In addition to unlockable post-game content, Sackboy: A Big Adventure will feature “more hardcore platforming levels” and optional challenge levels called Knitted Knight Trials. Narratively, those trials are designed to let Sackboy realize his dream of becoming a Knitted Knight, one of the sworn protectors of Craftworld, Waterhouse said. The last remaining knight, Scarlet, reluctantly challenges Sackboy to the game’s most difficult challenges.
“These are a set of hardcore platforming challenges [with] quick-fire, arcade gameplay,” Waterhouse explained. “They’re all optional, but they are really fast assault courses where you get a single life. And that’s where you really see the nuance of this move set come into its own. The final Knitted Knight Trial is the game’s ultimate challenge: It’s a 10-minute level with a single life, which I refer to as my Everest, because much to the game design team’s disappointment, I still haven’t finished it. So some of my professional credibility is called into question there.
“There’s something for everyone in this game. It’s very welcoming and accessible. There’s an optional challenge for those players, for whom that really resonates with.”