How to Play Hollow Grounds

Run a cafe by day, keep your people alive by night. Behind the warm lamps of Hollow Grounds, a small group of Hollows shelters from the rain and the Wardens of Ward 7.

Join Rin and the crew in the cafe, plan each person's night on the ward map and face the consequences at dawn. Eight story chapters bring choices and two possible endings. Use the Story tab to check objectives and replay scenes you have already seen.

Keep the cafe open

The cafe earns money during the day while an adult crew member is available to work. Tap the counter to brew for extra cash, then open the Cafe upgrades panel to improve equipment, attract customers and strengthen Cover. Keep some money for night supplies. Special customers interrupt the routine: a plain-clothes Warden, Hollows seeking shelter and informants. Read their dialogue and choose your response; encounters can affect your resources and crew.

Watch the five resources

Money

Your income from serving coffee. Spend it carefully so there is enough left for supplies.

Ember

The sustenance your Hollow staff need. Keep a reserve for the next night.

Cover

How believable your ordinary cafe looks. Good cover helps trade and protects the people inside.

Heat

The Wardens' attention. Reckless hunts raise it. Heat of 70 or more at the night raid check triggers a raid.

Morale

Your crew's faith in the refuge. Survival has a cost, and your choices affect everyone.

Make it through the night

End the day to open the ward map. Choose an assignment for each available person, reviewing health, hunger, costs and success chances before pressing Begin the night. Outcomes depend on health, hunger, Thorn strength and specialties. Some people cannot take every assignment.

• Rest: let an injured person recover.
• Scavenge: gather Ember with less attention than a hunt.
• Hunt: seek a larger supply at the cost of Heat and Morale.
• Deal: spend 60 money for a chance to bring back Ember.
• Patrol: protect your refuge and reduce the threat.
• Train: improve a crew member's Thorn.

Protect your people

Hunger rises every day. Above 70, an adult crew member becomes a risk on the cafe floor; at 100, they lose control. Keep Ember available for automatic feeding after assignments, and rest injured people. Mira never goes on night missions, and Teo will not hunt. Read the narrated night report one event at a time, or use Skip to dawn to reveal the remaining entries. Missions and raids can leave people injured, captured or permanently dead. Review losses and dawn totals before opening the cafe again.

While you are away

A live game saved during the day, with no pending night report, can earn diminishing offline income for up to eight hours. Hunger also grows, but by at most one day's worth. Nights and story days do not advance automatically. Read the return report and check supplies before continuing.

A sensible first shift

1. Tap to build a cash reserve.
2. Favor scavenging when supplies are low and rest when someone is hurt.
3. Budget for Deal assignments before hunger becomes dangerous.
4. Read each night report. Repeated hunts can bring a raid even when your stores are full.

Enter Hollow Grounds