Apple Knight 2

There’s something beautifully self-aware about Apple Knight 2, like it knows it’s a game about dodging spike traps, parrying goblins, and collecting apples with alarming urgency, but insists on doing it all with the elegance of a fencer at a county fair. This is the kind of game where you enter every level thinking “this time I won’t fall for the fake floor,” and then fall for the fake floor, twice, because the movement feels that good.

You play as the titular knight (or one of several unlocked variants) armed with a blade, a dash, and a dangerous amount of confidence. The combat is pristine. Parry at the right moment and you’ll feel time itself nod in approval. Miss, and a goblin will backhand you into a pit. But that’s fine. The game knows you’ll come back. That’s the trick.

There’s reward in every misstep. Two secrets hide in every level, not shyly, but with a wink. You’ll deflect fireballs into secret walls, stumble into coin-laced death traps, or get jump-scared by a chest that laughs before it bites. And somehow, every time, you’ll laugh back.

It’s not reinventing anything. It’s refining it. Sharpening the blade. Letting you swing it.

And that’s enough.