perspective, and knowing more fixes are on the way, I think Kingdom Shell is a worthy title for fans of action platformers. It has a few design quirks to overcome within the first few hours, but players who step up to the challenge and adapt to the game will find a rewarding experience reminiscent of the 2D Castlevania series.…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Edit: Just finished, but will still go for the extras. Really loved it, exploration felt great, the bosses were fun, and the art was beautiful. Some puzzles and quests required to reach the end sometimes felt a bit obscure, and maybe more geared for post-game quests rather than just the standard ending, but were still manageable. This meant that I had around 95% map completion by the time I found the final boss. A really enjoyable game over all, would definitely recommend to metroidvania…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →A pretty fun metroidvania game, without any gimmicks. If you want to play a classic metroidvania game then this is as classic as it gets. It has good difficulty, neither too easy nor too hard, It is neither too long nor too short at around 10 hours of playtime, and the abilities you unlock are fun and not too crazy. The design is pretty good most of the time, except for a few blind jumps and a certain area that feels trolly on purpose, but I found that area fun if a bit frustrating. Probably…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This is a great game with the unique atmosphere and pretty good technical execution, yet I can't recommend it. You see, despite it has charm and mood and artstyle and such - it's not a great metroidvania. First of all - the combat system & fights vs mobs/bosses: - you basically have one swing attack + some magic ones which require mana. Most of the time you would be relying on you basic sword swing which is deceiving at best. At times it staggers enemies, other times - it doesn't. You also…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I only have 7 minutes on record, the art style is really cool for this game, so far, thats all I liked. The music in the menu was good, it just needs to fade out or something not just abruptly repeat. But what really killed my interest was the beginning, everything was going so well, there was no dialogue just a cutscene showing some happenings, that I won't spoil because I think its important to experience games raw with little knowledge prior to playing, and immediately after said cutscene, a…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I had been following this game for quite a long time, so to say I was excited would be an understatement. I eagerly devoured the demo when it was released and started playing it day 1 of release. In an era of hand holding MVs with watered down bosses, it was great to have to figure out where to go all on my own. The game may appear to follow the standard formula for the first few hours, then it quickly shatters the linearity and makes you think for yourself. Now suddenly you have to remember…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Outstanding Metroidvania! Unique and interesting story that leans towards darker themes of prejudice, classism, and grief, among other facets. Controls are solid, with different items that allow customization on damage, attack speed, enemy drops, etc. Bosses and platforming are on the challenging side (think Blasphemous hard, but not Hollow Knight hard). Developer is tweaking the game a few days after release and updated a fast travel feature that makes it infinitely more enjoyable. Highly…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I'm currently playing at the medium level. I like the controls. The game's atmosphere is captivating, and reading the texts is interesting. The enemies don't seem too challenging for now. I'll keep playing and write a more detailed review later.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I will recommend because it is a cool game and was cheap and I do not want to bomb a small developer. However, I am not going to continue the game just because save points are SO FAR AWAY. I really do not enjoy exploration without a single healing item, so you die in 3-4 hits, or one wrong jump. Then you turn back to god knows where and run 3-4 minutes for nothing. The game is not super hard, however, it is just not a design I enjoy and I just died not seeing a save point for a while and…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I just started playing it and I can say that I love it, good artistic designs, beautiful atmosphere, good bosses, good soundtrack. basically everything is very nice, I highly recommend it. good job developers and everyone who worked for this wonderful game. it's a very entertaining and quite flashy metroidvania with good mechanics, it also has platforming which i like the most. i would like more people to give this great and long awaited game a chance.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Review Post-Patch 1.008: 19th October 2023 Essentially, most of the issues I had with the game have now been worked upon. We now have the ability to look up and down with the camera and the attack range has been increased to feel more fair, which also helps tweak the difficulty as we don't need to be quite as in harm's way. Additional "nectar stations" have been added around the map so you can buy healing potions too, which will help with that feeling of helplessness before you can unlock…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Kingdom Shell is a metroidvania about demon problems. Beat it and 100%ed achievements in 12.5 hours using a game controller. Difficulty is medium-hard. You'll probably die a few times. This is a pretty good, straight-of-the-road metroidvania. Traversing each area can be a puzzle, you wander the map looking for places to go, and you find upgrades/items that give you an Ahah! moment. Other reviews complain about the controls, but I never really had a problem. The monster battles were…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It is a good game. A bit overdoes the platforming sections at the end but it is fun otherwise.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Overall, not really quite recomending it. It's not terrible, just not particularly good overall. My first thoughts in the first hour or two, meh... nothing stood out. Third through fifth hours, ok, it's getting good, more varied areas, some lore and story, still not great but alright if it keeps this up. And then the final couple hours went kinda downhill, in the end leaving me not really satisfied enough to recommend it as worth the time for most people. Art, not great, not terrible,…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Consider my gast ENTIRELY flabbered. Kingdom Shell was an absolute unstoppable knockout of a game from start to finish, and I can’t believe just how much I loved it. A positively gorgeous pixel art masterpiece, so stunning at every location, with minimalist graphics managing to move me to literal tears before the game was over. The story managed to be compelling, unpredictable, and deeply satisfying by the end of it. The secrets were well hidden, but not frustratingly so. I went through and…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This may be the most mid game I have ever played. Everything about it is decent, nothing is particularly good, nothing is particularly bad. The jumping? Smooth enough but not a delight. The combat? Bit simple, but not annoying. The savepoints? Bit far apart, or far from the places you'll die, but not *too* far apart or far from the places you'll die. The map? Functional enough, but only having one type of annotation you can add, and not naming the regions until after you teleport to them, is…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I've seen a few reviews of this dark fantasy metroidvania calling it "generic", "average", "good but not special" and such takes, however, being mostly made by a single person, I found it actually quite impressive and polished for what it is. It has some beautifully detailed pixel art for the backgrounds with multiple parallax levels, interesting creature designs, the soundtrack is atmospheric and fairly original, the plot and world may be derivative but, to be fair, it's hard to come up with…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →A wonderful hidden gem in the metroidvania genre. The gameplay hits all the old-school vibes while the presentation and soundtrack are immaculate. Definetly worth checking out if you're a fan of such games!
