How to Make a Game Like Hollow Knight with AI

To make an original exploration game inspired by Hollow Knight, start with a route the player can see before they can use it. In this fictional undercliff tide station, a maintenance bridge sags below two dry landings. A small encounter in a side alcove gives the player a way to lift and steady the bridge long enough to cross.

The reward is a reusable action called Brace Pulse. The player learns it, returns to the near landing, and decides when to cast it. A crossing depends on using the new action in the right place and moving while its effect lasts.

Use a new ability to change what the player can reach

Team Cherry describes Hollow Knight as a 2D action adventure that combines interconnected caverns, combat, and abilities gained along the way. The studio’s Steam description gives reaching new heights with wings as one mobility example. See the official game site and developer’s Steam listing for those details.

Transfer that connection between progression and exploration into your own setting. The undercliff station uses a dry near landing A, a single unstable span B, and a dry far platform C. The nearby Service Alcove is the only other room. The worker starts on A with two integrity and a dormant bridge receiver. The goal is to reach C. No jump can bypass the span in this fixture.

Teach Brace Pulse after a two-state encounter

Entering the alcove takes one action and starts the training sentry in Winding. Give its raised arm a clear warning. Guard through that swing, then Strike when the arm lowers and the sentry is Exposed. The encounter has two states so the player can tell which input made a difference.

Use Learn at the console once to grant Brace Pulse in a separate action. The player can return to A at any time, but leaving after the fight and before Learn leaves the bridge unavailable. A disabled sentry stays disabled until Reset. If the player returns to the alcove while the sentry is still active, it starts in Winding again. Zero integrity ends the attempt.

Cross while the pulse holds

On A, Cast activates a dormant receiver for two future actions. Casting requires Brace Pulse and does not consume its own new window. Move from A to B, then from B to C. Each move checks the receiver at the start of the action. Every later accepted action uses one step of the window, including waiting or entering the alcove again. Trying to move from A onto the inactive span changes nothing.

Resolve the move before reducing the window. A worker who reaches the safe far platform on the last active action succeeds. If the effect expires while the worker is still on B, return them to A without damage and keep the ability. They can cast again once the receiver is dormant.

Give AI the route and its state checks

Ask for the encounter and crossing as one small loop. Give every connection an explicit rule and treat each accepted input as a fixture action while you check the logic.

Build an original side-scrolling undercliff station.
Start at safe landing A with integrity 2 and no Brace Pulse.
Connect A to a side alcove and a single unstable bridge segment B.
C is the safe far platform. Reach C to finish. No jumping bypass.

On entering, the active sentry starts Winding. Guard prevents
its attack damage. Strike or Wait costs 1 integrity. At zero,
fail. Otherwise change to Exposed. Strike while Exposed to
disable it. Guard or Wait while Exposed returns it to Winding.
Learn once at the console after disabling the sentry. Return to A
at any time. A disabled sentry persists until Reset.

Cast on A only with the learned ability and a dormant receiver.
Cast grants 2 future actions. Move A to B or B to C only when
the pulse is active at action start. Each accepted action after
Cast uses 1 of the remaining actions. Resolve the destination first. At zero on B,
return to A with integrity and ability unchanged. Reaching C
wins even when it uses the last active action.

Invalid inputs change nothing. Reset restores A, integrity 2,
an active sentry, an unlearned ability, and a dormant receiver.

Try to cast or cross from the starting landing, then try Learn while the sentry is active. Each command should leave the state alone. In a fresh attempt, Strike while Winding and check that integrity drops to one before the sentry becomes Exposed. Disable it, return without learning, and confirm the bridge is still blocked. Finally, replay both crossings and use Reset after each outcome.

Add one action of tolerance

Change only the pulse window from two future actions to three. The direct crossing still finishes on action eight. Repeat the deliberate delay. Waiting on action seven leaves two, moving to B on action eight leaves one, and moving to C on action nine succeeds as the receiver goes dormant. A player without Brace Pulse still cannot cast.

This comparison shows what one extra action allows in the worksheet. In a real-time build, separately check whether the activation cue and crossing speed make that window readable. The guide to changing one rule and replaying a build gives you a way to compare the two versions.

Build one blocked route and make the return count

Use one encounter, one ability, and one crossing with a readable failure. Verify a blocked first visit and a successful return before adding a wider map. Start your original exploration prototype with SEELE’s AI game maker and use the two crossing traces as checks.