Finishing Hollow Knight leaves a very specific hole, and the whole internet seems to be looking for the same thing to fill it. Rather than just hand you my favorites, I read fifteen Reddit threads of people asking exactly that, counted every upvote on every game anyone suggested, and let the totals rank them. The top of the list is genuinely close: Ori edged it out, but Nine Sols was right on its heels, and a lot of commenters argued Nine Sols is the only Metroidvania that truly stands beside Hollow Knight, across 68 games and 4,928 votes.
None of this is my personal ranking. I did not score these by what I like. Every spot is the sum of real Reddit upvotes from the threads people actually find when they search this, so the order is the community's, not mine. I just counted.
If you only want a recommendation, take the quiz below and it will match you to a game based on what you loved about Hollow Knight. If you want the full picture, keep scrolling. Two things to flag up front: a couple of high picks, such as Celeste and Animal Well, are not really Metroidvanias at all, they win on a specific overlap I explain in their cards, and one classic, Metroid, is Nintendo-only, so it is the one game here you cannot grab on Steam.
10 questions, matched to 68 community-ranked games.
Question 1 of 10
First up: what did you love most about Hollow Knight?
Question 2 of 10
How hard do you want it?
Question 3 of 10
Combat or exploration?
Question 4 of 10
What mood are you after?
Question 5 of 10
Do you mind a game with little or no combat?
Question 6 of 10
How important is story?
Question 7 of 10
Old-school or modern?
Question 8 of 10
How long a game do you want?
Question 9 of 10
Pick an art style.
Question 10 of 10
Last one: how do you feel about a parry-heavy combat system?
Your community-ranked match
If you have read one of our other roundups, this will look familiar, because the method is the same every time. The whole point is to keep my taste out of the ranking. I am not telling you these are the best games because I played them and you should trust me. I am showing you what thousands of other Hollow Knight players upvoted, and counting it honestly.
I searched Google and Reddit the way anyone would, with phrases such as games like Hollow Knight and metroidvanias like Hollow Knight, then collected the threads that ranked and read them directly on Reddit. They came mostly from r/HollowKnight, r/metroidvania, r/gaming, and r/gamingsuggestions. I left out any thread scoped to a single platform, since those skew a cross-platform ranking. Fifteen qualifying threads made the cut, the usual sweet spot for a credible roundup.
A game's score is the sum of upvotes on every comment that suggested it, added up across all fifteen threads. So if one comment recommending Nine Sols earned 74 upvotes in one thread and another earned 12 in a different thread, Nine Sols is credited with 86 votes. A comment naming four games hands its full upvote count to all four, which is how one thoughtful, highly-upvoted reply can lift several picks at once. Nothing is ranked by hand beyond that counting.
One judgment call worth naming: a few high picks, such as Celeste and Animal Well, are not strictly Metroidvanias. I kept them because the community kept upvoting them as answers to this exact question, and their cards are honest about the overlap, platforming challenge and pure exploration, that earns them the spot. The votes decide; I just label the caveats.
These ten lead the community vote. The names link to each game store page if you want a closer look, and we do not earn a cent from your purchases.
| 1 |  | Ori | 719 votes |
| 2 |  | Nine Sols | 664 votes |
| 3 |  | Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown | 401 votes |
| 4 |  | Blasphemous | 381 votes |
| 5 |  | Celeste | 367 votes |
| 6 |  | Animal Well | 324 votes |
| 7 |  | Castlevania | 202 votes |
| 8 |  | Metroid | 184 votes |
| 9 |  | Ender Lilies | 137 votes |
| 10 |  | Haiku, the Robot | 123 votes |
How the Votes Stack Up
Every total below is the sum of upvotes from each of the 15 Reddit threads that recommended the game. Each colored segment is one thread. Hover to see its contribution, or click any segment to open the source thread.
