# Hollow Knight Style - Adventure & Exploration Template | Summer Engine ## About this template Hollow Knight defined a generation of metroidvanias by combining tight nail combat with directional slashing, a Soul meter that forces players to choose between healing and offensive spells, and a charm system with limited notches that creates genuine build diversity. The corpse-run mechanic where dying leaves your Shade guarding your lost Geo adds real stakes to every new room. Bench save points space out tension perfectly. Boss gauntlets test everything you have learned. Hidden paths are everywhere, rewarding players who strike every wall. Summer Engine gives you the foundation to build this style of game. Describe your underground world, your combat rhythm, your charm-like loadout system. The engine helps you set up directional melee combat, a dual-purpose resource meter, equipment slot systems with limited capacity, save point placement, and the corpse-run recovery loop. You focus on the art, the atmosphere, and the world that makes players want to explore every corner. The best games in this style earn their melancholic tone. The world feels like it was alive once. NPCs are scattered survivors. The lore is in item descriptions and environmental storytelling. Players piece together what happened to this place while they explore it. That sense of discovering a fallen civilization is what separates a great Hollow Knight-style game from a good metroidvania. ## Who it's for * Solo devs or small teams who want to build a hand-drawn 2D action game with deep exploration and challenging combat. * Artists with a vision for an atmospheric underground world who need the combat and progression systems to match. * Designers who want a charm-style loadout system where players make meaningful tradeoffs with limited slots. * Anyone who loved Hollow Knight and wants to create their own vast, interconnected world full of secrets and bosses. ## Highlights * ### Underground Kingdom Demo Build three interconnected zones with a Soul-style meter, nail combat, two charms, a bench save system, and one boss that drops a movement ability. Enough to show the exploration and combat loop. * ### Boss Gauntlet Prototype Build 5 bosses with distinct patterns, a charm loadout screen with 4 notch slots, and the Soul meter heal-or-cast decision. Focus on the combat depth before expanding the world. * ### Full Corpse-Run Loop Build the complete death cycle: lose currency on death, Shade spawns at death location, recover currency by defeating the Shade, lose it permanently on a second death. Test with 2 zones and roaming enemies. ## Highlights ### Nail combat with directional attacks Melee attacks aim in four directions. Upward slashes hit flying enemies and bounce the player off hazards. Downward strikes pogo off enemies and obstacles. Combat is precise and positional. ### Soul meter for healing or spells Hitting enemies fills a resource meter. Players choose to spend it on healing or on offensive spells. This single resource creates constant tactical decisions during every fight. ### Charm loadout with limited notches Charms grant passive abilities but each costs notches. Players have limited notch capacity and must choose their build before leaving a bench. Every loadout is a tradeoff. ### Corpse-run Shade recovery Dying drops all currency and spawns a hostile Shade at the death location. Players must return and defeat their Shade to recover the currency. Dying again before recovery means permanent loss. ## Features * ### Directional melee combat system Four-directional nail attacks with distinct hit behaviors. Downward strike bounces the player. Upward strike has anti-air utility. Side strikes are the bread and butter. Attack speed and range scale with upgrades. * ### Dual-purpose resource meter The Soul meter fills from landing melee hits on enemies. Players spend it to heal or cast spells. Meter capacity can be expanded through upgrades. The heal-or-attack tension is the core combat decision. * ### Charm equipment and notch system Charms are found throughout the world and grant passive effects. Each charm costs 1-3 notches. Players have a limited notch pool that expands through exploration. Charms can only be swapped at benches. * ### Bench save and respawn system Benches are save points, charm swap stations, and respawn locations. Bench placement controls the tension arc of each zone. Resting at a bench also respawns all enemies in the area. ## Genre fit * Metroidvania * Action * Platformer * Exploration * Adventure * Desktop * Web * Handheld * Gamepad ## Related Templates [View All](https://www.summerengine.com/templates) [Metroidvania Build a 2D exploration platformer where players gain abilities that unlock new paths through areas they have already visited. A world designed to be revisited. Describe your vision and Summer Engine builds the foundation with you. Adventure & Exploration](https://www.summerengine.com/templates/adventure/metroidvania/metroidvania) [Dark Soulslike Build an action RPG where every death teaches the player something and a world full of secrets rewards patient exploration. Describe your world and combat design and Summer Engine builds the foundation with you. Action & Fighting](https://www.summerengine.com/templates/action-fighting/soulslike/soulslike) [Action Adventure Build a game where combat, exploration, and story work together. Players move through a world, fight meaningful encounters, solve environmental puzzles, and experience a narrative that gives the action purpose. Describe your vision and Summer Engine builds it with you. Adventure & Exploration](https://www.summerengine.com/templates/adventure/action-adventure/action-adventure) Source: https://www.summerengine.com/templates/adventure/metroidvania/hollow-knight-style --- ## Machine-readable resources - Site index for agents: https://www.summerengine.com/llms.txt - Full inlined content: https://www.summerengine.com/llms-full.txt - Porting catalog: https://www.summerengine.com/llms-porting.txt - Structured catalog: https://www.summerengine.com/agent-catalog.json - Sitemap: https://www.summerengine.com/sitemap.xml - Developer resources: https://www.summerengine.com/docs