Hollow Sun Manual
How to play. Please also read the health warning before you start.
- Starting a run
- Controls
- The road down
- Fights
- Card and status words
- Bosses
- Rewards and shops
- Solenne's favour
- Between runs
- Saving
1. Starting a run
Hollow Sun is a deck-building roguelite. Each run, you take one hero down through the Mist, ten depths deep, fighting with a deck of cards that grows as you go. If your hero falls, the run ends, but much of what you earned carries over to the next.
On the title screen, the five heroes stand in Solenne's hands. You begin with the Warden of the Passage. The others are held as grey statues until you free them; hover one to see what frees it.
- The Warden of the Passage. Half her block carries into the next turn. Shields, thorns and a greatsword.
- The Fallen Messenger. A letter is always on its way. Delayed blows, paper cuts and bleeding.
- The Mirror Knight. Sends blocked damage back. Reflection, copies and shattering.
- Ilva and the Unbeheld. The thing behind her attacks at the end of every turn. Feed it, mark the prey, pay in blood.
- Aletheia and Apate. Twin sisters, one truthful and one lying. Their cards grow stronger when both have played.
When you have unlocked them, you also choose a starting card and a relic to carry before the run begins.
2. Controls
Hollow Sun is played with a mouse, with keyboard shortcuts for everything in a fight.
On the road
| Action | Keys |
|---|---|
| Walk left / right | A D or ← → |
| Up / down (paths, stairs, doors) | W S or ↑ ↓ |
| Jump | Space |
| Interact, choose | Click |
In a fight
| Action | Mouse | Keys |
|---|---|---|
| Pick a card | Click it | 1–9 |
| Choose a target | Click the enemy | ← → or Tab |
| Play the picked card | Click the target (or anywhere, if there is only one) | Enter or Space, or press its number again |
| Put the card back | Esc | |
| End your turn | END TURN button | E |
Anywhere
| Action | Keys |
|---|---|
| Skip a boss entrance | Space, Enter or Esc |
| Advance dialogue | Space or Enter |
| Close a book or window | Esc |
| Full screen on / off | F11 or Alt+Enter |
3. The road down
Each depth is an area you cross on foot, a long painted road with paths off to the side. Along it you meet:
- Fights with the creatures that live there, and tougher elites.
- Merchants, who sell cards, gear and services.
- Mystery rooms and road events: small places and strangers you can deal with by hand, for better or worse.
- The Ancients, old powers who offer a choice that shapes the rest of the run.
- The Sabbath, a place to rest and heal or to improve a card.
Every area ends with its great foe. Beat it and doors open down to the next depth; you choose which one to take, and going through heals part of your health. Every third depth ends with a colossus instead, and the tenth depth, the Bottom, holds a final boss.
4. Fights
Fights are turn-based. On your turn you draw a hand of cards and spend energy to play them. Each card shows its energy cost in the top corner and what it does underneath. When you end your turn, the enemies act.
- Watch the intents. Above each enemy is a sign showing what it will do next: attack (and for how much), defend, or something stranger. Plan around it.
- Attacks deal damage. Block stops damage and is lost at the start of your next turn.
- Cards you play go to your discard pile. When your draw pile runs out, your discard pile is shuffled back in.
- Win by bringing every enemy to zero health. If your health reaches zero, the run ends.
Hover any card, status or enemy to read exactly what it does.
5. Card and status words
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Block | Stops damage. Lost at the start of your turn. |
| Strength | Each hit deals this much more. |
| Weak | Deals 25% less damage. Wears off by 1 each turn. |
| Vulnerable | Takes 50% more damage. Wears off by 1 each turn. |
| Bleed | Loses this much health before it acts, then Bleed drops by 1. |
| Thorns | When an enemy hits you, it takes this much back. |
| Stun | It loses its next move. |
| Retain | Stays in your hand at the end of the turn. |
| Next turn | Paid now. Happens at the start of your next turn. |
| Twice | The card does everything twice. |
Heroes and enemies have more words of their own. The game explains each one when you hover it.
6. Bosses
Great foes end each area. Every one of them has a rule that changes how the fight works: one burns a candle each time you spend energy, one hides or lies about its numbers, one puts a real clock on the fight. The rule is shown beside the boss. Read it before your first card.
Colossi end each act, at depths 3, 6 and 9. They are giant fights in a moving arena, with waves of enemies, and a choice to make when the colossus falls.
Final bosses wait at the Bottom. Each has its own rule and changes into a second form when it falls to half health.
7. Rewards and shops
- After a fight you choose one of several new cards for your deck, or skip. A smaller, sharper deck is often stronger.
- Fights also give cinders, the money of the road. Spend them at merchants.
- Elites and great foes can drop gear and relics: lasting effects for the rest of the run.
- Merchants sell cards, gear and services such as removing a card. Some will also buy pieces of you, such as your blood, your sleep or your name, for a price you pay later.
8. Solenne's favour
Solenne, the dying sun, gathers the sparks set free when monsters die. As you kill, she takes notice. When enough sparks are gathered, she descends and offers you a choice of relics. The better you have fought, the more she favours you, and the rarer the gifts she brings.
9. Between runs
Every run leaves something behind, whether you win or fall:
- Free the other heroes. Each held hero is freed by a deed in the descent. Hover a statue to see which.
- New cards. Each hero starts with part of their card pool. Beating great foes and colossi adds more cards for that hero.
- Embers and the ember tree. Heroes gather embers from great foes, colossi, depth reached and wins. Spend them on each hero's tree to unlock new starting cards and small advantages.
- Relight the sun. Every great foe you ever beat adds a spark to the black sun on the title screen. As it fills, it opens new things.
- Give the monsters their names back. Every monster was once a person. Defeat enough of one kind and you learn who it was. Named monsters start each fight a little weaker.
- Full art. Play a card enough times across runs and you can show it in full art.
- Merchants remember you. The more you deal with a merchant, the more they offer.
The CARDS, NAMES and PAINTINGS books on the title screen show your collection.
10. Saving
The game saves automatically as you play. If you quit in the middle of a run, you can continue it from the title screen. Your unlocks and progress between runs are saved on your computer.