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Game Information

Game Title: Mina the Hollower

Platforms:
PC
Nintendo Switch
Nintendo Switch 2
Playstation 5
Xbox Series X
Xbox Series S

MetaCritic - 92
OpenCritic - 92

Critic Reviews​

COGconnected - Jaz Sagoo - 87 / 100

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Cat with Monocle - Seth Hay - 5 / 5

Mina the Hollower delivers a retro-inspired adventure packed with rewarding exploration, stylish pixel art, and a standout soundtrack. While its punishing difficulty may frustrate some players, the flexible Modifier system and massive amount of content make it a journey worth digging into more than once.

Console Creatures - David Pietrangelo - 9 / 10

Mina the Hollower proves that time, effort, and attention to detail go a long way. Mina is a great new hero who controls incredibly well in a difficult but rewarding 2D adventure.

Cubed3 - Joshua Goldie - 10 / 10

While Mina the Hollower might not play like the games it's clearly inspired by, Yacht Club Games has instead taken bits and pieces from all of its inspiration and combined it with its years of experience on Shovel Knight to create a masterpiece. The demo may not have sold the game's full potential, but the final product surpasses expectations. Going for a full 100% run is a ton of fun, and it's taking all sorts of strength to not go back and play another full game.

DayOne - Jesse Norris - 9 / 10

Mina the Hollower was well worth the wait. It gives you all the vibes of the best old-school games, while bringing its own modern sensibilities with smartly paced exploration and tight gameplay.

DualShockers - Tay Garcia - 10 / 10

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Entertainium - Eduardo Rebouças - 4 / 5

Yacht Club Games' highly anticipated follow-up to Shovel Knight can be a lot of fun and positively infuriating as well.

EvelonGames - David Gómez - Spanish - 10 / 10

Mina the Hollower takes the best of retro gaming and elevates it to the next level, delivering an incredibly fun, challenging, and entertaining experience that lasts dozens of hours. It breathes charisma and originality in every single pixel, making it one of the best titles of the year and an instant classic.

GameBlast - Farley Santos - Portuguese - 9 / 10

Mina the Hollower delivers expansive exploration, a world full of personality, and a constant sense of discovery through its varied situations and inventive systems. While the journey occasionally stumbles with cumbersome backtracking, some combat limitations, and minor frustrating moments, these issues never overshadow the overall experience. Few games manage to turn seemingly simple mechanics into something this creative and engaging, and with memorable encounters, secrets hidden everywhere, and an island that always feels ready to reveal something new, the game proves there is far more beneath its retro-inspired surface than first appears.

Gameliner - Claudia Tjia - Dutch - 4.5 / 5

Mina the Hollower proves that nostalgia alone isn't enough to create a rock-solid game, but that innovation is necessary and possible without losing sight of the game's core.

Gamer Guides - Lowell Bell - 95 / 100

Mina the Hollower pulls the gameplay right out of the Game Boy Color-era of action adventure games and mixes it with a bunch of modern mechanics to produce another instant, retro-inspired classic. Endearing and often hilarious characters, great music, and even greater puzzle-and-platforming based exploration overshadow some wonky difficulty hiccups and a flat heroine.

Gamer Social Club - Daire Behan - 9.5 / 10

Almost a full decade on from Shovel Knight, Yacht Club Games has returned in full form. Mina the Hollower is a joyously ambitious modern take on classic action-adventure games, blending carefully executed mechanics with a world that isn't afraid to bite back, making for an experience that continuously empowers the player and rewards curiosity at every turn.

Giant Bomb - Mike Minotti - 3.5 / 5

Somehow, the Dark Souls influences keep Mina from being the best Zelda-style game it could be, while the Zelda mechanics prevent it from reaching the heights of the best Soulslikes.

Kakuchopurei - Jonathan Toyad - 100 / 100

Mina The Hollower is a triumph in game design, fun factor, storytelling, and vision, resulting from years of blood, sweat, tears, and heart from Yacht Club Games.

Netto's Game Room - Jeremy Schepper - 5 / 5

Mina the Hollower is a triumph. Yacht Club Games have proven themselves yet again as masters of their craft. Astonishingly beautiful art, a gripping Gothic story and challenging, yet rewarding gameplay converge together in a phenomenal package. Mina the Hollower is a must-play, and with the game's breadth of difficulty customization, I truly believe everyone could and should check this game out.

Nintendo Blast - Guilherme Lima - Portuguese - 9 / 10

Mina the Hollower is fascinating on many levels. Its world is captivating, with details everywhere, and challenges that flourish in both movement and melee combat. Given the arsenal of weapons and gadgets, which can drastically alter how the player controls the protagonist, and the non-linear progression, the replay value is immense and should certainly make this title another gem from Yacht Club Games.

