Hollow Island

About Hollow Island

Hollow Island is a single player open world role playing game. It was developed by Edym Pixels and was released on January 29, 2020. It received positive reviews from players.

You play as an adventurer arriving to Hollow Island, but what you do next is up to you: Grow crops, harvest, cook food, brew and sell potions, expand your property, explore the island, fight monsters, dig for riches underground, build camps and hoard your treasures!

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player

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Reviews

85%Audience ScoreBased on 84 reviews

music16 positive mentions

grinding21 negative mentions

Hollow Island offers a broad and versatile sandbox experience combining exploration, crafting, farming, combat, and settlement building that encourages player freedom and self-directed goals.
The game features a charming pixel-art style and a highly praised relaxing and atmospheric soundtrack, which enhances the immersive gameplay.
There is a good balance of content including diverse enemies, bosses, mining, and crafting, with a progression system based on gear and exploration rather than level-ups, and frequent free updates from an active, responsive developer.

Combat mechanics are often criticized as clunky, unintuitive, and frustrating, with awkward attack controls and enemy behaviors that detract from enjoyment.
The game can feel grindy and slow paced, with limited guidance or tutorial support, minimal narrative or quests, and a sometimes dead or lifeless town atmosphere due to sparse NPC interaction.
User interface, animations, and certain quality-of-life features show a lack of polish, including issues with inventory management, UI responsiveness, pacing, and occasional bugs and stability problems.

