The Plucky Squire review: a charming storybook adventure, but I wish it let you go full plucko mode

Up all night to get plucky

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Devolver Digital

• Developer: All Possible Futures
• Publisher: Devolver Digital
• Release: September 17th 2024
• On: Windows
• From: Steam , GOG
• Price: £25/€30/$30
• Reviewed on: Intel Core i7-12700F, Nvidia RTX 3080, 16GB RAM, Windows 11

I really wanted to like action adventure The Plucky Squire more than I do now, having given its charming 2D to 3D platforming a proper whirl. Yes, it’s lovely to look at. Yes, hopping out of a storybook and making friends with an illustration on a coffee mug is cool. And yes, everyone can have a mildly fun time with its puzzles and fights. But that’s the problem: who is everyone? At first I thought, “This game is for young kids and that’s fine!”, given its relative simplicity. Then I hit some puzzles and thought, “Ain’t no kid figuring this out”.

Then it hit me. It struggles to balance the fine line between being approachable for tiny tots and layered enough for people who’ve graduated from “goo goo ga ga” to “oo oo aa aa my back hurts”. And that’s down to how plucky you’re allowed to squire at any given time, because it can be surprisingly limited and, sadly, a bit underwhelming.

The Plucky Squire sees you play as Jot, an adventurous little lad who’s joined by his friends Violet and Thrash. They live inside a storybook, and as the pages turn, it tells the tale of how an evil wizard called Humgrump is defeated by Jot. But for a mysterious reason, Humgrump defies his fate by ripping Jot out of its very pages with some never before seen magic. From then on, you must put a stop to Humgrump’s nasty plans by coveting treasures outside of the storybook and using them to manipulate its pages.

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Devolver Digital

What’s clear right away is how wonderful it is that the adventure’s laid out, quite literally, as a kid’s book flipping its pages. A calming narrator’s voice lays out what Jot and his pals are up to, as illustrations spring to life on a surface so detailed the sheen of the ink reveals the high quality GSM it’s overlaid on. Everyone and everything is drawn in a pleasing manner, that’s colourful and round and very, very merchable. If there’s one thing this game nails, it’s presentation - I rate it gawgeous out of ten.

Fights in The Plucky Squire a bit Zelda-like, with basic sword slashes and the occasional combo. Prepare for your pals to do absolutely nothing to help, unless in some very rare, very specific scenarios. |Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Devolver Digital

Presentation, though, isn’t everything. As I’m unsure whether children with prune thumbs and/or soiled diapers would care much for Jot’s tale, nor parents who might play it alongside them. I know pacing is naturally a bit slower given it has to lock page turns behind video game stuff , but even still, it’s a story that lacks those clear, concise, moral teachings of timeless bangers like The Rainbow Fish or The Very Hungry Caterpillar.

Maybe I’m looking into it a bit too much as some grumpy adult, but Jot and his pals mostly mosey through worlds, do some puzzles, and fetch things for people only so they can stop Humgrump… whose badness I think manifests as a sort of “ruining the environment is bad kids” message later on. The same cloudy messaging goes for the extremely messy kid whose room you clearly all inhabit, and who seemingly helps you along by constructing levels out of cans and toy blocks and pencils (more on this in a sec). Cheers, I guess?

Story aside, early on your adventure is confined to the pages of your storybook. It’s a bit of dodgerolling and basic bashing with your sword, maybe some hopping across platforms, the usual sort of thing. Not long after your encounter with Humgrump, however, green swirly portals let you spring out from the page and into the 3D realm, with a transition that’s smooth and an aesthetic that’s also lovely on the eye. And whenever the game lets you do so, you’re then able to wander over the book and actually flip back and forth between pages.