NintendoWorldReport - Neal Ronaghan - 9 / 10

The combat stays varied, especially as you discover different weapons, sidearms, and trinkets to make your preferred build. This is a special game that was well worth the long wait. Hopefully Yacht Club Games gets to take this mentality to even more new frontiers in the future.

PSX Brasil - Victor Vitório - Portuguese - 90 / 100

Mina the Hollower shines in its building of a detailed, complex world that rewards the attentive gaze of explorers with pleasant surprises and benefits. However, its many difficulty modifiers don't help much for those who have trouble figuring out the paths, since the game's main issue is the lack of a useful map. This demanding and meticulously crafted adventure may end up dividing the audience, pleasing those who find satisfaction in exploring and progressing on their own and alienating those who prefer a more directed and convenient experience.

RPGamer - Ryan Radcliff - 4.5 / 5

There is a timeless feel to this game, with its homage to games from yesteryear, while also pushing the boundaries of what retro enthusiasts expect from titles that look like this.

Rectify Gaming - Tyler Nienburg - 9.5 / 10

Mina the Hollower is an excellent action-adventure 2D platformer that features intriguing storytelling, enjoyable yet challenging gameplay, and an overall exceptional experience

Region Free - Joonatan Itkonen - 5 / 5

Superbly designed, beautifully put together, and intensely rewarding at every turn, Mina the Hollower is one of the best games of the year.

TechRaptor - Austin Suther - 10 / 10

Mina the Hollower is a triumphant return for Yacht Club Games, creating one of the greatest retro throwbacks of all time. With its unique burrowing mechanic and challenging combat, this is nothing short of a grand adventure. Its most glaring flaw is that it ends, but at least I can continue playing with plenty of post-game content.

The Outerhaven Productions - Hayes Madsen - 5 / 5

Mina the Hollower is a brilliant 2D action-adventure game that takes clear inspiration from classic Zelda while building something that feels fresh, challenging, and uniquely its own. Its open-ended exploration, clever combat systems, strong sense of discovery, and flexible modifiers make every part of the adventure feel personal. While its difficulty can spike, Mina the Hollower stands out as an instant classic and one of the best games in its genre.

ThreeTwoPlay - Michael Seifert - German - 5 / 5

Mina the Hollower isn't just a fantastic homage to the good old Game Boy Color era. It combines smart gameplay mechanics with a vibrant and expansive game world, that's brimming with secrets and surprises, while looking absolutely fantastic. Countless modifiers allow you to make the game as easy, difficult or weird as you like. The boss fights are all incredibly well-designed, the diverse weapons, sidearms, and charms perfectly suit any playstyle and the combat is complemented by precise platforming and a variety of puzzles.

VDGMS - 9.5 / 10

Is Mina The Hollower better than Shovel Knight? Yacht Club Games seems to think so because In their words "Mina is the biggest and best game we've ever made...we squeezed every good idea we had into it."

After finishing, I agree. The combination of platforming, combat and its unique burrowing mechanic create an action-adventure that doesn't play like anything else. The learning curve is steep because the game doesn't hold your hand, which might push away some and turning on the spark generators, which is a recurring mechanic each biome lacks precision like the rest of the game but if you have any affinity for classic adventure games like Zelda, then Mina is a must because Yacht Club have done it again.

WayTooManyGames - Leonardo Faria - 9.5 / 10

I knew this was going to be a good game, considering its dev team's track record, but even then, Mina the Hollower surpassed my expectations. It is a bonafide masterpiece of a game. Not only does it pay homage to the Game Boy era of Zelda, I'd go as far as to say that it surpasses its main source of inspiration. It's colorful, it's charming, it's incredibly well-written, well-designed, with a great combat system and a dense world that just begs for you to explore every single corner.

Worth Playing - Chris "Atom" DeAngelus - 9 / 10

Mina the Hollower does for Zelda what Shovel Knight did for Mega Man. It's a revival of a classic franchise in spirit while having enough of its own flavor and style to avoid coming across as a simple clone or copy. It's clever, creative, and an absolute delight to play from start to finish, while having enough bonus content and modifiers to keep the game exciting even after you complete its roughly 20-hour playtime. In a year that's already filled with amazing games, Mina still shines.

 

[Little Mac]

Knew this was going to be special. 2 more days!!!!

 

[Ceadeus]

I've had my eyes on this gem for years now. It's weird how you can be more hyped for an indie game than for most upcoming AAA games!


It looks insanely charming and fun as hell.

 

[Zacfoldor]

This is from shovel knight makers right?

I knew it was a banger, but not like this.

GotY candidate unless yall decide to mixtape it.

 

[Tg89]

Didn't need to see this to know it would be a banger.

