Hollow Pines looks like a cozy farming game. Then a fisherman goes missing, and the town’s friendly faces start keeping secrets. Within the first hour, the warm pixel art and gentle music are still there, but every conversation carries a new weight. The baker is lying about where she was on Tuesday. The mayor won’t make eye contact. And the cheerful kid who sells lemonade by the pier knows far more than he’s saying.
A small-town detective game that is warm, funny and quietly devastating, Hollow Pines is the debut from Two Owls Games, a two-person studio in Columbus, Ohio. It spent five years in development, and it shows in every carefully drawn frame and every line of dialogue. Over 14 hours, we solved its central mystery, uncovered most of its side stories and spent far too long staring at a clue board covered in red string.
Welcome to Hollow Pines
You play as Wren, a young journalist who returns to the mountain town of Hollow Pines after years away to cover what seems like a minor local story. When a beloved fisherman named Abe vanishes from the lake the night after you arrive, the story changes. With the town sheriff unwilling to investigate, you start asking questions yourself.
The setup is simple, and the game takes its time. Early days are spent meeting residents, running small errands and learning the town’s routines. You fish, you chat at the general store and you help a neighbor repair a fence. It’s charming and slow in the best way, and it lulls you into a comfortable rhythm before the mystery starts to bite.
Writing that lands
Every resident has a schedule, a past and at least one lie. Catching them is a joy. This is where Hollow Pines shines brightest. The town has about 20 named characters, and each one follows a daily routine: the librarian opens at nine, eats lunch on a bench by the river and visits her sister in the evening. If you want to catch someone in a lie, you need to know where they’re supposed to be and notice when they’re not.
The dialogue is excellent. Characters are funny, warm and specific, and their conversations change as the investigation progresses and as they learn what you know. A friendly chat with the hardware store owner in the first week becomes tense and guarded once you’ve found a receipt that contradicts his story. It’s rare for a game to make you feel genuinely guilty about questioning a suspect, but Hollow Pines manages it again and again.
The game also balances its darker themes with real humor. A running gag involving a goose that steals evidence is consistently hilarious, and the town’s gossip-loving postmaster delivers some of the best lines of the year. These lighter moments make the serious ones hit harder.
The clue board
Your main tool is a clue board in Wren’s rented cabin. Every piece of evidence, from a muddy boot print to an overheard argument, is pinned to the board. You connect clues by drawing string between them, and when you link the right evidence, the game reveals a new lead or unlocks a confrontation.
It’s a clever system that makes you feel like a real detective. You form theories, test them and sometimes realize you were completely wrong. The game doesn’t punish wrong guesses harshly, but it rewards careful thinking with satisfying breakthroughs.
A town that keeps moving
Time passes in Hollow Pines whether you’re ready or not. Each in-game day lasts about 20 minutes, and many clues are available only at specific times. If you want to see who visits the boathouse after dark, you need to be there after dark. If you sleep in, the fisherman’s nephew will already have cleaned up the dock, and that scuff mark you needed will be gone.
That pressure could easily become stressful, but the game handles it gracefully. Missing a clue rarely locks you out of the main story; instead, it closes off a side path or forces you to find the same information another way. On our playthrough, we missed an entire subplot about the town’s old mill, and only learned about it from a colleague who stumbled into it on day four. That sense of a world that doesn’t revolve around you makes Hollow Pines feel unusually real, and it gives the game strong replay value for players who want to see everything.
We wanted players to feel like the town was alive without them. If you miss something, it doesn’t wait for you.
Sam Avery, co-founder of Two Owls Games
Hand-drawn and handmade
A two-person studio painted every frame, and it shows. Co-founder Nina Cho drew more than 4,000 individual frames by hand, and the result is one of the most beautiful pixel art games we’ve played. Seasons change over the course of the story, from late summer to the first snow, and the town transforms with them. Leaves turn, fog rolls off the lake and porch lights flicker on in the evening.
Characters are full of small details: a nervous habit, a slouch, a quick glance away when you mention the lake. These animations aren’t just for show; they’re often subtle clues. A character who fidgets when you mention a specific night is worth watching closely.
The soundtrack is equally lovely. Gentle acoustic tracks set the cozy mood during the day, while evenings bring quieter, more unsettling pieces. The shift in music as night falls is one of the game’s most effective tricks, making familiar streets feel strange.
What we liked
- Superb writing and characters
- Clever clue board system
- Gorgeous pixel art
- A living town with real daily schedules
- Smart balance of humor and heartbreak
Hollow Pines also respects your time. A helpful journal tracks every resident’s schedule as you learn it, and a gentle hint system can nudge you in the right direction without spoiling solutions. Accessibility options include adjustable text size, a high-contrast mode for the clue board and the ability to pause time while reading.
What we didn’t
- Some puzzles rely on guesswork
- Ending feels rushed
A few of the game’s logic puzzles, especially in the middle chapters, rely too heavily on guessing the exact connection the designers had in mind. On two occasions, we had a correct theory but linked slightly different evidence, and the game didn’t accept it. A little more flexibility would help.
The ending, without spoiling it, wraps up the central mystery quickly after a long, careful buildup. Several side stories conclude off-screen through short notes, and we wished for one or two more chapters to let the town and its people breathe after the big reveal. It’s still emotional and satisfying, just a little hurried.
Key takeaway: Hollow Pines combines a cozy town, sharp writing and a clever clue board into one of the most memorable detective games in years, despite a few rough edges.
The verdict · 8.8/10
The best detective story of the year comes from a tiny studio. Don’t miss it. Hollow Pines is warm and funny, then quietly devastating, and it trusts players to pay attention and think for themselves. Its living town, superb characters and beautiful hand-drawn art make it a joy to explore. A handful of guessy puzzles and a rushed ending keep it from perfection, but they hardly matter by the time the credits roll. Brew a cup of tea, grab a notebook and get ready to suspect everyone.
