Dig Deep

Hello Neighbor is a horror stealth game set in a quaint suburban neighborhood. The player assumes the role of a young kid who moves into a new house across the street from a paranoid neighbor who appears to be keeping a secret in his basement. The player is tasked with breaking into the home, solving various puzzles, and discovering the truth about what his neighbor is hiding. Mr. Peterson doesn’t take kindly to your behavior, so he boards up windows, sets up cameras, and repeatedly chases you off his property. To that end, he throws tomatoes, pelts you with bottles, and sets up bear traps around his house! Mr. Peterson is depicted with a shovel in official artwork and merchandise, but you seldom see him using one in the actual game. He has graves in his back yard, however, and he actually buried the player alive at the end of the Alpha!

A member of an underground Blood Wrestling Association, Rip Saber is as mysterious as the organization he works for. Military-themed wrestlers were fairly common in the 1980s and early ’90s, and Rip Saber could be likened to Sgt. Slaughter in that regard. Although he hails from Calgary, Rip Saber acts like he was raised on the battlefield. He treats every match like a life or death situation, and he’ll do whatever it takes to win. He’s known more for his ability to inflict pain with improvised weapons than he is for his actual wrestling ability. In a typical match, you can expect to see him use everything from shovels to hand grenades! It’s common for wrestlers to sneak foreign objects into the squared circle, but Rip Saber doesn’t even try to hide his weapons. When he’s not using his shovel to attack his opponents, he simply straps it to his back.

An enthusiastic patriot from America’s heartland, the Soldier bought his own ticket to World War II after being rejected from every branch in the U.S. Military. Upon arriving in Europe, he taught himself to use a wide assortment of weapons before joining the fight. His heroics even earned him many medals… that he designed himself. It’s easy to laugh, but the Soldier is one of the most versatile classes in Team Fortress 2. He’s capable of both offense and defense, and his rocket jumps allows him to navigate the battlefield by air and appear in unexpected places. Although he has array of weapons at the ready, his trusty shovel is his default melee weapon. A shovel would typically be used to dig trenches on the battlefield, but the Soldier isn’t especially creative so he simply wallops people over the head with it like a glorified frying pan.

In Minecraft, shovels are used to gather materials like dirt, sand, and gravel. They also speed up the collection of clay, sand, and snow. Using a shovel can be up to four times faster than gathering materials by hand, so there is ample reason for Steve and his friends to carry one around with them at all times. When you’re not collecting materials, your shovel can also be used to create paths or extinguish campfires. They can even be used as weapons! They aren’t especially powerful, but you’ll do more damage with a shovel than with your bare hands. There are many different shovels to obtain in Minecraft, and they vary in durability and speed. Golden shovels break blocks much quicker than stone shovels, for instance. Wooden shovels are the least efficient, but they can be used as fuel in furnaces if you find yourself in a bind.

The last survivor of a long-forgotten religious order, Yorick spent years surrounded by rotting corpses and shrieking spirits. He developed an ability to commune with the dead from a young age, and this proved to be both a blessing and a curse. Since no one else could see or hear the spirits, he took it upon himself to shepherd the lost souls to whatever awaited them in eternity. After joining a monastery, Yorick began to carry a spade as a symbol of his duty to conduct proper burial rites. He eventually discovered that the bodies he had laid to rest were at his beck and call, and the corpses began to leave their graves at his command. By slamming his shovel into the ground, Yorick can raise an undead army from below. It’s kind of morbid, so Yorick occasionally breaks the tension by dancing around and playing his shovel like an air guitar.

Holly Summers is a Scandinavian model and a card-carrying member of the United Assassins Association. She has a knack for explosives, and her prosthetic left leg is equipped with a missile launcher that fires anti-aircraft laser-guided missiles. (This might sound like overkill, but its par for the course in No More Heroes.) Holly is mindful of her surroundings and uses her environment to gain an edge in battle. When you encounter her on Body Slam Beach, she carries a shovel around and uses it to dig trenches. If you’re unfortunate enough to fall into one of her pitfalls, she’ll bombard you with grenades and try to prevent you from climbing back to the surface. You have to admire her resourcefulness, if nothing else. Holly can also use the shovel for melee attacks if you get close enough, and she’s a lot more powerful than she looks.

Shovels have many uses in the Animal Crossing series. They can be used to dig up fossils, remove tree stumps, and plant saplings. Whether you’re burying a time capsule or breaking apart an ore rock, the shovel is an indispensable tool. It became even more essential after the Villager was added to the Super Smash Bros. series. The Villager can quickly dig holes in order to bury his opponents in the ground. This opens up the door for all sorts of follow-up attacks, and it gives the Villager the perfect opportunity to unleash his best moves. The Villager arms himself with everything from umbrellas to bowling balls, and the shovel is still one of the most useful weapons in his arsenal. His pitfalls are a decent backup for when his shield is depleted, and you have to be impressed by how quickly the Villager can dig a hole.

Cadence is a young explorer who fell into a crypt while looking for her lost father. She made use of many shovels in Crypt of the NecroDancer, but she didn’t use them in an offensive capacity. Shovels were her signature weapon in Cadence of Hyrule, however, so we can assume she developed an appreciation for them between games. Her patented “Shovel Strike” ability causes stone spikes to sprout out of the ground, and the aptly-named Great Shovel is effective for digging and for crushing her enemies. Cadence is surrounded by iconic heroes during her quest to save Hyrule, and her shovels can be just as effective as Link’s Master Sword. Cadence is representing the Zelda series on this list, but Dampé deserves an honorable mention as well. At the end of the day, Cadence has more shovel skills than Hyrule’s resident gravedigger.

Owen is a farm boy living in a sleepy town that’s being overrun by monsters. He lacks direction, but his life is given new purpose after he stumbles upon a magical talking shovel. When the mayor learns of Owen’s discovery, he commissions the him to construct underground dungeons in an effort to lure the monsters away from the city. Owen can customize the tunnels to his liking, and he creates more and more rooms as the game progresses. He can even create specialized areas for the monsters to dump their belongings in. Owen protects the town and bolsters the local economy, but his responsibilities don’t end there. After attracting enough monsters to fill the dungeon, Owen is tasked with slaughtering them! His shovel isn’t helpful in battle and it actually hides during boss fights, but the monster lairs wouldn’t exist without its help.

Shovel Knight’s position on this list was never in question. No one else was even considered for the top spot on this countdown. The eponymous hero of the Shovel Knight series wields the legendary Shovel Blade and uses the versatile tool for almost everything. As a practitioner of the ancient Code of Shovelry, Shovel Knight uses the shovel to inflict damage, uncover treasure, break blocks, open chests, and reflect projectiles. He also uses the shovel like a makeshift pogo stick, and he can bounce on enemies and obstacles without taking damage. (This move was clearly inspired by Scrooge McDuck from DuckTales.) Some villagers laugh at the idea of using a shovel as a weapon, but Shovel Knight’s ingenuity has won him countless battles during his many adventures. His Shovel Blade is clearly the perfect tool for a treasure hunter.