What's new

Changed

• A pass over the game's writing: hero descriptions, tips, room banners, boon cards, dialogue and the codex now read as plain, clear sentences, and say exactly what things do.
• Each NPC has a more distinct voice.
• Share your run now lives only on the ending screen after KINDLEFALL, so it can't be opened by accident mid-run. Press Enter there to return to the title.

Fixed

• An invisible Share your run button near the middle of the screen could be clicked during play.
• Thunder Cry's card now shows the damage its lightning actually deals.

Fixed

• The run card now opens with C (Back on a controller) instead of S, which is also the move-down key.

New

• Share your run: after a victory (or a death), press S for a run card with your hero, every boon you carried, your time, kills, biggest hit and more. Download it, copy it, or post it to X.
• Boon cards now warn in red when taking them would switch off boons you already have, and Your Build marks any boon that isn't working.

Changed

• Dodge rolls slide around pillar, pedestal and doorway corners instead of catching on them, and you can roll through the biggest bosses.
• Melee heroes hit a little harder, and the Knight's and Barbarian's dodges are a little more forgiving.
• The Pyromancer's basic spells hit a little softer, and Ash Step recharges a little slower.
• The victory recap waits for you to continue, so there's time to share your run.

Fixed

• The Vows screen no longer shrinks and pops back when you choose a vow.
• Heart of the Forge is no longer offered after Ashen Pact, and Glutton for Souls after Bone Pact, since they couldn't work.

Changed

• Stacked spell builds no longer slow the whole game down: a storm of hits can't keep freezing the action, so you can still move and dodge in the middle of it.
• When meteors would pile on top of each other, they merge into fewer, bigger meteors that hit just as hard and land with more force.
• Very heavy lightning storms draw lighter bolts after the first few, with every strike and all its damage still landing.

Fixed

• Pyroclasm now bursts a Greater Emberbolt into more bolts even when Scatterbolt splits it.

New

• Keyboard-only play: if you attack with the keys while the mouse sits still, attacks face where you walk and lock onto nearby foes. Move the mouse to aim with it again.
• Hollow Knights' guard now breaks: land three quick blows into the shield (it flashes red on the second) and the knight staggers, open to a finishing strike.

Changed

• Hits and room clears no longer flood the screen with light.
• Rooms on the same floor are lit more evenly, so dark rooms aren't near-black and bright ones don't glare.
• The Lightless Crypt has fewer elite knights, and Hollow Knights parry far less often against fast weapons.
• The pause menu's Settings button is now Settings & Controls, where every key can be rebound.

New

• A Send feedback button in the pause menu and on the death and victory screens opens a short feedback form.

New

• The Hollow now gets its own version of every flask reward, since it drinks souls instead of flasks: Soul Vessel, Grave Draught, Wisping Souls, Reforged, Second Ossuary, Bone Pact and more.
• Some of these grant extra Reassembles. The Hollow can hold up to three per floor, and the HUD shows how many are left.

New

• Pickups drift toward you when you get close, and chests open with the interact button as well as a strike.
• Boss intros frame both you and the boss.

Changed

• The Great Forge's trip-hammer lanes are always clearly marked, with a moment of grace when you enter.
• The Anvil Choir now plays without background music, so you can hear the notes.
• Boon text spells out units ("1 second"). Barbarian health 140 → 130; floors III–VII are slightly tougher; Cursed Blade drains faster.

Fixed

• Fixed a case where starting a new game could replace a saved game. Starting in an occupied slot now offers an empty slot first, and overwriting asks twice.
• An older save from before save slots can be recovered into an empty slot.
• Fixed a moment where your hero could freeze in place after a dash or charge.

New

• Three save slots. Each keeps its own descent, and your existing save moves into Slot 1.

Changed

• All 237 boon icons are redrawn in one painted style, and each one acts out what its boon does.
• Icons move gently on boon and relic cards and stay still on the HUD. With reduced motion turned on, they never move.

Changed

• Text is bigger by default, with Small and Large options in Settings.
• The minimap, tips and plaques hide while you're picking a boon or in a menu.

Fixed

• Every sound now follows your Music and SFX volume. Room-clear, victory and death stings used to ignore it.
• Fixed a case where the game could fail to start on some connections. Downloads now retry automatically.

Changed

• The Storm Seraph's and the Kindled One's deaths glow warm instead of flashing white.
• Floor I's braziers are lower and dimmer.
• Enemies wait while a floor's title card is showing, and tips stay hidden while you're paused.
• The Shadow of the Bone Tyrant gets a name plate and a health bar.

