199: Hollow Knight: Silksong (with Jenny Windom - Geeks & Grounds)

Dave Jackson — Wed, 21 Jan 2026 00:00:00 -0500

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Very few games have ever had the hype cycle that Hollow Knight: Silksong (Team Cherry, 2025) had, so the question remained once the game was finally released- did it live up to the hype? Clown masks and Nintendo Direct comment section explosions quickly gave way to Discourse surrounding Silksong's difficulty and sometimes anti-QoL approach. So was the juice worth the squeeze? Listen in to find out.

Guest info: Jenny Windom (she/her)

Check out Geeks & Grounds podcast https://www.geeksandgrounds.com/
Check out Jenny's YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/kimchica

TIMESTAMPS

0:00 Title Card
0:13 Introductions
9:06 Our Histories with Hollow Knight and Silksong
12:45 Opening Thoughts about Silksong
18:26 Difficulty and Accessibility
23:19 Story Setup and Visuals
27:31 The Pilgrimage, Characters and Voice Acting
36:25 The Pilgrimage and Anti-QoL Design
48:29 Challenge Ramp-Up and Difficulty Curve
57:53 Silksong- A Good Teacher & Overcoming Challenge
1:05:47 Metroidvania Design, Visuals and Music
1:14:18 Boss Fights, Combat Challenges and Runbacks
1:33:42 Crests, Tools, Customization
1:40:40 Closing Thoughts/Recommendations
1:45:54 Geeks & Grounds and Jenny's Other Work
1:51:22 Spoiler Wall and Patron Thank-Yous
1:53:13 Spoiler Section- Favorite Boss Fights
2:18:22 Spoiler Section- The Citadel and Faith
2:27:46 Spoiler Section- Hornet's Growth, Sherma and Community
2:45:23 Spoiler Section- Motherhood and Endings

Music used in the episode is credited to Christopher Larkin. Tracks used: Silksong, Bone Bottom, Trobbio, Cogwork Dancers, Bilewater, Far Fields, Lost Lace, Fleatopia

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Cover art by Jack Allen- find him at https://linktr.ee/JackAllenCaricatures

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11: Hollow Knight (with Jim Rodeman)

Dave Jackson — Mon, 03 Jan 2022 00:00:00 -0500

Dave is joined by anthropomorphic centipede Jim Rodeman to discuss Team Cherry's legendary metroidvania, Hollow Knight. Standing alone at the top of Metroidvania Mountain is a surprise indie hit, one that marries the lonely atmosphere of Dark Souls with best-in-class map design and fun, expressive combat.

TIMESTAMPS: Intro 0:00, Hollow Knight 12:23, Spoiler Section 1:33:35

Game Maker's Toolkit- The World Design of Hollow Knight

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Tales from the Backlog - Episodes Tagged with “Team Cherry”

199: Hollow Knight: Silksong (with Jenny Windom - Geeks & Grounds)

11: Hollow Knight (with Jim Rodeman)