music
33 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
48% positive mentions, 43% neutral mentions, 9% negative mentions
The music in Hollow Island, composed by Vindsvept, is widely praised for its soothing, cozy, and atmospheric qualities that perfectly complement the game's relaxing yet adventurous tone. Many players find the soundtrack to be a standout feature, enhancing exploration, farming, and combat with a calm and engaging backdrop. The soundtrack's high quality and emotional resonance make it a compelling reason to enjoy the game, often compared to the comfort of titles like Stardew Valley or Minecraft.
- “The soundtrack reinforces the adventurous atmosphere, providing a calm yet engaging backdrop that suits both peaceful farming sessions and tense dungeon crawls.”
- “The music and atmosphere really draw you in if you let it, and it's hard not to want to explore every single corner of the map.”
- “People will draw comparisons with Stardew Valley, and I agree up until a point - it has a really laid-back atmosphere that's felt down to the smallest sound effect. You're the new kid on the block and your success is down to your own pursuits; you can farm or go mining, and good lord, the soundtrack is incredible and perfect for the setting.”
- “I've noticed the music tends to stutter after the track has ended, but not always.”
- “For me personally, I'm not a big fan of these games, and while I quickly lost interest in the cycle of explore, collect, craft, the music of this game really captivated me.”
- “The music is relaxing and it has decent enough graphics.”
grinding
22 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
0% positive mentions, 5% neutral mentions, 95% negative mentions
Grinding in Hollow Island is notably slow and resource-intensive, with farming becoming largely redundant after the early game due to better food sources. While the game offers relaxed and varied activities like crafting, exploring, and combat, many users find the resource collection and upgrade management grindy and sometimes tedious. It suits players who enjoy mellow adventuring with some farming but can feel repetitive or pointless after extended play.
- “After about 20 hours I edited the save to skip hours of grinding and waiting for cash and some resources.”
- “It's actually really grindy, in terms of collecting resources, trying to manage some more precious materials and deciding what the best upgrades will be to suit your purposes.”
- “Nice in short bites but starts to feel a bit grindy and pointless after a while.”
story
21 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
14% positive mentions, 67% neutral mentions, 19% negative mentions
The game's story is minimal to non-existent, focusing instead on player-driven exploration without traditional quests or narrative guidance. While some appreciate the freedom and sandbox nature, others find the lack of structured story or meaningful NPC interactions limiting. The game appeals to those who prefer open-ended gameplay over a story-driven experience.
- “Rather than guiding players through a tightly scripted storyline, the game drops them into a mysterious island environment and allows them to carve their own path forward.”
- “This design philosophy places player agency at the forefront, encouraging experimentation and self-directed goals instead of rigid quest structures.”
- “The story is simple and elegant.”
- “There's no ease-in, no lore, no story to pique your interest, just two rambling old men.”
- “After 6 hrs in, the game still hasn't bothered trying to explain things further or introduce more story elements.”
- “As expected, developer hasn't bothered working on story/NPCs, at all.”
graphics
21 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
33% positive mentions, 53% neutral mentions, 14% negative mentions
Hollow Island features a charming 2D pixel-art style that, while not highly detailed or cutting-edge, effectively complements the gameplay and creates a relaxing atmosphere. The graphics are simple and pleasant, with some users appreciating the unique art style and visual customization options, though occasional issues like lack of autotiling are noted. Overall, the visuals enhance the game's narrative and exploration without overshadowing its core mechanics.
- “Visually, Hollow Island adopts a classic pixel-art aesthetic reminiscent of traditional 2D RPGs and sandbox titles.”
- “The main focus of the game is to make the players enjoy themselves; the beautiful graphics go hand in hand with the soothing music, creating a relaxing and wonderful atmosphere.”
- “When I played the early beta build, I really enjoyed what the game had to offer and I am glad Edym worked on another new game with a gorgeous art style and atmosphere.”
- “When you build roads or a farm or water, the game doesn't autotile properly (using the correct graphics to show rounded corners, T-junctions, etc.).”
- “The graphics are weak and the controls are poor, but overall, Hollow Island is a nice game.”
- “While the graphics do not aim for cutting-edge detail, the style complements the game’s focus on gameplay systems and exploration.”
gameplay
16 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
19% positive mentions, 62% neutral mentions, 19% negative mentions
The gameplay offers a balanced and accessible combat system with an emphasis on positioning, preparation, and exploration, particularly through dungeons and secrets. While some quality-of-life features are minimal and require player experimentation, the game provides a broad, engaging experience with a relaxing pace and considerable depth reminiscent of titles like Stardew Valley and Terraria. However, certain players desire more complex late-game mechanics and varied dungeon interactions.
- “Combat plays a steady but balanced role in the gameplay loop.”
- “While the combat mechanics remain straightforward and accessible, positioning and preparation matter.”
- “While some might see shades of Stardew Valley in its exploration-driven gameplay, Hollow Island distinguishes itself with a stronger focus on delving into dungeons and engaging in combat, all set within a world rich with secrets waiting to be uncovered.”
- “Additionally, certain interface elements and quality-of-life aspects may feel minimalistic, requiring players to learn mechanics through experimentation rather than detailed tutorials.”
- “I just wish there were more like the late game mechanical boss, with a proper dungeon and door opening/dungeon mechanics.”
- “Gameplay solely depends upon your playstyle.”
atmosphere
8 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
75% positive mentions, 25% neutral mentions, 0% negative mentions
The game's atmosphere is widely praised for its relaxing and immersive qualities, enhanced by a beautiful art style and a soothing, engaging soundtrack that perfectly complements both peaceful farming and adventurous exploration. Players find the environment inviting and evocative, drawing comparisons to Stardew Valley in its laid-back yet captivating ambiance. Overall, the atmosphere successfully creates a calming yet compelling experience that encourages thorough exploration and enjoyment.
- “The soundtrack reinforces the adventurous atmosphere, providing a calm yet engaging backdrop that suits both peaceful farming sessions and tense dungeon crawls.”
- “The music and atmosphere really draws you in if you let it and it's hard not to want to explore every single corner of the map.”
- “People will draw comparisons with Stardew Valley, and I agree up until a point - it has a really laid back atmosphere that's felt down to the smallest sound effect. You're the new kid on the block and your success is down to your own pursuits; you can farm or go mining, and good lord the soundtrack is incredible and perfect for the setting.”
stability
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
0% positive mentions, 0% neutral mentions, 100% negative mentions
The game runs smoothly with minimal glitches and reliable community support for troubleshooting. However, occasional brief freezes occur during autosaving, which can be slightly annoying but do not significantly impact overall stability.
- “Almost no glitches and if you get stuck there is a really good guild on the forums that covers 95% of what's in the game!”
- “It freezes for a couple of seconds whenever it autosaves, which is kind of annoying, but overall the game runs well.”
emotional
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100% positive mentions, 0% neutral mentions, 0% negative mentions
The game evokes a strong emotional connection through its homage to Morrowind, suggesting the developer’s intent to create a nostalgic and engaging experience for fans of that style.