Changed

• No more glaring flashes at any big boss moment: intros, posture breaks, ripostes and deaths stay warm and readable.
• Tips, the Ember Rush meter and trophy pop-ups wait until boss intros and deaths are over.
• Every menu and confirmation now shares one style, with button hints that match your keyboard or controller.
• The Codex is complete, with eight new pages (79 in all).

New

• Forge Heart: break its posture and it slumps forward with its heart exposed for a few seconds. Strike it for heavy damage before it rises.
• The Hollow King's boon theft is now a short cutscene: the world freezes, he laughs and the stolen boon's embers drift into his hand. You can skip it after a second.

Changed

• All the music is re-rendered so notes ring out naturally instead of cutting off.

Fixed

• Save & Quit in the middle of the Hollow King fight keeps the boon he's holding.

Changed

• Boss deaths, duel deaths and executions soften the glow instead of flashing the screen white.
• Executions flash warm, the portal opens with a thin ring, and the Kindled One's form changes are dimmer.

Changed

• The Anvil Choir is now a call-and-response: the first anvil glows, strike it to hear the song, then play the song back. Each anvil has its own colour and symbol.
• Each swing rings exactly one anvil, the one in front of you. Explosions never count.
• A wrong note replays the song instead of summoning guards.

New

• Stuck on a puzzle room? Once it's clear of enemies, you can leave from its entry door. Optional rooms are sealed for that run, and the Anvil Choir lets you on without its gift.
• Floor I's optional boss is the Shadow of the Bone Tyrant.

Changed

• Every puzzle shows its rule on a plaque and tracks your progress as you go.
• The Burning Index marks the pages you've flipped and gives a hint after six strikes.
• The KINDLEFALL wordmark is simpler, without the falling spark.

Fixed

• Crypt Archer bolts stop at walls instead of bouncing off them.
• Spider legs no longer stretch when the Ossuary Spider and Cinder Crawler move fast or pounce.

New

• A new KINDLEFALL title and wordmark.
• Floor I is now the Kindlescar, where the First Flame struck, and the Bone Tyrant is its Lord.
• New lore: a Codex page on the night the sky fell, and about 20 new lines for characters, trophies and the epilogue.
• New boons: the Shard of the Fall relic, Kindle, the Long Fall pact and the Firstfall duo.

Changed

• Save & Quit to Title now sits right under Resume in the pause menu.
• Boss Rush, the Gauntlet and the Kindled One get Quit to Title, which keeps your descent save.

Changed

• Floor titles show one at a time when you arrive, and tips hide once a fight starts.
• The epilogue text sits on a dark band so it's easy to read.
• Hover a button on the title screen to see what it does.
• Floor IV's difficulty spike is smoothed out (gentler lava and Cinderlings outside the Forge Heart's room).
• Several boss deaths and rings are dimmer.

New

• The Hearth: between runs, spend the souls you banked on permanent upgrades from Mother Soot, with a free respec. Open it from the title screen or the death screen.
• Accessibility: colour-blind danger markings and adjustable text and menu size.
• Rebind your attack, dodge, spell, flask and ability on keyboard and controller.

Changed

• Menus and pause screens use far less power.
• The boss portal and the Forge Heart's dying core are dimmer.

Fixed

• Fixed slowdowns that built up during long sessions.

New

• Short, contextual tips teach as you play (they can be turned off in Settings).
• 24 new boons, including a Legendary for each hero.
• A ring under your hero, an arrow toward an off-screen portal, and a "Your descent" recap at the end.

Changed

• From floor III on, the deep scales with the strength of your build, and no single enemy blow takes more than about 40% of your health.
• The camera holds still while you choose a boon or browse a menu. Dodges have longer cooldowns.
• Real Low and Medium quality presets, faster loading and fewer stutters.

Fixed

• About 45 bug fixes, including softlocks around secret walls, mimics, and rewards lost on death.
• Floor II's fire crackle no longer sounds like static.

New

• The Pyromancer fights at range: three magic arrows, then a bursting fireball. Frost Wave (an ice wall that shoves foes back and blocks shots) and a Meteor that stuns.
• Heart of the Sun relic: the charged Meteor becomes a sweeping Sunbeam, with Trinity, Scorched Earth and Focusing Lens to build on it.
• A real ending: the epilogue, then back to the title, with New Game+ ready to continue.
• "Your Build" in the pause menu shows every boon you carry. Over 60 new boons and relics, offered to suit your hero.