Sometimes, you’ll just need to locate someone or something you might’ve spotted in a passing cutscene, which is really cool, as you then realise that cutscenes aren’t separate entities but very much flips of the page like everything else. |Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Devolver Digital

Why? Because then you can make use of Jot’s best ability, which is to cut highlighted words out of sentences and repurpose them in others. For instance, you could grab the word “cheese” from somewhere, then plop it into a gap you’ve carved out of a sentence like, “A block of ____ sat in the corner” to lure a raging rat out of his lair so you can safely shuffle past. These puzzles are some of my faves, as it feels like you’re frankensteining story beats to overcome obstacles. Combine this ability with that page-flipper and you’ve got a recipe for some interesting stuff! When you flip pages back and forth in the 3D realm, a page will thrum with light if there’s a helpful word in there. Clever, isn’t it? This means you can cleave words out of previous pages, then bring them into the current page you’re on.

As you try and foil Humgrump’s plans, you’ll travel through all sorts of funky spots, like an ascent up a mountain filled with metal-loving mice and a beach home to a rotund bird called Tumbo, who exists purely to dig and believes that all problems can be solved with a shovel. One of my favourite locales is an artsy world, filled with cute renderings of famous artists like Van Gogh and Picasso and Dali and many others who say jokes I don’t get the references in. And it’s here where you’re encouraged to leave the pages again and take on one of few 3D set pieces.

These are, essentially, structures built by the mysterious kid. These involve some platforming and some light puzzling, as you use blocks as booster pads for traversal. Complete the challenge and you’ll earn a special ability that’ll let you further manipulate the pages of the book. These are some of the game’s best bits, as you hide from beetles in stealth sections (the kid is unhinged and lets beetles run amok in his room as his “pets”), or use trading cards propped up against blocks as means to scale them in 2D, before hopping out in 3D once you’ve reached their peak. Sometimes, though, you’re given time-extending guff, like when a sentient jelly asks you to light six candles scattered around the table because that’s the only way he’ll give you whatever item he has. Boo.

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Devolver Digital

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Devolver Digital

Still, these are somewhat balanced out by bespoke bits that’ll have Jot partake in some off-piste activities. Like battling an elven archer inside her domain: a legally distinct Magic The Gathering card. Or circling around a galaxy-themed mug as you take up arms with a laser pistol and shoot ships in a bullet hell. While they’re undeniably a cheek lifter, I can’t help but feel like they’re also short lived and rather basic. The fight against the elven archer is turn-based (cool!), but it’s entirely on rails (…oh). The bullet hell arcadey bit? Yeah, it’s middling and nothing more than it needs to be. The prize after each of these things is always a new toy to further tinker with the storybook’s pages and overcome Humgrump’s pesky hurdles.

These range from gloves that’ll let you tilt pages of the book to make things slide or roll, to stamps that’ll let you generate bombs in the 2D realm or freeze items in place. Combined with your previous word-chopping and page-flipping abilities, you’d think that the game’s transformed your Jot into a Swiss Army pen of the editorial world; so maximally plucked, none of Humgrumps antics will get in the way of your creativity. Unfortunately, this isn’t the case.

That’s not to say there aren’t puzzles that don’t make you feel clever, like when you tilt the page to unplug a gap, or place a bomb in the 3D space, so it drops onto a pressure plate in the 2D realm. Trouble is, the game gives you so many powerful, world-altering abilities, that it needs to restrict what’s available to you within each puzzle scenario. This means that, yes, you and/or your kid might be less overwhelmed while playing - a positive. Yet, it also strips a lot of the organic puzzle-solving or creativity out of each solution.

For instance, there was one puzzle where I had to drop bombs from the 3D realm into the 2D realm so they’d land on pressure pads that would unlock doors or generate platforms from the walls. In short: I tried using my special Stop Stamp to freeze a platform in place, so when I returned to 2D realm I could hop onto it and exit the level. Nope, didn’t work. Instead I’d overlooked a different bit with a box I could use to activate another plate. I thought my solution was better!

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Devolver Digital

There are other times where the solution is a bit open-ended, like “Go and find someone”, and so you whip out your mental clipboard and tick off what abilities you think the game doesn’t want you to use. In the end, I became reliant on this ever-present mini Moonbeard who gives you strong hints to solve each puzzle, because I’d fear I’d overstep each puzzle’s specific win conditions with my own solutions. Or simply because I didn’t trust the game’s cues.

