Hollow Knight screenshot
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Hollow Knight takes about 42 hours for a typical playthrough with side content and roughly 65.5 hours to reach 112% completion, based on HowLongToBeat averages as of August 2026; an older HowLongToBeat figure from July 2025 put the main story alone at around 27 hours. Your real time depends mostly on how often you get lost in Hallownest and how quickly you learn its bosses.
Playtime by goal
The figures below are player-reported averages from HowLongToBeat, rounded to the nearest half hour. They cover all platforms (PC, Switch, PS4, Xbox One and backwards-compatible consoles) because the content is identical everywhere. Treat them as a midpoint, not a promise. A patient first-time player can easily sit 10 hours above each line.
| Goal | Average time | What it includes |
|---|---|---|
| Main story (Hollow Knight ending) | ~27 hours | Three Dreamers, the Hollow Knight fight |
| Main + extras | ~40 hours | Dream No More ending, most charms, several optional areas |
| Completionist (112%) | ~63 hours | Every charm, mask, vessel, boss, pantheon and ending |
| All play styles combined | ~41 hours | Blended average across every submission |
Source: HowLongToBeat community averages, checked October 2026. These shift by an hour or two as new submissions come in.
What counts as beating it
The game has multiple endings, and which one you aim for changes the answer to “how long does it take to beat Hollow Knight” by a wide margin.
The shortest route is the Hollow Knight ending. You defeat the three Dreamers, return to the Temple of the Black Egg and beat the Hollow Knight. Nothing stops you from doing this with a barely upgraded nail and a handful of charms, which is why the 27-hour average is lower than many players expect.
The Sealed Siblings ending needs the Void Heart charm plus Hornet’s help at the final fight. The Dream No More ending, generally considered the true ending, needs the Awoken Dream Nail (1800 Essence) and a win against the Radiance. Budget 5 to 10 extra hours over the standard ending for the Abyss, the White Palace and the Essence hunt.
Godmaster adds two more endings tied to the Pantheon of Hallownest, which is a separate commitment covered below.
Why the first playthrough runs long
Hollow Knight gives you no map until you buy one from Cornifer in each area, and no objective markers at all. Most of the gap between a 27-hour run and a 45-hour run is exploration time spent backtracking or walking into areas the game never told you existed.
A few specific sinks eat hours for new players:
- Finding Cornifer. His location changes per area and you can miss him, which means navigating by memory until you return.
- Deepnest and the Fungal Wastes. Both are mazy, and Deepnest has the fewest benches relative to its size.
- The Dreamers. The game does not point you to Monomon, Lurien or Herrah. Players routinely spend 3 to 5 hours wandering before realising they need the Dreamer locations shown by the Seer.
- Grub hunting. All 46 grubs are optional, but their reward trail (including a charm and mask shard) tempts most players into chasing them.
Playing with a walkthrough open removes most of this. Players who follow a route guide report finishing the main story closer to 20 hours, while blind players usually land between 30 and 40.
The content packs and 112%
Team Cherry shipped four free content updates between August 2017 and August 2018, and every current version of the game includes all of them. The base game maxed out at 100%. The packs pushed the completion counter to 112%, which is why guides talk about “112%” rather than “100%”.
| Pack | Released | Adds | Completion added | Typical extra time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hidden Dreams | August 2017 | Grey Prince Zote, White Defender, Dream Gate, Stag Nest | +1% | 1 to 2 hours |
| The Grimm Troupe | October 2017 | Grimm quest, Nightmare King Grimm, 4 charms | +3% | 2 to 4 hours |
| Lifeblood | April 2018 | Hive Knight, UI changes, bug fixes | +0% | Under 1 hour |
| Godmaster | August 2018 | Godhome, 5 pantheons, Pure Vessel, Absolute Radiance | +8% | 10 to 30+ hours |
The 112% total breaks down as charms (45 total, including Void Heart), nail upgrades (4), mask shards (16, forming 4 masks), vessel fragments (9, forming 3 vessels), spells and abilities, Dream Nail upgrades, Dreamers, Colosseum trials, specific bosses, Grimm Troupe progress and the Godmaster pantheons.
