PlayStation 5 Gets 10/10 Hollow Knight Rival You Can Try Free Now

Published Sep 23, 2026, 9:40 AM EDT Ewan is Deputy Editor for ScreenRant's gaming section. He still quite hasn’t gotten out of his mid 00’s emo phase, and knows more about The Legend of Zelda and Doctor Who than is probably healthy. Ewan oversees the content operation of ScreenRant's gaming output, working with a talented team of writers and editors to cover everything from the latest GTA 6 news to the indie games you need on your radar. Former Editor of GAMINGbible, Ewan also has words at Kotaku, Den of Geek, NME, and UNILAD. He's appeared on various podcasts, including VGC's and BBC's Let's Talk About Tech. A surprise new contender has emerged in the race for Game Of The Year, and it's a wonderfully weird-looking Hollow Knight-inspired metroidvania from the creator behind two of the most underrated indie games of the last decade. In a year already stuffed with excellent games like Big Walk, Mina The Hollower, 007: First Light, and The Blood Of Dawnwalker, it's kind of nice to see we're far from finished with the top-shelf gaming experiences. Well Dweller is a brand-new dark fairy-tale metroidvania, "full of charming characters living in a wretched kingdom", which is very Hollow Knight. You play as Glimmer — a tiny bird armed with a matchstick who must burn the wicked queen to save his family. I confess I haven't had a chance to play Well Dweller myself yet, but I have played developer Kyle Thompson's previous two games, Islets and Crypt Custodian, and I think they're absolutely fantastic. It comes as little surprise, then, that his latest game has a 91 on Metacritic, making it the fourth highest-rated game of 2026 so far. To be very clear, Well Dweller is available on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, PC, and Nintendo Switch 2. However, PS5 gamers can check out a free demo right now, no PS Plus required. The whole game is also available via Xbox Game Pass, so you can play for "free" if you have a subscription there. Well Dweller has a wonderful storybook aesthetic, equal parts adorable and genuinely disturbing. For every adorable character you meet, you'll also come face-to-face with a giant boss battle that looks like it's crawled straight out of your nightmares. Critic reviews so far have been effusive in their praise, with multiple outlets calling it one of the best metroidvania in years, which is genuinely high praise for a genre that seems to pump out bangers with surprising regularity. User reviews are also very strong, at least on Steam, where the game has a 95% rating based on 164 reviews. "A little less than an hour in and I'm already delighted," writes one customer. "Kyle Thompson is an amazingly consistent dev. I loved Islets, I loved Crypt Custodian, I'm already loving Well Dweller." Another adds: "two hours in and it's shaping up to be one of the best releases of the year. Kyle Thompson continually improves with each game he releases, and doesn't abandon basic principles of metroidvania design for complexity. In a space flooded with soulsvanias and middling waifu shovelware titles, Kyle Thompson is a breath of fresh air in the space." If you're looking to scratch that Hollow Knight itch, I'd strongly reccommend you check this one out ASAP. And if you're on PS5, don't forget about the demo! Systems Released February 24, 2017 ESRB E10+ for Everyone 10+: Fantasy Violence, Mild Blood Developer(s) Team Cherry Publisher(s) Team Cherry Engine Unity Franchise Hollow Knight