The Plucky Squire Update Adds Streamlined Mode for Faster Gameplay

The Plucky Squire has received a new update that introduces an optional mode designed to reduce the game's hand-holding, offering a faster-paced experience for more experienced players. Developed by All Possible Futures and published by Devolver Digital, The Plucky Squire launched in September to critical acclaim, earning nominations in two categories at the 2024 Game Awards: Best Family Game and Best Debut Indie.
Set in a world where a storybook hero, Jot, jumps out of his book to explore the real world, The Plucky Squire blends 2D and 3D gameplay. Inside the book, players control Jot in a 2D, Zelda-like environment, while outside, the game shifts to a 3D action-adventure platformer. The game's art style and puzzle design, which sometimes allow players to influence the book’s world from the 3D environment, received praise from critics.
Ahead of its appearance at The Game Awards, All Possible Futures released a post detailing the 1.15.1 update for The Plucky Squire. The highlight of the update is "Streamlined Mode," an optional feature that removes some of the game's slower elements. This includes eliminating the slow camera pans after unlocking doors and reducing the amount of dialogue and tutorials, offering a quicker experience for players who found the original pacing too slow.
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Along with Streamlined Mode, the update includes other quality-of-life improvements. Players can now enjoy more autosaves and restart their current chapter, making it easier to recover from tough situations. The update also adds character portraits for some key figures in the game, though it's unclear if these portraits are exclusive to Streamlined Mode or if they appear in Standard Mode as well. Additionally, The Plucky Squire is now available at a 25% discount on Steam for the holiday season, dropping its price from $30 to just over $22.
In the Steam post, All Possible Futures thanked players for their support and their nominations at The Game Awards. The Plucky Squire will compete against other popular titles like Astro Bot, The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom, and Animal Well in its categories. Fans can tune in to The Game Awards to see if The Plucky Squire wins an award.