Buyers of the recently released Shovel Knight amiibo quickly discovered the figure's unique quirk: in order to scan its code to unlock the included exclusive game content, you don't have to take it out of the box. While some amiibo collectors have gone to considerable lengths to use their amiibo while in the packaging, Shovel Knight works without any alterations.

We reached out to the game's developer, Yacht Club Games, about this seeming packaging flaw, but instead received confirmation that this design feature was intentional.

"We got a lot of feedback from fans before release who wanted to be able to scan the amiibo inside the packaging so they could still use the figure [in-game] while keeping it as a collector's item," David D'Angelo of Yacht Club Games told us.

"We didn't see much issue with their request: while you can stand with a 3DS in store and try to scan it — we didn't think that was actually something people would do due to the nature of the content we were making."

Not only did Yacht Club Games come up with this idea, but Nintendo signed off on it. As a result, the packaging lacks the typical blocking strips found in the boxes of other amiibo.

So whether you pick up your Shovel Knight amiibo now or later, don't feel the need to take it out of that box. "We do not plan to change how the amiibo is manufacture," D'Angelo said.

Shovel Knight is the first amiibo produced by a company other than one of Nintendo's own manufacturers. The game is also the first non-Nintendo-developed title to receive its own amiibo.

The amiibo are compatible with both 3DS and Wii U versions of the indie hit, which first launched in 2014. It adds more weapons and customization choices, and brings co-op to the Wii U release.