Godmaster is the swing factor. Pantheons 1 through 4 are long boss gauntlets but reachable for most players within a few hours of attempts. The Pantheon of Hallownest (Pantheon 5) is 42 bosses in a row, ending in Absolute Radiance, with no saving mid-run. For an average player it is the single largest time sink in the game. Some finish it in a weekend, many take weeks of 30-minute attempts, and a large share of 112% hunters stop at 107% and skip it entirely. HowLongToBeat’s 63-hour completionist figure includes people in both camps.
Speedrun and speed completion tiers
The other end of the scale shows how much of the 27-hour average is exploration rather than mandatory content. Approximate top-level times as of October 2026, drawn from speedrun.com categories, are listed below. Leaderboards move, so take these as tiers rather than exact records.
| Category | Rough top time | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Any% (no major glitches) | Under 35 minutes | Standard ending, intended movement only |
| Any% (all glitches) | Under 25 minutes | Standard ending with skips and clips |
| True Ending | Around 1 hour | Dream No More ending |
| 112% All Pantheon Bosses | Around 3 hours | Everything, including Pantheon 5 |
A relaxed “speed completion” for a second playthrough, meaning you know the map and skip optional content, usually lands between 8 and 12 hours for the true ending. Steel Soul mode, the permadeath mode unlocked after your first clear, follows the same timing but the cost of dying is a full restart, so most attempts are planned at that length.
What changes your time
Three factors explain almost every difference between two players’ Hollow Knight playtime.
Boss skill. Hornet, Soul Master, Watcher Knights and the Traitor Lord each stop a share of first-time players for 30 minutes to a few hours. Nightmare King Grimm, Pure Vessel and the Radiance stop more. Someone who has played Dark Souls or Celeste tends to pass each in a fraction of the attempts.
Nail upgrades and charms. Upgrading the Old Nail at the Nailsmith (first upgrade 250 Geo, then Pale Ore for the rest) shortens every fight. Players who reach the Dreamers with an un-upgraded nail spend far longer in each boss room. Quick Slash, Unbreakable Strength and Shaman Stone are the usual time savers.
Exploration style. Hallownest rewards poking into every corner, and the game is built for players who enjoy that. If you treat the map as a checklist, expect to sit at the high end of every range in this article.
Platform does not change length. The Switch version runs at the same speed and includes every pack, so “Hollow Knight Switch how long” has the same answer as PC.
Common mistakes that waste time
- Skipping Cornifer and trying to memorise an area without a map.
- Ignoring the Nailsmith until late. Two upgrades before the Dreamers is a comfortable baseline.
- Hunting all 46 grubs before you have Monarch Wings and Isma’s Tear. Several are unreachable early.
- Starting the Pantheon of Hallownest before completing Pantheons 1 to 4 and unlocking the bindings. Practice in the Hall of Gods first.
- Reaching the Hollow Knight without the Void Heart when you wanted the true ending, then having to replay the final sequence.
FAQ
How long is Hollow Knight for the main story?
About 27 hours on average as of October 2026, ending with the Hollow Knight fight. Blind players commonly take 30 to 40 hours, while a walkthrough can bring it under 20.
How long does it take to beat Hollow Knight at 112%?
Around 63 hours on average, including every charm, mask shard, vessel fragment, nail upgrade and the Godmaster pantheons. The Pantheon of Hallownest alone can add anything from a few hours to several weeks.
Is 112% the maximum completion?
Yes. The base game topped out at 100%, and the Grimm Troupe (6%), Lifeblood (1%) and Godmaster (5%) packs raised the cap to 112%. All packs are free and included in every version on sale.
How long is the Hollow Knight true ending?
Expect 32 to 40 hours for the Dream No More ending on a first playthrough. You need the Void Heart charm and the Awoken Dream Nail, which means clearing the Abyss, collecting both Kingsoul halves from the White Lady and the Pale King’s corpse, and gathering 1800 Essence for the Seer.
Can you beat Hollow Knight in under an hour?
Experienced speedrunners finish the standard ending in under 35 minutes without major glitches, and faster with them. For an ordinary player, a second playthrough aimed straight at the ending typically takes 8 to 12 hours.
Does Hollow Knight take longer on Switch than PC?
No. Every platform has the same content and runs the game at the same speed, so playtime is identical. Only your own exploration and boss skill move the number.
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