| Game | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ori | 45 | 19 | 2 | 26 | 31 | 17 | 36 | 120 | 12 | 318 | 25 | 68 | 719 | |||
| Nine Sols | 23 | 81 | 1 | 2 | 17 | 38 | 31 | 115 | 15 | 321 | 12 | 3 | 5 | 664 | ||
| Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown | 9 | 79 | 11 | 2 | 8 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 269 | 2 | 14 | 401 | ||||
| Blasphemous | 33 | 43 | 1 | 13 | 32 | 16 | 10 | 46 | 1 | 110 | 11 | 2 | 6 | 57 | 381 | |
| Celeste | 1 | 21 | 10 | 23 | 8 | 2 | 288 | 3 | 11 | 367 | ||||||
| Animal Well | 2 | 10 | 1 | 2 | 14 | 8 | 2 | 284 | 1 | 324 | ||||||
| Castlevania | 24 | 35 | 1 | 29 | 4 | 15 | 1 | 80 | 13 | 202 | ||||||
| Metroid | 28 | 8 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 38 | 14 | 4 | 1 | 54 | 1 | 27 | 184 | |||
| Ender Lilies | 5 | 47 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 14 | 1 | 2 | 12 | 2 | 24 | 1 | 2 | 17 | 137 | |
| Haiku, the Robot | 5 | 4 | 1 | 12 | 9 | 14 | 23 | 23 | 2 | 5 | 12 | 9 | 3 | 1 | 123 |
Every game suggested across the fifteen threads, ranked by total upvotes. Sort by any column or filter by platform to find your fit.
| #^ | Game | Votesv | Mentionsv | Platforms |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ori | 719 | 93 | PC, Switch, Xbox |
| 2 | Nine Sols | 664 | 86 | PC, Switch, Xbox, PlayStation |
| 3 | Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown | 401 | 21 | PC, Switch, Xbox, PlayStation |
| 4 | Blasphemous | 381 | 70 | PC, Switch, Xbox, PlayStation |
| 5 | Celeste | 367 | 36 | PC, Switch, Xbox, PlayStation |
| 6 | Animal Well | 324 | 14 | PC, Switch, Xbox, PlayStation |
| 7 | Castlevania | 202 | 45 | PC, Switch, Xbox, PlayStation |
| 8 | Metroid | 184 | 65 | Switch (Nintendo exclusive) |
| 9 | Ender Lilies | 137 | 44 | PC, Switch, Xbox, PlayStation |
| 10 | Haiku, the Robot | 123 | 24 | PC, Switch, Xbox, PlayStation |
| 11 | Dead Cells | 97 | 30 | PC |
| 12 | Tunic | 88 | 23 | PC |
| 13 | Crowsworn | 83 | 5 | PC |
| 14 | Aeterna Noctis | 70 | 21 | PC |
| 15 | Grime | 69 | 15 | PC |
| 16 | Hyper Light Drifter | 57 | 9 | PC |
| 17 | The Messenger | 54 | 11 | PC |
| 18 | Bo: Path of the Teal Lotus | 52 | 10 | PC |
| 19 | Dark Souls | 50 | 19 | PC |
| 20 | Guacamelee | 46 | 15 | PC |
| 21 | Axiom Verge | 44 | 11 | PC |
| 22 | Lone Fungus | 42 | 12 | PC |
| 23 | Voidwrought | 42 | 9 | PC |
| 24 | Constance | 41 | 7 | PC |
| 25 | Salt and Sanctuary | 40 | 7 | PC |
| 26 | Ender Magnolia | 37 | 10 | PC |
| 27 | Sekiro | 36 | 8 | PC |
| 28 | Elden Ring | 35 | 12 | PC |
| 29 | Yoku's Island Express | 34 | 2 | PC |
| 30 | Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night | 33 | 7 | PC |
| 31 | Cuphead | 27 | 11 | PC |
| 32 | Death's Door | 25 | 12 | PC |
| 33 | Rain World | 23 | 13 | PC |
| 34 | Have a Nice Death | 21 | 6 | PC |
| 35 | Afterimage | 18 | 8 | PC |
| 36 | BioGun | 17 | 3 | PC |
| 37 | Sundered | 16 | 5 | PC |
| 38 | Tales of Kenzera: Zau | 16 | 3 | PC |
| 39 | The Last Faith | 16 | 2 | PC |
| 40 | Islets | 15 | 7 | PC |
| 41 | Biomorph | 13 | 2 | PC |
| 42 | Rebel Transmute | 13 | 2 | PC |
| 43 | Hades | 12 | 7 | PC |
| 44 | Dust: An Elysian Tail | 12 | 5 | PC |
| 45 | Gato Roboto | 12 | 2 | PC |
| 46 | Ghost Song | 11 | 5 | PC |
| 47 | Environmental Station Alpha | 11 | 4 | PC |
| 48 | Another Crab's Treasure | 11 | 1 | PC |
| 49 | Outer Wilds | 10 | 6 | PC |
| 50 | Noreya | 10 | 1 | PC |
| 51 | Gris | 8 | 5 | PC |
| 52 | SteamWorld Dig 2 | 8 | 3 | PC |
| 53 | Momodora | 8 | 2 | PC |
| 54 | Record of Lodoss War: Deedlit | 8 | 2 | PC |
| 55 | Katana Zero | 6 | 3 | PC |
| 56 | Cave Story | 5 | 3 | PC |
| 57 | Infernax | 4 | 2 | PC |
| 58 | Undertale | 3 | 3 | PC |
| 59 | F.I.S.T. | 3 | 1 | PC |
| 60 | Gestalt: Steam and Cinder | 3 | 1 | PC |
| 61 | Limbo | 2 | 2 | PC |
| 62 | Moonscars | 2 | 1 | PC |
