Hollow Knight is a hand-drawn 2D Metroidvania developed by Team Cherry that drops you into the vast, decaying kingdom of Hallownest — a world of interconnected caverns, ancient cities, and corrupted creatures waiting to be explored. You play as The Knight, a silent warrior armed with a nail, fighting through over 150 enemies and challenging bosses while uncovering the kingdom's buried lore.

Play it free in your browser on PLRun right now with no download needed. Hollow Knight places you beneath the quiet surface town of Dirtmouth into Hallownest, a sprawling underground kingdom filled with branching paths, hidden rooms, and environmental storytelling.

The core gameplay loop weaves tight nail-based melee combat with nonlinear exploration — you fight enemies to collect Geo (the game's currency), discover new movement abilities that unlock previously inaccessible areas, and equip Charms to customize your build for different challenges. What makes Hollow Knight exceptional among indie Metroidvanias is how its systems feed into each other.

Combat generates Soul, which you spend on healing or offensive spells, creating a constant risk-reward tension during every encounter. Boss fights demand pattern memorization and precise dodge timing. Between battles, the interconnected world design rewards curiosity — nearly every dead end hides a Mask Shard, a Charm, a Grub to rescue, or a lore tablet that deepens the story.

The hand-drawn art and Christopher Larkin's orchestral soundtrack tie everything together into a cohesive, atmospheric experience that consistently surprises across 30+ hours of content. Hollow Knight uses a tight, responsive control scheme on keyboard. The default PC keybindings are: All keys are fully remappable in the options menu. The game also supports controller input, which many players prefer for platforming sections.