Not to bang on about it, but seriously, there were a few too many times I simply didn’t pick up on the solution the game was feeding me. I’d acquire an ability and it wouldn’t immediately enter my internal toolkit, like how puzzler Cocoon builds them into your muscle memory with some cleverly crafted environmental hints. And don’t get me started on the number of puzzles that had me stumped because the swirly green portals that let you enter the 3D realm hadn’t appeared until I happened to wander close.

I do feel a bit bad about ragging on The Plucky Squire, a game that’s ultimately a fairly fun, inoffensive time and absolutely meant for people who aren’t as ailing as me. Its energy is great and upbeat and lovely - a perfect balm in the face of today’s horribleness. But I do think it suffers from trying to do lots of things and getting a bit lost within them (for what it’s worth, I think it would’ve done better fleshing out the word-chopping ability, as it really can feel magical sometimes). The combat is fine, the platforming is fine, mostly everything feels just fine . And necessary restrictions on your ability usage means that you’re always hunting for a one-note solution, as opposed to feeling like you’re really altering the narrative. Even games ‘meant for kids’ still have those deeper layers beneath the simplistic surfaces, where the creativity of teens aren’t underestimated and the oldies can flex their mastery muscles. Scratch away the ink and I don’t think there’s much beneath The Plucky Squire, sadly.

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All 75 Arc Raiders Blueprints and where to get them

These areas have the highest chance of giving you Blueprints

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Embark Studios

Looking for more Arc Raiders Blueprints? It’s a special day when you find a Blueprint, as they’re among the most valuable items in Arc Raiders. If you find a Blueprint that you haven’t already found, then you must make sure you hold onto it at all costs, because Blueprints are the key to one of the most important and powerful systems of meta-progression in the game.

This guide aims to be the very best guide on Blueprints you can find, starting with a primer on what exactly they are and how they work in Arc Raiders, before delving into exactly where to get Blueprints and the very best farming spots for you to take in your search.

We’ll also go over how to get Blueprints from other unlikely activities, such as destroying Surveyors and completing specific quests. And you’ll also find the full list of all 75 Blueprints in Arc Raiders on this page (including the newest Blueprints added with the Cold Snap update , such as the Deadline Blueprint and Firework Box Blueprint), giving you all the information you need to expand your own crafting repertoire.

In this guide:

• What are Blueprints in Arc Raiders?
• Full Blueprint list: All crafting recipes
• Where to find Blueprints in Arc Raiders Blueprints obtained from quests Blueprints obtained from Trials Best Blueprint farming locations

What are Blueprints in Arc Raiders?

Blueprints in Arc Raiders are special items which, if you manage to extract with them, you can expend to permanently unlock a new crafting recipe in your Workshop. If you manage to extract from a raid with an Anvil Blueprint, for example, you can unlock the ability to craft your very own Anvil Pistol, as many times as you like (as long as you have the crafting materials).

To use a Blueprint, simply open your Inventory while in the lobby, then right-click on the Blueprint and click “Learn And Consume” . This will permanently unlock the recipe for that item in your Workshop. As of the Stella Montis update, there are allegedly 75 different Blueprints to unlock - although only 68 are confirmed to be in the game so far. You can see all the Blueprints you’ve found and unlocked by going to the Workshop menu, and hitting “R” to bring up the Blueprint screen.

It’s possible to find duplicates of past Blueprints you’ve already unlocked. If you find these, then you can either sell them, or - if you like to play with friends - you can take it into a match and gift it to your friend so they can unlock that recipe for themselves. Another option is to keep hold of them until the time comes to donate them to the Expedition.

Full Blueprint list: All crafting recipes

Below is the full list of all the Blueprints that are currently available to find in Arc Raiders, and the crafting recipe required for each item:

Note: The missing Blueprints in this list likely have not actually been added to the game at the time of writing, because none of the playerbase has managed to find any of them. As they are added to the game, I will update this page with the most relevant information so you know exactly how to get all 75 Arc Raiders Blueprints.

