How long does it take to beat Silksong?

(Image credit: Team Cherry)

How long does it take to finish Silksong? Good question! As our very own Oscar Tyler-Kent mentions in his Silksong review, a “regular” run through Silksong can get you to the end credits in roughly 30 hours. If you’re the type of player who prefers to take on a few side quests here and there while you brave the dangerous lands of Pharloom, you should expect a similar runtime on your save file too.

That said, the deer fly is in the details, and you might potentially spend way longer in the game than this. Let’s break it down.

How long is Silksong?

Hollow Knight: Silksong is absolutely loaded with secrets to find and hidden areas to explore. There’s so much tucked away that - similar to the original Hollow Knight - Silksong has multiple endings to unlock. If you’re a completionist, you’ll have a lot more game to explore after you first watch the end credits roll.

Generally speaking, here’s what you should expect for your playtime:

A regular ending of Silksong will take you around 30 hours to achieve. As mentioned above, this is assuming you’ll still explore a bit and grab important upgrades you don’t want to pass up. Actual speedrunners can clear this game way faster (it only took two weeks to get the world record down to almost one hour).
A save file that reads 100% will likely require over 60 hours. Yes, really! Team Cherry wasn’t just kicking their feet up for the seven years Silksong was in development. You’ll have way more ground to cover if you want to see everyone nook and cranny of the world.
If you want every achievement or trophy, you’re looking at potentially over 100 hours. The reason for the huge jump in time? Well, you have two speedrunning challenges to beat the game in five hours and get 100% completion in 30 hours, which you just won’t do on your first run through. What’s more, Steam players exclusively have the Steel Heart achievement on their list, which specifically requires replaying the game and getting to 100% completion without dying once. You got your work cut out for you here!

All of this isn’t even considering that Silksong is a really tough game, so these estimates can wildly vary depending on your skill level. After all, if you’re stuck on a boss and just can’t break through, Silksong might as well be a million hours long. If you choose to brave this beautiful-yet-deadly world of bugs, make sure to check our guides to get through those early game bosses like the Silksong Bell Beast and wrap up sidequests with helpful rewards like finding Silksong Mossberries. Whether you’re here for a little while or a long haul, enjoy every minute you’ll spend in this bug-filled world.