About Hollowmere
Hollowmere is a free gothic action RPG drawn entirely in ASCII glyphs: every raindrop, candle flame, blade and cathedral wall is a text character, lit in real time. You are a pilgrim on the Weeping Road to a drowned town where a bell was rung a hundred years ago and the rain has not stopped since. Light the votives, read what the dead left behind, and fight your way through the town, the graveyard, the cathedral and the country beyond it.
Combat is close and deliberate. Foes flash before they strike; you roll through the blow, strike in the opening, shoot a raised arm to break the swing and answer with a riposte. Every fallen foe leaves ichor, the currency of levels, and every boss changes in its second phase.
How to play
- Light the votives. Resting heals you, refills your tinctures and shot, saves, and is where you level up and travel.
- Watch the foe, not the button. A foe glows red (or the colour you chose) just before it attacks: roll through it.
- Parry. A pistol shot into a wind-up staggers the foe; strike at once for a visceral riposte.
- Rally. After a hit, part of your health glows orange: hit back quickly to win it back.
- Mind your stamina. Attacks, rolls and running spend it; when the bar greys out you are open.
- Use your trick weapon. Every weapon has two forms (the Vesper Hook unfolds into a scythe). Switch even in the middle of a combo.
- Follow the way. The current goal sits under your health bars, and a pale wisp drifts ahead of you along the way (SETTINGS > WAY HINTS).
Origins and difficulty
A new game asks where your pilgrim begins: six origins, from the all-round Pilgrim to a Warden in plate with a halberd, a Poacher with a thorn knife, a Choir Mystic with a censer of coals, a Sexton, and a Wretch with a rusted hook at level 1. Then Normal, the pilgrimage as it is meant to be played, or Hardcore: harder blows, and only a few tinctures, refilled only by resting at a votive.
Controls
| Action | Keyboard / mouse | Phone / tablet | Gamepad |
|---|---|---|---|
| Walk | WASD | Stick | Left stick |
| Attack | Left click / J | Tap ATK | RB |
| Heavy attack | Right click / K | Hold ATK | RT |
| Roll / run | Space (hold to run) | ROLL (hold to run) | B (hold to run) |
| Pistol / parry | Q | Tap GUN | LB / LT |
| Change weapon form | F | Hold GUN | Y |
| Tincture (heal) | R | HEAL | X |
| Lock on | Tab / middle click | Tap the foe | Right stick click |
| Use (votives, levers, doors, people) | E | USE | A |
| Bag / character / map | I / C / M | Pause menu | Back |
| Pause | Esc | Pause button | Start |
Keys and gamepad buttons can be changed in SETTINGS > KEYS AND GAMEPAD. On a phone, SETTINGS also has larger buttons, a left-handed layout and vibration.
Votives, ichor and levels
Ichor drops from every foe you fell. At a votive, LEVEL UP spends it on five attributes: Vigor (health), Endurance (stamina), Strength and Skill (how hard your weapons hit, by their scaling) and Arcane (tinctures and ichor found). Weapons, pistols, attire and charms drop from foes and lie in corners; further on, a smith tempers your weapons with the bronze shards you find.
Where the road leads
- The Weeping Road: rain forest, the ford, a poacher's trail, and the gate of the town.
- Lowgate: streets of shuttered houses round a well, and a shortcut back to the road.
- The Mourning Yard: a graveyard, the sexton's house and the Warden's chapel.
- The Cathedral of the Drowned Bell: a flooded nave, and the bell itself.
- And beyond: when the bell falls silent the floodgates open on a drowned country: half-sunk streets, the vaults under them, a witch's mire, a castle on a crag, and something under all of it.
Tips
Do not heal in their faces
Drinking takes a moment. Step back, roll out of reach, or wait for a foe's recovery before you raise the flask.
Light every votive and pull every lever
Shortcuts loop back to votives you already lit. A long walk often ends at a lever that saves the next one.
Strike walls that look wrong
Not every wall is real. Some hide a corner with something worth the swing.
Talk to the living
The few people left in Hollowmere remember things. Go back to them when the world changes: what they say changes too.
Read the full Hollowmere guide, with pictures of every screen. Want something else dark? Survive the night in Pixel Vigil, or fight ragdoll duels in Splat Swords.
Hollowmere FAQ
Is Hollowmere free?
Yes. Hollowmere is a free gothic action RPG in your browser, with no download and no account. Signing in is optional: it keeps your pilgrims with your account so you can carry on from another device.
Can I play Hollowmere offline?
Yes. Open the page once while you are online and the game keeps working with no connection. Your three save slots stay on your device. Offline the game plays its own built-in sounds until the full music and sound set can stream again.
How do I play on a phone?
Turn the phone sideways (portrait works too). The stick on the left walks. On the right: ATK strikes (hold it for a heavy blow), ROLL rolls (hold it to run), GUN fires the pistol (hold it to change your weapon's form), HEAL drinks a tincture, and USE appears when something is in reach. Tap a foe to lock on. SETTINGS has a larger button size and a left-handed layout.
Which origin should I pick, and what is Hardcore?
The origin is only where your pilgrim begins: a spread of attributes and a starting kit (the Pilgrim, a Warden in plate, a quick Poacher, a Choir Mystic, a Sexton, or a Wretch with nothing at all). Everything stays open after that. Hardcore makes foes hit harder and limits healing to a few tinctures refilled only at votives; it is chosen once per pilgrim and can be lowered later, never raised.
What is a votive?
A shrine of candles. Light one and rest there to heal, refill your tinctures and pistol shot, save the game and level up. Every lit votive is also a place to travel to: TRAVEL lists them by area. Resting brings the dead foes back to their posts.
What happens when I die?
You rise at the last votive you rested at. The ichor you carried stays where you fell: reach that spot again to take it back. Die again on the way and it is gone for good.
How does the parry work?
Shoot a foe with your pistol just as it raises its weapon to strike. The blow breaks and the foe staggers: strike at once for a visceral riposte, the hardest hit in the game. Not every attack can be parried; watch which ones the bosses telegraph.
How long is Hollowmere?
A first journey through every region takes most players several hours; there are ten bosses, people with their own stories, false walls, shortcuts and more than one ending. NEW GAME + starts the world over with your pilgrim, and the foes grow stronger.
Can I move my save to another device?
Yes: SAVE SLOTS on the title screen. Export a slot to a .hmsave file and import it on the other device. The file is checked first, and a damaged or foreign file is refused without touching your saves. Signing in syncs your slots too.
Is there a way to make it easier?
SETTINGS > ASSIST makes foes hit softer and tinctures heal more, for those who came for the story. You can also change the colour foes flash before they strike (red, gold or cyan), the text speed, the brightness, and turn the lightning flashes, blood and screen shake down or off.
Related guides
- Hollowmere Guide: Combat, Votives, Levels and the Drowned CountryHow to play Hollowmere, the free gothic ASCII action RPG, in pictures: origins, Hardcore, controls, rolling and parrying, votives, levels, gear and the first bosses.
- Hollowmere Is Here: a Gothic Action RPG Drawn in ASCIIOur newest free game is a dark action RPG in your browser where every raindrop, candle and blade is a text character. Nine regions, ten bosses, three endings, offline.
Last updated: · NoInternet Arcade