Where to find Blueprints in Arc Raiders

Below is a list of all containers, modifiers, and events which maximise your chances of finding Blueprints:

• Certain quests reward you with specific Blueprints .
• Completing Trials has a high chance of offering Blueprints as rewards.
• Surveyors have a decent chance of dropping Blueprints on death.
• High loot value areas tend to have a greater chance of spawning Blueprints.
• Night Raids and Storms may increase rare Blueprint spawn chances in containers.
• Containers with higher numbers of items may have a higher tendency to spawn Blueprints. As a result, Blue Gate (which has many “large” containers containing multiple items) may give you a higher chance of spawning Blueprints.
• Raider containers (Raider Caches, Weapon Boxes, Medical Bags, Grenade Tubes) have increased Blueprint drop rates. As a result, the Uncovered Caches event gives you a high chance of finding Blueprints.
• Security Lockers have a higher than average chance of containing Blueprints.
• Certain Blueprints only seem to spawn under specific circumstances: Tempest Blueprint only spawns during Night Raid events. Vulcano Blueprint only spawns during Hidden Bunker events. Jupiter and Equaliser Blueprints only spawn during Harvester events.

Raider Caches, Weapon Boxes, and other raider-oriented container types have a good chance of offering Blueprints. |Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Embark Studios

Blueprints have a very low chance of spawning in any container in Arc Raiders, around 1-2% on average. However, there is a higher chance of finding Blueprints in particular container types. Specifically, you can find more Blueprints in Raider containers and security lockers.

Beyond this, if you’re looking for Blueprints you should focus on regions of the map which are marked as having particularly high-value loot. Areas such as the Control Tower in Dam Battlegrounds, the Arrival and Departure Buildings in Spaceport, and Pilgrim’s Peak in Blue Gate all have a better-than-average chance of spawning Blueprints somewhere amongst all their containers. Night Raids and Electromagnetic Storm events also increase the drop chances of certain Blueprints .

In addition to these containers, you can often loot Blueprints from destroyed Surveyors - the largest of the rolling ball ARC. Surveyors are more commonly found on the later maps - Spaceport and Blue Gate - and if one spawns in your match, you’ll likely see it by the blue laser beam that it casts into the sky while “surveying”.

Surveyors are quite well-armoured and will very speedily run away from you once it notices you, but if you can take one down then make sure you loot all its parts for a chance of obtaining certain unusual Blueprints.

Blueprints obtained from quests

One way in which you can get Blueprints is by completing certain quests for the vendors in Speranza. Some quests will reward you with a specific item Blueprint upon completion, so as long as you work through all the quests in Arc Raiders, you are guaranteed those Blueprints.

Here is the full list of all Blueprints you can get from quest rewards:

• Trigger Nade Blueprint: Rewarded after completing “Sparks Fly”.
• Lure Grenade Blueprint: Rewarded after completing “Greasing Her Palms”.
• Burletta Blueprint: Rewarded after completing “Industrial Espionage”.
• Hullcracker Blueprint (and Launcher Ammo Blueprint): Rewarded after completing “The Major’s Footlocker”.

Alas, that’s only 4 Blueprints out of a total of 75 to unlock, so for the vast majority you will need to find them yourself during a raid. If you’re intent on farming Blueprints, then it’s best to equip yourself with cheap gear in case you lose it, but don’t use a free loadout because then you won’t get a safe pocket to stash any new Blueprint you find. No pain in Arc Raiders is sharper than failing to extract with a new Blueprint you’ve been after for a dozen hours already.

One of the best ways to get Blueprints is by hitting three stars on all five Trials every week. |Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Embark Studios

Blueprints obtained from Trials

One of the very best ways to get Blueprints is as rewards for completing Trials in Arc Raiders. Trials are unlocked from Level 15 onwards, and allow you to earn rewards by focusing on certain tasks over the course of several raids. For example, one Trial might task you with dealing damage to Hornets, while another might challenge you to loot Supply Drops.