| 63 | Salt and Sacrifice | 2 | 1 | PC |
| 64 | Iconoclasts | 1 | 1 | PC |
| 65 | Lies of P | 1 | 1 | PC |
| 66 | Little Nightmares | 1 | 1 | PC |
| 67 | Souldiers | 1 | 1 | PC |
| 68 | Vigil: The Longest Night | 1 | 1 | PC |
SourceOri topped this list, named across nearly every thread, usually with a note that the second game, Will of the Wisps, is the one that plays most like Hollow Knight. People who do not normally cry at games kept calling the duology the most emotional thing they have played, and the hand-painted art draws comparison to Hollow Knight constantly.
Where Hollow Knight is brooding and brutal, Ori is warm and a touch more forgiving, leaning on fluid, acrobatic movement and platforming over deep combat. Will of the Wisps added a real combat system and more Metroidvania structure, which is why it edges out the first game for this crowd, while The Blind Forest is the more story-forward starting point. The common caveat is lighter exploration than Hollow Knight, but for feel and beauty it was the runaway favorite.
SourceNine Sols was the game commenters argued was actually on Hollow Knight's level, and for many it took the top spot outright. A close second on votes, it shows up over and over with the same story: this was their number-one Metroidvania for years until Nine Sols came along and broke away from imitation into something of its own.
It swaps Hollow Knight's nail for a Sekiro-style parry system, which is the one divisive point, some love the rhythm of deflecting, others miss the freedom of the nail, and the world is a gorgeous hand-drawn Taopunk setting with a surprisingly deep, emotional story. It runs more linear than Hollow Knight and leans hard on combat, with generous difficulty sliders for anyone who finds it punishing. If you want the closest thing to a true Hollow Knight successor, this is the consensus answer.
SourcePrince of Persia: The Lost Crown was the surprise high finisher, riding one extremely upvoted recommendation and a steady stream of others into third. It is the rare Metroidvania with a full AAA budget, so the scope, graphics, and polish stand out in a genre that usually has an indie sprite look.
Commenters who finished it kept listing the familiar Hollow Knight elements: a resting and checkpoint system, a huge map full of side paths gated behind new abilities, and equippable amulets that work almost exactly like charms. The combat is faster and more combo-heavy than Hollow Knight, and the deep accessibility options, including settings that can skip tricky platforming, make it the most approachable pick up high on this list. The trade is that it does not match Hollow Knight's haunting atmosphere or story.
SourceBlasphemous was the most-named soulslike on the list, in fourteen of the fifteen threads, and the game people reach for when they want Hollow Knight's darkness turned up. It blends Metroidvania exploration with soulslike combat and vague, lore-heavy storytelling, wrapped in a grim religious-horror aesthetic that stands out hard.
The recurring advice is to play the first game over the second, since the original's brooding tone and brutal bosses land closest to Hollow Knight. It plays slower and more deliberately than Hollow Knight, closer to old-school Castlevania, and the edgy presentation is not for everyone. But for atmosphere and that mix of dread, secrets, and punishing fights, it was the clearest tonal match in the whole dataset.
SourceCeleste placed surprisingly high, fifth, on the strength of one specific overlap: if the brutal platforming of Hollow Knight's Path of Pain was the part you loved, this is the game built entirely around that feeling. Commenters are upfront that it is a precision platformer, not a Metroidvania, with almost no exploration or combat.
