Hollow Knight similar games & best alternatives

Hollow Knight - Trailer
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Hollow Knight

PlayStation Vita • 2017

Should you play it?

Forge your own path in Hollow Knight! An epic action adventure through a vast ruined kingdom of insects and heroes. Explore twisting caverns, battle tainted creatures and befriend bizarre bugs, all in a classic, hand-drawn 2D style.

What works

  • Beautiful art and soundtrack
  • Challenging but fair combat
  • Deep exploration and lore
  • High replayability and content
  • Excellent value for price

Things to keep in mind

  • Steep learning curve for some
  • Can be confusing or frustrating when lost
  • Some charm balance issues
  • Long backtracking in boss fights
  • Waiting for sequel release

What to play next

Top picks

Games that feels the closest overall

  • ENDER LILIES: Quietus of the Knights

  • Trinity Fusion

  • ENDER MAGNOLIA: Bloom in the Mist

  • Rogue Legacy 2

  • Pronty

  • BioGun

More intense

Games that feels like Hollow Knight but with a more intense feel

  • Hollow Knight: Silksong

  • Aeterna Noctis

  • MindSeize

  • Solateria

  • 3000th Duel

  • WarriOrb: Prologue

Choose your own criteria ->

Similarity map

How to compare these games

Compare nearby games

Each card is a nearby game on the similarity map, compared with Hollow Knight. Swipe sideways to move between games. Titles already listed in What to play next are left out.

  • Cover and title: open that game’s page.
  • What works / keep in mind: the same highlights as the desktop comparison panel.
  • Bars: the main motivational differences versus this game.
How to use the graph

Similarity map

Each dot is a game placed from its motivation profile relative to this page’s game. Direction shows which motivation differs most; distance along that axis shows how large the gap is.

  • Purple star: this page’s game at the centre — everything is relative to it.
  • Direction: each axis is a main motivational difference vs this game (e.g. more / less competitive).
  • Distance on an axis: how large that difference is (ring scales show +/− points).
  • Coloured chips: click to highlight games that mainly differ on that motivation; click again to reset.
  • Dotted line: link between this page’s game and the one selected for comparison.
  • Hover a dot to preview that game in the panel on the right; click to keep that comparison.
  • Scroll or double-click the chart to zoom.

How to read the map This is a polar difference map: direction = which motivation differs, and distance = how much (same units as the sidebar deltas).

Swipe to compare nearby games with Hollow Knight. These titles are not in What to play next.

Hollow Knight: Broadly representative of its motivational profile, with a few distinct shifts. Motivations that often define this kind of title include Violence, Survival, Fellowship, Intimacy. Here, the score leans higher than usual among comparable games on Story, Exploration. It leans lower than usual among comparable games on Leadership.

Last update: 21/08/2026