Hole.io: The Complete Player's Guide

By Nham Vu · Updated July 2026

Hole.io is a mobile battle royale game made by the French studio Voodoo, first released in 2018 for Android and iOS. You control a black hole that rolls through a small city, swallowing everything smaller than itself: traffic cones, mailboxes, cars, and eventually entire buildings.

I've put a fair number of hours into this one over the years, mostly in short bursts, and that's really its whole appeal. A round lasts about two minutes, the controls are a single virtual joystick, and yet there's more strategy hiding in it than you'd expect from something this simple. This guide covers how the game actually works, what separates a good run from a wasted one, and answers to the questions players ask most.

How Do You Play Hole.io?

You steer a hole around a small open map, dragging it over objects that are smaller than your current size to absorb them and grow. Every level, from park benches to buses to skyscrapers, adds mass, and mass is the only stat that matters.

The trick new players miss is that size determines what you can and can't eat. Roll into something too big and you just bounce off and lose a beat of momentum, which in a two-minute match is expensive. Reading the map for the next tier of eatable objects, rather than just following whatever's closest, is what separates players who finish top three from players who don't.

Is Hole.io Multiplayer or Single Player?

Hole.io runs as a live multiplayer battle royale, dropping several real players into the same shrinking map at once, though it can also be played in practice or offline modes depending on the version.

In live matches the other holes are your real threat, not the environment. A smaller hole can be swallowed just like a park bench, and the best players I've seen use this constantly: they hang near a bigger rival, wait for it to commit to eating something, then dart in and steal an easy kill on a hole that got distracted.

What Are the Best Tips for Growing Fast in Hole.io?

Growth speed in Hole.io depends less on constant movement and more on picking dense clusters of small objects instead of chasing single big prizes. In practice, a tight row of parked cars adds up faster than one truck across the map, because travel time between objects is dead time where you're not growing.

A few habits consistently separate strong finishes from mediocre ones.

• Clear dense clusters before crossing open ground for a single big object
• Stay near the edge of your current size tier so you're always close to your next upgrade
• Watch for smaller holes wandering alone, they're free mass
• Avoid the very center of the map early, that's where the biggest holes tend to camp
• Keep moving even while deciding your next target, standing still wins nothing

What Maps and Modes Does Hole.io Have?

Hole.io has featured a rotating set of themed maps over the years, including a New York-style city, a pirate cove, and other seasonal or event locations added through updates. The core objective stays identical across maps: end the match with more mass absorbed than everyone else.

Voodoo has also added event modes and limited-time twists on top of the base battle royale format over its lifetime, though the classic city map and straightforward eat-to-grow mode remain the heart of the game. If you're picking it up for the first time, starting on the classic map is the easiest way to learn object tiers before jumping into a themed one.

• Classic city map
• Pirate cove map
• Seasonal event maps

Does Hole.io Have Skins and Customization?

Yes, Hole.io includes a range of hole skins and cosmetic customization options that change how your hole looks without affecting gameplay mechanics. These are typically unlocked through in-game progress or purchases depending on the platform.

None of this changes your actual size or speed, it's purely visual, but I'll admit a flashy skin does make it more satisfying to swallow a rival's hole in the closing seconds of a match.

What Platforms Can You Play Hole.io On?

Hole.io is available on Android and iOS as a free mobile app from Voodoo, and browser-based versions inspired by or similar to it are also playable on various web game portals. The mobile app is the original and most actively maintained version, with the developer regularly pushing updates.

If you're comparing versions, the official app tends to have smoother physics and more consistent matchmaking than most browser clones, which is worth knowing before you commit to one over the other.

Who Developed Hole.io and When Did It Release?

Hole.io was developed by Voodoo, the French mobile game publisher known for hyper-casual hits, and it originally released in 2018. The game has since received continued updates, with recent versions still adding content and refinements years after launch.

That kind of longevity is rare in the hyper-casual space, where most titles get a burst of downloads and then fade. Hole.io stuck around because the core loop, simple as it is, holds up on repeat play in a way a lot of its imitators don't.