 

[Little Mac]

It's weird how you can be more hyped for an indie game than for most upcoming AAA games!


It looks insanely charming and fun as hell.

All I get excited for nowadays are Indies tbh. AAA game's budgets have ballooned so much that the devs are forced to play it safe and produce formulaic experiences that cater to the widest audience and it often results in an experience that doesn't deviate much from it's inspirations. Indies seem to take more risks to differentiate themselves from the pack and, in the right hands, can produce more unique, original, and/or memorable experiences.

 

[Gamer_By_Proxy]

Nope! Sorry! No room this year for great games I wasn't already aware of.

Spoiler

it was already on my wishlist. Will get it eventually

 

[Little Mac]

IGN: 10/10 Calls it a masterpiece of an adventure and, despite its retro visuals, scratches the same itch as Breath of the Wild and Elden Ring.

 

[ssringo]

A 10 from IGN makes me rather suspicious /s

I know nothing about this game other than the devs and that's enough for a day 1 from me.

 

[BlackTron]

This came out of nowhere for me, didn't know it existed till this thread. It looks FANTASTIC.

 

[Miyazaki’s Slave]

I don't personally care for/about their politics and full disclosure I did back this title at a high tier on Kickstarter.

The devs have been:

• Extremely communicative through backer streams kickstarter updates and YouTube announcements.
• They have shown the game at multiple events which generated positive and negative feedback. They have responded to both in kind and addressed multiple points of feedback in subsequent public showings/demos.
• They have been very open with their development process warts and all. Go watch some of their released backer streams: cool dev insights and some candid "we fucked this up and will fix it" incidents.

You can easily find elements of their company structure and development philosophy that many folks will not agree with…but I think it is very hard to argue against the quality of what they have produced with Mina.

Again, I am going to be overly positive about the game because I have followed the development process very closely, but for me at least, everything I have gotten to play smacks of a quality adventure game with a gorgeous retro presentation.

 

[ChoosableOne]

Good price, great scores, demo was good, and I loved Shovel Knight... so I'm in(I still think main character sucks though).

 

[Little Mac]

9.5/10. "Surpasses Shovel Knight as a cultural gaming mainstay."

 

[Davey Cakes]

They straight up said they delayed the game because it "wasn't good enough" and it sounds like everything really came together in the end. I've been a backer from Day 1 and I decided to get a code for Switch 2. Should be fun!

Mina's been getting a decent social media push. I hope it has strong word of mouth, too. Yacht Club needs a massive win after all these years of squeezing pretty much all the juice out of Shovel Knight.

 

[Shifty1897]

Dude, so happy for Yacht Club. This looks great.

 

[Sticks]

Guess I'm in

 

[The_hunter]

There are many 8bit indie games, but Yatch Club games are truly good.

 

[mèx]

Currently it's the highest rated game this year.

 

[sloppyjoe_gamer]

IIRC, there's a demo of this right?

 

[GravityMan]

The PC demo was excellent, it easily sold me on the full game.

 

[TonberrysKnife]

DAY. ONE.

Now...where's the physical version!?!?

 

[JMart100]

My only question this whole time wasn't "if" it would be good, but whether it was a Switch 2 or Deck OLED joint for me. Still debating that… but either way…

 

[DragoonKain]

Can't wait for this. 007 then this back to back for me. Then I probably get to Crimson Desert finally.

 

[Buggy Loop]

I remember thinking that dev never misses and should be good but holy shit, it came out swinging

 

[Dacvak]

Backed this on kickstarter in, what, 2022? I'm so stoked for it! The demo was incredible. I can already tell this'll be a GOTY contender for me.

 

[Spukc]

Knew this was going to be special. 2 more days!!!!

FUCK 2 days

 

[STARSBarry]

IGN: 10/10 Calls it a masterpiece of an adventure and, despite its retro visuals, scratches the same itch as Breath of the Wild and Elden Ring.

Oh man after giving Mixtape a 10/10 this sure holds some weight.

 

[Xellos]

Been looking forward to this. Glad we're getting some good Zelda-style games this summer.

 

[kpopSuperstar]

My appriciation of pixel art was high once, but has dimished greatly, and now I think this looks straight up generic.

I think people who say this looks beautiful are just saying it because you are supposed to, or it's nostalgia.

 

[SpiceRacz]

Impressive scores. I'm going to buy it for no other reason than to support Yacht Club. The demo didn't really do much for me though. Gameplay didn't click at all.

 

[Buggy Loop]

Oh man after giving Mixtape a 10/10 this sure holds some weight.

Is IGN a single entity? Is it the same reviewer?

Or, gosh, imagine that someone, for his taste, loved Mixtape.