Changed

• Ripostes are earned: executions only open after a parry, guard break or posture break, not by mashing.
• The title screen is quiet and starts only on Enter or A, restarting a run asks first, and the Kindled One unlocks after your first win.
• Floor V and VI bosses are tougher, and Floor I's Bone Hound is now the Ossuary Spider.

Fixed

• No leftover low-health vignette after you respawn.

Changed

• The title screen appears only once everything has loaded, and clicks made during loading are ignored.
• Hidden heart pieces really are hidden, and Pip hides somewhere different on every floor.
• The Spirit Ash knight is a helper, not a carry: it deals half damage and can fall.
• Great Forge trip-hammers fade while raised, and forge traps give longer warnings.
• The Ember Rush meter shows what each rank is worth.

Fixed

• Fixed a stuck door when you took a boon after detouring into a secret room.
• Fixed flickering on floors when the camera moves.

New

• Floors IV to VII: the Sunken Forge, the Drowned Cathedral, the Shattered Spire and the Hearth of Origins, each with its own boss, enemies and music.
• Two more heroes: the Pyromancer, and the Hollow, who drinks souls and, once a floor, is only scattered by death.
• Secret walls on every floor, puzzle rooms, mimics, secret duels, and characters who remember you.
• Executions, posture breaks, the Ember Rush style meter, fog gates and a minimap.
• New modes: New Game+, Boss Rush, the Gauntlet, Vows, trophies, a Codex, and the Kindled One superboss.

Changed

• Each floor's music loads when you reach it, so the game starts faster.

New

• A slow opening shot: fade in on the knight, pan to the dead as they rise, then back to you.
• The Ember Geode: a crystal hoard that breaks into souls, health and a damage boost.
• Random lines on the loading screen.

Changed

• The opening is silent: the ground rumbles, the dead rise, and the music creeps in once you have control.
• Lava is rebuilt as a sunken, flowing channel with drifting crust, swelling bubbles and rock walls lit from below.
• Starting from the title fades to black before the opening.

Fixed

• Fixed a burst of music when pressing Play.

New

• Floor IV enemies and hazards: Cinderlings, Magma Eels, Ashen Smiths, Forge Golems that hurl lava, the Cinder Crawler, falling rocks and rolling boulders.
• Ember Cyclone relic: hold the spell button for a fire whirlwind.

Changed

• Harder fights: enemies hit harder, health orbs heal less, brute charges stun, and arrows set you on fire.
• Low health is much more obvious: the screen darkens, colour drains and the heartbeat quickens.
• Ember Crescent is rebuilt as a blade of fire, and Floor I's ambience is softer.

Fixed

• Fixed stutters when new effects appeared for the first time.

New

• Stoke cards level up a boon you already own.
• 13 new boons, including Pacts (Ashen Pact, Berserker's Oath, Overcharge) and Duos (Scorchmark, Juggernaut, Ember Tide).
• Floors can now branch, with side doors and a sealed boss gate.

Changed

• Boon strength varies, and better rolls become likelier the deeper you go. You judge boons by their numbers.
• Vaults offer two relics, and Echo Blade is lighter.
• Core combat sounds are re-recorded, and hits sound different on different materials.

New

• 28 new boons across Blade, Ember, Grace and Vigour, plus the new Pact school, 7 Duos and 8 vault-only Relics.
• Hollow Knights can parry your sword.
• The Lightless Crypt is bigger, with lanterns hidden in walled alcoves.

Changed

• The Hollow King hits harder: guards, leaps, a Royal Decree of radial fire, and a second theft at 25% health. He only steals boons you carry, and keeps them for the rest of the fight.
• Ripostes only trigger early in a roll, with a cooldown.
• New boss audio with recorded layers.

New

• Floor III, the Hollow Barrows: an underground graveyard of the knights who went down before you.
• Hollow Knights, wraiths that only fire reveals, and living graves you have to smash.
• The Lightless Crypt, a dark room you light lantern by lantern.
• The Hollow King, who steals one of your boons at half health.
• Floor III music, boss theme and ambience.

Changed

• Choosing a boon is a deliberate two-step pick: select, then confirm.
• The build number shows under the title logo.

Fixed

• Controller taps on the boon screen are no longer missed.
• The Searing Edge icon is redrawn correctly.