ActionAdventureIndie
Hollow Knight
Hooks you almost right away
Gets good by 3h almost every game dips in hours 2–3
Fully opens up by 20h rated like by long-time players
Reach the ending at least 32% of players who started
Started playing 77% of owners
Steam reviews 97% positive of 565,597
What the data shows
- In the first 2 hours 1 in 6 reviews are negative (17%); after 20h it's 1 in 55 (2%).
- Fully opens up by hour 20.
- The opening is criticised less than in 78% of games we track.
- At least 32% of players who start reach the ending.
- The biggest drop-off is between “Test of Resolve” (Defeat Hornet in Greenpath) and “Illumination” (Defeat the Soul Master): from 82% to 61% of starters.
- 77% of owners got the first achievement.
When it gets good
Share of positive reviews by how many hours the reviewer had played when writing the review.
before it gets good opening up fully opened up
Based on all 567,732 Steam reviews in every language. Median playtime in a sample of 5,144 reviews: 40.9h for positive, 15.8h for negative. Almost every game is rated lower in the first 2–3 hours: that window includes refunds and quick first impressions. What matters is how deep the dip is and how fast the game recovers.
Where players quit
Share of players who started the game and reached each story milestone. 100% is the most common achievement (76.7% of owners), so people who bought the game and never launched it don't count.
- Started playing 100%
- Falsehood Defeat the False Knight 93% −7
- Test of Resolve Defeat Hornet in Greenpath 82% −11
- Illumination Defeat the Soul Master Most players quit here 61% −20
- Respect Defeat the Mantis Lords 61%
- Release Defeat the Broken Vessel 55% −6
- Beast Destroy Herrah the Beast 51% −4
- Teacher Destroy Monomon the Teacher 49% −1
- Watcher Destroy Lurien the Watcher 49%
- The Hollow Knight Defeat the Hollow Knight and become the Vessel ≥32% −17
story milestone ending (most common ending) biggest drop-off
Story milestones were labeled by hand.
All achievements (63)
story milestone ending side
- Charmed Acquire your first Charm 100%
- Falsehood Defeat the False Knight 93%
- Test of Resolve Defeat Hornet in Greenpath 82%
- Connection Open half of Hallownest's Stag Stations 64%
- Protected Acquire 4 Mask Shards 62%
- Illumination Defeat the Soul Master 61%
- Respect Defeat the Mantis Lords 61%
- Soulful Acquire 3 Vessel Fragments 57%
- Honour Defeat the Dung Defender 56%
- Release Defeat the Broken Vessel 55%
- Enchanted Acquire half of Hallownest's Charms 52%
- Beast Destroy Herrah the Beast 51%
- Proof of Resolve Defeat Hornet in Kingdom's Edge 51%
- Grubfriend Rescue half of the imprisoned grubs 50%
- Attunement Collect 600 Essence 50%
- Teacher Destroy Monomon the Teacher 49%
- Warrior Complete the Trial of the Warrior 49%
- Watcher Destroy Lurien the Watcher 49%
- Cartographer Acquire a map of each area 48%
- Conqueror Complete the Trial of the Conqueror 45%
- Execution Defeat the Traitor Lord 43%
- Hope Open all of Hallownest's Stag Stations and discover the Stag Nest 43%
- Obsession Defeat the Collector 41%
- Peace Defeat the Lost Kin 40%
- Awakening Collect 1800 Essence and awaken the Dream Nail 40%
- Rivalry Defeat Zote in the Colosseum of Fools 38%
- Grand Performance Defeat Troupe Leader Grimm 35%
- Strength Defeat the Failed Champion 35%
- Metamorphosis Rescue all of the imprisoned grubs 34%
- Void Remember the past and unite the Abyss 34%
- Worldsoul Acquire all Vessel Fragments 33%
- Witness Spend a final moment with Quirrel 33%
- The Hollow Knight Defeat the Hollow Knight and become the Vessel 32%
- Mortality Defeat the Soul Tyrant 31%
- Dark Romance Defeat Grey Prince Zote 28%
- Solace Bring peace to the Grey Mourner 28%
- Fool Complete the Trial of the Fool 27%
- Dream No More Defeat the Radiance and consume the light 27%
- Masked Acquire all Mask Shards 27%
- Ascension Collect 2400 Essence and hear the Seer's final words 27%
- Blessed Acquire all Charms and receive Salubra's blessing 26%
- Completion Achieve 100% game completion and finish the game 25%
- Sealed Siblings Defeat the Hollow Knight with Hornet by your side 25%
- Memory Defeat White Defender 25%
- Purity Slay the Nailsmith with the Pure Nail 24%
- Brotherhood Complete the Pantheon of the Master 23%
- Inspiration Complete the Pantheon of the Painter 22%
- Ritual Defeat the Nightmare King and complete the Ritual 21%
- Focus Complete the Pantheon of the Sage 16%
- Happy Couple Allow the Nailsmith to find a new calling 13%
- Soul & Shade Complete the Pantheon of the Knight 13%
- Banishment Banish the Grimm Troupe from Hallownest 11%
- Keen Hunter Record all of Hallownest's creatures in the Hunter's Journal 10%
- Neglect Leave Zote to die 10%
- True Hunter Receive the Hunter's Mark 9.4%
- Pure Completion Achieve 112% game completion and finish the game. 9.1%
- Passing of the Age Aid the Herald in moving on 9.1%
- Speedrun 1 Complete the game in under 10 hours 8.6%
- Speed Completion Achieve 100% game completion and finish the game in under 20 hours 7.3%
- Embrace the Void Ascend the Pantheon of Hallownest and take your place at its peak 7.0%
- Speedrun 2 Complete the game in under 5 hours 7.0%
- Steel Soul Finish the game in Steel Soul mode 6.1%
- Steel Heart Achieve 100% game completion and finish the game in Steel Soul mode 5.1%
Steam page Updated: 2026-10-20.