What makes it stick is the feel and the heart. The instant respawn means death is never frustrating, the game constantly encourages you, and the story about climbing a mountain and managing anxiety is genuinely moving. It will absolutely make you suffer in its later chapters, but as one person put it, it is impossible to get mad at. Include it only if you came to Hollow Knight for the challenge of its hardest platforming, not for its world.
SourceAnimal Well took sixth almost entirely on the strength of one feeling: the sense of wonder and discovery that Hollow Knight gives you on a first playthrough. People who recommend it keep saying it is the first game in years that brought that back.
It is a Metroidvania built around exploration and puzzles rather than combat, and in fact it has no combat at all. The world is a dense, eerie web of secrets layered so deep that the community is still uncovering them, and the moody pixel art and sound design land squarely in Hollow Knight territory. If what you loved about Hollow Knight was getting lost in a mysterious world and piecing it together, this is the purest hit of that on the list, just do not come expecting boss fights.
SourceYou cannot make a Metroidvania list without the vania, and the community made sure of it. Castlevania landed seventh as a series, with two entries doing most of the work: Symphony of the Night, the 1997 classic people say still holds up nearly thirty years on, and Aria of Sorrow, the GBA standout that several called their favorite Metroidvania besides Hollow Knight.
These are the games that defined the formula Hollow Knight later perfected: interconnected castles, ability-gated progression, and RPG-style upgrades. The best modern way in is a collection, the Advance Collection bundles Aria and the other GBA games, while the Dominus Collection adds Symphony of the Night. They play older and lighter on story than Hollow Knight, but as foundational texts that are still genuinely fun, they earned the spot.
If Castlevania is the vania, Metroid is the metroid, and the community was almost indignant that anyone might forget it on a list about metroidvanias. It placed eighth as a series, named more often than almost anything by raw count, usually pointing at Super Metroid, the 1994 game people call the gold standard before Hollow Knight, or Metroid Dread, the excellent 2021 return to 2D.
These are the games that built the template: isolating atmosphere, ability-gated exploration of a hostile world, and that specific feeling of slowly unlocking a map you thought you had already seen. The catch for many readers is platform: Metroid is Nintendo-exclusive, so you need a Switch, and the link above goes to the Nintendo store rather than Steam. If you have the hardware, though, the originals still play beautifully and remain essential.
SourceEnder Lilies was the quiet favorite of the threads, named in fourteen of them, almost always by someone surprised it does not get talked about more. It is a soulslike Metroidvania about a young priestess purifying a blighted, rain-soaked kingdom, and the recurring worry from fans is that it feels almost too similar to Hollow Knight, which is exactly the point.
The atmosphere and art hit the same melancholy notes, and nearly every recommendation singles out the soundtrack as a highlight. People put it at over ninety percent of Hollow Knight, high praise in this crowd, and a sequel, Ender Magnolia, has arrived for anyone who wants more. If you want the closest match on pure mood and beauty rather than novel mechanics, this is the underrated answer.
SourceHaiku, the Robot rounded out the top ten, named in fourteen threads as the pick for players who want more Hollow Knight without the punishment. It is openly modeled on Hollow Knight, down to the structure and the bench placement, but it is adorable, shorter, and noticeably easier, which fans flag as a feature rather than a flaw.
The exploration is the highlight, with a fun world to poke around and bosses that are unique without being brutally hard. People are honest that it does not reach Hollow Knight's heights and that the similarity is unsubtle, but as a friendly, lower-stakes way to scratch the same itch it kept earning recommendations. It is the gentlest landing spot on this list.
Nine SolsBlasphemousThe two most-recommended soulslike Metroidvanias, and the closest combat-heavy rivals to Hollow Knight. They get dark in different ways.
| Category | Nine Sols | Blasphemous |
|---|---|---|
| Combat | Sekiro-style parry | Slow, weighty soulslike |
| Setting | Taopunk sci-fantasy | Grim religious horror |
| Closest to HK on | Combat depth and story | Tone and atmosphere |
| Difficulty | Tunable sliders | Brutally punishing |
Want the deepest combat and the strongest story, with difficulty you can dial in? Nine Sols. Want the grimmest, most Hollow-Knight-dark atmosphere? Blasphemous, and start with the first one.
