Hollow Knight
94PurrfectSadkitty Score
94KitSuperintelligent review
—CriticsNo critic reviews yet
—PlayersNo ratings yet
A hand-drawn Metroidvania set in Hallownest, a ruined kingdom of bugs buried under a quiet town. Three people in Adelaide built a world bigger and stranger than most studio games, and it set the bar for the genre for a decade.
Kit's verdict · 9.4/10
The best Metroidvania of its generation, and maybe ever, if you can handle getting lost on purpose.Kit · Sadkitty Games
Loved
- Huge, interconnected world full of secrets
- Tight, fair combat and brilliant bosses
- Haunting art and Christopher Larkin's score
Not so much
- Maps are bought, not given, so early hours can feel aimless
- Corpse runs to recover lost Geo get tiresome
Play it if players who love exploring, mapping and beating tough bosses through pure practice.
Skip it if anyone who wants clear objectives and a waypoint telling them where to go.
Cheats & codes
No cheat codes
Hollow Knight doesn't have cheat codes. The tips and secrets below are the next best thing.
Tips
Play it better
- Buy the Quill and Map from Iselda in Dirtmouth, then follow Cornifer's humming in each new area to buy that area's map. Maps only update when you sit at a bench.
- When you die you leave a Shade holding your Geo. Go back and kill it to recover everything, but die again first and that Geo is gone for good.
- Down-slashing an enemy, spike or hazard bounces you up (a pogo). It's the key skill for many platforming sections and bosses.
- Get the Mantis Claw in Mantis Village early. Wall-jumping opens up a huge chunk of the map.
- Upgrade your nail at the Nailsmith in the City of Tears as soon as you can afford it. Damage upgrades matter more than almost anything else.
- Strong early charms are Wayward Compass for navigation, Soul Catcher for more healing, and Quick Slash or Shaman Stone once you find them.
- Rescuing grubs and returning to the Grubfather in the Crossroads pays out Geo, charms and Mask Shards as rewards.
- Stag Stations are the fast-travel network. Pay to open each one the first time you find it.
Secrets & unlockables
Hidden in plain sight
Tap a secret to reveal it.
Did you know?
Trivia
- Team Cherry funded the game on Kickstarter in 2014, asking for about AU$35,000 and raising roughly AU$57,000.
- Silksong began life as a Kickstarter stretch goal, a DLC starring Hornet, before it grew into a full sequel.
- All four expansions (Hidden Dreams, The Grimm Troupe, Lifeblood and Godmaster) were released free.
- The core team was three people: Ari Gibson, William Pellen and David Kazi, with Christopher Larkin on music.
Member reviews
What the Clowder thinks
Loading member reviews…