Trials refresh on a weekly basis, with a new week bringing five new Trials. Each Trial can offer up to three rewards after passing certain score milestones, and it’s possible to receive very high level loot from these reward crates - including Blueprints. So if you want to unlock as many Blueprints as possible, you should make a point of completing as many Trials as possible each week.

Best Blueprint farming locations

The very best way to get Blueprints is to frequent specific areas of the maps which combine high-tier loot pools with the right types of containers to search. Here are my recommendations for where to find Blueprints on every map, so you can always keep the search going for new crafting recipes to unlock.

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Embark Studios

Dam Battlegrounds

The best places to farm Blueprints on Dam Battlegrounds are the Control Tower, Power Generation Complex, Ruby Residence, and Pale Apartments . The first two regions, despite only being marked on the map as mid-tier loot, contain a phenomenal number of containers to loot. The Control Tower can also contain a couple of high-tier Security Lockers - though of course, you’ll need to have unlocked the Security Breach skill at the end of the Survival tree.

There’s also a lot of reporting amongst the playerbase that the Residential areas in the top-left of the map - Pale Apartments and Ruby Residence - give you a comparatively strong chance of finding Blueprints. Considering their size, there’s a high density of containers to loot in both locations, and they also have the benefit of being fairly out of the way. So you’re more likely to have all the containers to yourself.

Buried City

The best Blueprint farming locations on Buried City are the Santa Maria Houses, Grandioso Apartments, Town Hall, and the various buildings of the New District . Grandioso Apartments has a lower number of containers than the rest, but a high chance of spawning weapon cases - which have good Blueprint drop rates. The others are high-tier loot areas, with plenty of lootable containers - including Security Lockers.

Spaceport

The best places to find Blueprints on Spaceport are the Arrival and Departure Buildings, as well as Control Tower A6 and the Launch Towers . All these areas are labelled as high-value loot regions, and many of them are also very handily connected to one another by the Spaceport wall, which you can use to quickly run from one area to the next. At the tops of most of these buildings you’ll find at least one Security Locker, so this is an excellent farming route for players looking to find Blueprints.

The downside to looting Blueprints on Spaceport is that all these areas are hotly contested, particularly in Duos and Squads. You’ll need to be very focused and fast in order to complete the full farming route.

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Embark Studios

Blue Gate

Blue Gate tends to have a good chance of dropping Blueprints, potentially because it generally has a high number of containers which can hold lots of items; so there’s a higher chance of a Blueprint spawning in each container. In my experience, the best Blueprint farming spots on Blue Gate are Pilgrim’s Peak, Raider’s Refuge, the Ancient Fort, and the Underground Complex beneath the Warehouse .

All of these areas contain a wealth of containers to loot. Raider’s Refuge has less to loot, but the majority of the containers in and around the Refuge are raider containers, which have a high chance of containing Blueprints - particularly during major events.

Stella Montis

On the whole, Stella Montis seems to have a very low drop rate for Blueprints (though a high chance of dropping other high-tier loot). If you do want to try farming Blueprints on this map, the best places to find Blueprints in Stella Montis are Medical Research, Assembly Workshop, and the Business Center . These areas have the highest density of containers to loot on the map.

In addition to this, the Western Tunnel has a few different Security Lockers to loot, so while there’s very little to loot elsewhere in this area of the map, it’s worth hitting those Security Lockers if you spawn there at the start of a match.

That wraps up this primer on how to get all the Blueprints in Arc Raiders as quickly as possible. With the Expedition system constantly resetting a large number of players’ Blueprints, it’s more important than ever to have the most up-to-date information on where to find all these Blueprints.

While you’re here, be sure to check out our Arc Raiders best guns tier list , as well as our primers on the best skills to unlock and all the different Field Depot locations on every map.

ARC Raiders

PS5 , Xbox Series X/S , PC

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