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The game is a pretty good Platformer and Metroidvania game. Especially given that it is mostly a solo effort. It has rather "the basics" in terms of combat, melee combo attack and magic that has many of the genre staples. I rather liked the lack of general collision damage and the way the game gives you some rather generous indicators for dodging. Dodge felt pretty good and combat was generally fine. The game gives you a very minor death penalty of losing a small percentage of your coins,…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →First of all, this is an extremely technically competent game. Fighting is fun, enemies are fun to kill and fun to avoid, platforming is fun, secrets are EXTREMELY FAIR (you shouldn't ever need a walkthrough, just do something else and trust the game to be fair if you don't yet know how to solve a specific room), bosses are original (except We Have The Radiance At Home, but vastly improved by not having to fight the Hollow-Knight-equivalent again if We Have The Radiance At Home kills you) and…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It's pretty alright. I know that's not the most helpful of descriptions, but Kingdom Shell is a beautiful game (the first area in particular got reworked after launch and it looks amazing) full of nice ideas that never fully reaches that glorious feeling you get with the best of Metroidvanias or even the really good ones. The rest of the review might come off as damning by faint praise, but I do think most MV fans will find it enjoyable if inessential. There's something about the room design…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →What a hidden gem! I absolutely love the Metroidvania genre, and Kingdom Shell delivers on every front! Great pixel art graphics, smooth animations, a solid soundtrack and challenge that ramps up over the course of the game (with it being quite challenging by the end), the game is an absolute steal at full price, let alone a sale. Extremely enjoyable start to finish, I can’t recommend this one enough!
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This is an incredibly solid and fun metroidvania. It doesn't do anything groundbreaking or insanely innovative. But I don't see that as an insult. Sometimes you just want a good, well made game in a genre you enjoy. And thats what this is, a solid 8/10 fun metroidvania made by someone you can tell really loves the genre. I'd say if you like the genre its worth the buy.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I think this game has to some extent taken inspiration from blasphemous and hollow knight. The most uncomfortable part of this game is that there are too damn few save points. I have been repeating the running map for 1/3 of the time. I think it is not too much to add 1 or 2 save points to each sector, especially in the long jump phase, instead of providing nectar machines. At the beginning of the game, I felt that there was a problem with the terrain design. For example, in the cabin in the…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I liked it... so many people say the game is too hard.... I say its a skill issue. Could the game's controls be a little tighter? sure. Could the game have a downward camera pan when you hit a button? woulda been nice. As a rather old dude who was raised on ye old regular Nintendos I found the game to be rather charming. i'm about halfway through the game on normal and I have yet to hit a point where I feel like I need to pull the breaks and think I need to restart. bosses are fun but once…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Probably the best metroidvania out so far this year. Great music, good story and lore, lots of fun secrets to find that are actually rewarding to get, some fun puzzles, good art. Some fun little NPC interactions too. "Inspiration" system is similar to Hollow Knight charms (can be equipped at a rest and have a limited number of slots, where you get more slots over the course of the game). You also get a few weapons to choose from, all of which have their uses. Overall, very tightly made and well…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It is a very nice and well done Metroidvania. It makes more impressive that the team that made it is very, very small. Combat feels good and responsive, there is skills that you can equip a la Hollow Kinght, the difficult is very well done, not super hard but not a walk in the park. Exploration is fun, but sometimes I felt lost because game does not indicate the main quest to you. Experienced a crash navigating throught the map but the game overall is pretty solid and if you are fan of the…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Kingdom Shell is impressive for a debut solo indie title, but the game has some major balance/design issues that bring the experience down. I still had an okay time with it, but I'd really like to see an updated version or sequel that fixes some of these complaints: You lose money on death but the game doesn't autosave, so if you're stuck on a boss it's better to just quit and reload each time. Why is this a mechanic? Healing potions don't refill at checkpoints unless you find a…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →After a very lengthy development time, the game is finally out. And I gotta say that it was worth the wait. Gorgeous graphics that showcase the varied game environments and enemies. Healthy mixture of platforming an combat throughout the game. I haven't completed the game but so far I'm enjoying. Awesome game made by a talented game developer.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Looks good and has good music. Pretty solid gameplay that adds some platforming segments along with a shooter section/boss. It's a pretty good sized map with a number of secrets to find although a good number of these are just chests with coins. You do take a good bit of damage from enemies and your healing potion has to be bought/found in chests until a mid to late game item restocks them at save points (there's always a vendor before mandatory bosses that sell them for cheap) which may…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This is a pretty solid metroidvania clocking in at around 12 hours for extensive completion. Map is surprisingly large and while the game does have fast travel eventually, it is a good ways into the game and somewhat limited. Good controls on KB+M, with the ability to remap, and the gameplay itself feels solid. Music is also fantastic through the entire game. Worth noting that to reach the games only ending, it expects you to be pretty thorough. There are some puzzle elements required in…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Good metroidvania
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →
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