OriEnder LiliesThe two picks for players chasing Hollow Knight's beauty and emotion rather than its brutality. Both are gorgeous; they land on opposite ends of the mood.
| Category | Ori | Ender Lilies |
|---|---|---|
| Mood | Warm and uplifting | Melancholy and somber |
| Focus | Movement and platforming | Soulslike combat |
| Difficulty | More forgiving | Tougher, soulslike |
| Closest to HK on | Art and emotion | Atmosphere and music |
Want a beautiful, fluid, more forgiving journey? Ori, with Will of the Wisps first. Want Hollow Knight's exact melancholy mood and a killer soundtrack? Ender Lilies.
CelesteAnimal WellThe two outliers that placed high without being traditional Metroidvanias. Pick by which part of Hollow Knight you actually came for.
| Category | Celeste | Animal Well |
|---|---|---|
| It's really a | Precision platformer | Puzzle exploration game |
| Combat | None | None |
| Scratches the HK itch for | Path of Pain platforming | First-time wonder and secrets |
| Mood | Heartfelt and hard | Eerie and mysterious |
If Hollow Knight's hardest platforming was your favorite part, Celeste is built for you. If getting lost in a mysterious world full of secrets was the draw, Animal Well is the one.
A Metroidvania is a 2D action game built around one big interconnected map: you explore, hit a wall you cannot pass yet, gain a new ability, and double back to open up what was blocked. The name mashes together Metroid and Castlevania, the two series that invented the formula, both of which rank on this very list. Hollow Knight refined that core into something special with brutal-but-fair combat, a haunting hand-drawn world, and storytelling told through atmosphere rather than cutscenes, which is why the closest matches here, such as Nine Sols, Blasphemous, and Ender Lilies, nail that same blend of exploration, challenge, and mood. A couple of picks bend the genre, since Celeste is a precision platformer and Animal Well is a puzzle-explorer, and their cards explain why the community still recommends them. If the soulslike side is what hooked you, our Hades recommendations roundup, our best roguelite games list, and the broader best roguelike games ranking cover the action-roguelike neighbors the same way. And if you came to Hollow Knight by way of Hades, our Hades 2 characters guide is worth a look too.
By the community's count, Ori, narrowly. The Ori duology topped the vote, with Will of the Wisps playing closest to Hollow Knight. But it was extremely close: Nine Sols finished a hair behind and was the game commenters most often argued is the only true rival to Hollow Knight. If you want combat-first, pick Nine Sols; if you want beauty and emotion, pick Ori.
For pure feel, the threads point to three: Nine Sols for combat and story, Blasphemous for dark atmosphere, and Ender Lilies for melancholy mood and a great soundtrack. Ender Lilies in particular gets called almost too similar. None of them is a clone, but those three get closest to the Hollow Knight blend of exploration, challenge, and atmosphere.
Yes. Haiku, the Robot is openly modeled on Hollow Knight but noticeably gentler, and Ori is more forgiving while still gorgeous. Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown has deep accessibility options, including settings that can skip tricky platforming. Nine Sols and Ender Lilies also include difficulty sliders, so you can soften the challenge if Hollow Knight pushed your limits.
Because the community kept recommending them, even though neither is a true Metroidvania. Celeste is a precision platformer for people who loved Hollow Knight's hardest platforming, like the Path of Pain. Animal Well is a combat-free puzzle-explorer that recaptures the wonder of discovering Hollow Knight's world. They win on one specific overlap each, not the whole package.
Since Silksong is the Hollow Knight sequel, the same list applies: Nine Sols, Blasphemous, and Ori are the top community picks for either game. A few newer Metroidvanias, such as Bo: Path of the Teal Lotus and the upcoming Crowsworn, also came up specifically for players who finished Silksong and want more.
Entirely by Reddit upvotes. I read fifteen threads asking what to play after Hollow Knight, tallied the upvotes on every comment that suggested a game, and added them up across all of them. The total decides the order, with no personal scoring. Every source thread is linked at the bottom of the page.
Hunting for your next obsession? These guides go deeper on the games and genres above.
Vote totals compiled from public Reddit threads. Quotes belong to their original authors. Game names and cover art remain the property of their respective developers.
Back to top