Hollow Knight beginner guide and review
Also known as: Hollow Knight metroidvania
A beginner guide to Hollow Knight, the hand-drawn indie adventure: exploring Hallownest, buying maps, charms, healing with Soul and recovering lost Geo.
- Type
- Video game
- Players
- 1
- First released
- 2017
- Developer
- Team Cherry
- Publisher
- Team Cherry
- Platforms
- Windows, macOS, Linux, Nintendo Switch
Hollow Knight is an action adventure game developed by Team Cherry, a small studio in Australia, and released in 2017. You play a small silent knight exploring Hallownest, a vast ruined kingdom of insects deep underground. The game belongs to the style often called metroidvania: a large connected world where new abilities open paths you could not reach before. Its hand-drawn art, sad and beautiful atmosphere and challenging combat earned wide praise. Hollow Knight is very large for its price and includes free content updates added after launch. It tells its story quietly, through places, characters and small details, so curious players discover its history piece by piece.
Our verdict
Hollow Knight rewards curiosity and persistence. Finding a hidden passage or finally beating a hard boss feels earned. The world is full of secrets and the art and music build a strong mood. It offers a long adventure with excellent value. If you enjoy challenge and exploring without being told where to go, few games do it better.
What works
- Beautiful hand-drawn world full of secrets.
- Precise, rewarding combat.
- Huge amount of content for the price.
What does not
- Difficult bosses and punishing deaths.
- Easy to get lost in the early hours.
How to play Hollow Knight
You move and jump through a two-dimensional world, attacking enemies with a weapon called a nail. Hitting enemies fills your Soul meter; holding a button spends Soul to heal, and later you learn spells that also use it. Geo is the currency, dropped by enemies and found in the world. When you die, you return to the last bench where you rested, and a dark shade appears where you fell, holding your Geo. Defeat it to get the money back; die again first and the Geo is lost. Maps are not automatic: you must find a map maker named Cornifer in each area to buy its map, and your map only updates when you sit on a bench. Charms change your abilities, and each takes up limited notches. New movement skills, such as dashing and wall climbing, open new areas. Bosses test pattern reading and patience.
Tips for new players
- Buy a map and a quill early; exploring without them is confusing.
- Spend Geo before risky areas so you lose less if you die.
- Try different charm combinations for each boss.
- Heal only when you have a safe moment; healing takes time and leaves you open.
Good for
Hollow Knight: common questions
Is Hollow Knight hard?
It is challenging, especially some bosses, but careful play and the right charms make it manageable for patient players.
What happens when you die in Hollow Knight?
You return to your last bench, and a shade appears where you died with your Geo. Defeat it to recover the money.
How do maps work in Hollow Knight?
You buy area maps from Cornifer, and your map updates with what you explored when you rest on a bench, if you own a quill.
Hollow Knight belongs to its owners. Playdonya is not connected to them and does not sell this game; the cover is our own illustration.