 

[LavitzSlambert]

I'm excited, love to see glowing reviews. Hardest decision for me will be if I play it soon while it's fresh, or wait for September or October for the spooky vibes.

 

[Little Mac]

Oh man after giving Mixtape a 10/10 this sure holds some weight.

Is IGN a single entity? Is it the same reviewer?

Or, gosh, imagine that someone, for his taste, loved Mixtape.

The reviewer is:

Samuel Claiborn

Samuel-IGN

Managing Editor
Samuel Claiborn is IGN's Managing Editor. He has worked at IGN for over 13 years and is a regular member of the Game Scoop show and podcast. Samuel has contributed to hundreds of game strategy guides and videos, reviews, and other fun things IGN publishes over the years. Samuel collects, restores, and operates vintage video games of all types, including classic consoles, arcade machines, and pinball machines, and is a fan of retro video games and game history. He has appeared in documentary films about game history such as World 1-1 and contributed to history books such as NES/Famicom A Visual Compendium and NES Endings Compendium 1985-1988.


Some of his review scores (of notable titles) are Metroid Prime Remaster (10), Metroid Dread (9), and Animal Crossing: New Horizons (9)

 

[JohnnyPhats]

Perfect Switch Lite game

 

[GametimeUK]

Shovel Knight is genuinely one of my favourite games of all time. Hyped for this one.

 

[Arsic]

Had 0 doubt this would be my indie title of the year. Absolute perfection.

Day one.

 

[AJUMP23]

Yacht Club can hopefully buy Yachts after the success of this game.

 

[Chuck Berry]

Scratch the same itch as Breath of the Wild and Elden Ring?

Might as well have opened the review comparing it to The Godfather

 

[Roman Empire]

Getting this some day. It has been on my wishlist for a while now, but the backlog is holding me back until the next big release.

 

[april6e]

I thought this summer was going to be dry game release wise but we've been getting non-stop high rated under the radar bangers.

Mixtape, Zero Parade, Forza Horizon 6, 007 First Light all with good reviews and Mina also is trending towards being the highest rated game of the year. My fingers are crossed for Star Fox next month as well.

My wallet is on fire right now with all these good games.

 

[sloppyjoe_gamer]

I thought this summer was going to be dry game release wise but we've been getting non-stop high rated under the radar bangers.

Mixtape, Zero Parade, Forza Horizon 6, 007 First Light all with good reviews and Mina also is trending towards being the highest rated game of the year. My fingers are crossed for Star Fox next month as well.

My wallet is on fire right now with all these good games.

 

[Dorago]

The biggest problem I have with this game is it's a graphical downgrade from Hollow Knight on first impression.

Shovel Knight looked somewhat like NES but with graphic tricks that could only be pulled off on 32 bit systems.

This looks like the Gameboy Color with maybe more sprites?

First impressions matter, and they've failed to appeal to me with this one.

 

[Miyazaki’s Slave]

I would have thought given your taste you would appreciate a "less is more" approach to what they are doing with the game.
Not shitting on your opinion/lived expierence/etc, just thought the comment was weird given your avatar choice.

 

[mèx]

you would appreciate a "less is more" approach

They really tried to match some of the the GBC specifications, I think it's a really cool approach.

What exactly does it mean to be a next-gen Game Boy Color game?

• Compact Resolution - Game Boy's screen resolution was a tiny 160x144. Mina's is 256x144, essentially the same screen real estate, but widescreen. This small resolution (smaller than Shovel Knight!) gives a close-up view at the expense of screen real estate. Each pixel is very impactful!
  
  
  
  The Game Boy Color displays at a 4:3 resolution, while Mina the Hollower displays at an eye-popping 16:9 widescreen resolution.

• Finite Color - Art assets in Mina the Hollower all conform to the Game Boy Color's palette restrictions, limiting sprites to only 4 colors per 8x8 pixel tile. That even includes black and transparency!
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Focused Tech - Mina features sprite art with no 3D, scaling, or rotation, just like the classic 8-bit handhelds. Instead, we use a lifetime's worth of 2D wizardry knowhow to bring the world to life.

 

[Odinnii]

I'm annoyed the game is stricly 16:9

Would have liked to play this on a vertical handheld.

 

[Sohurmk833]

Patiently waiting for a Switch 2 retail release.

 

[NeoIkaruGAF]

Didn't expect such glowing reviews.
This may be one to get.

 

[Branded]

Loved the demo. Hate that we still have to wait TWO Days.

Fak.

 

[thatsafakewebsitebro]

This came out of nowhere for me, didn't know it existed till this thread. It looks FANTASTIC.

There's a demo out. It truly is awesome.

 

[Chuck Berry]

Didn't expect such glowing reviews.

Even after how much love Shovel Knight has gotten over the years?