Mina the Hollower is coming to PC and consoles next week

Yacht Club Games has released a new gameplay trailer for Mina the Hollower ahead of its multiplatform launch on May 29. The studio behind Shovel Knight is trading its titular gardening tool for a whip in a top-down action game heavily inspired by the Game Boy Color.

Mina is an inventor mouse who can burrow underground to dodge enemies and cross gaps. She fights with a whip called the Nightstar and uses various sidearms like hatchets and daggers. The aesthetic sticks rigidly to the four-color palette limits of late-90s handheld hardware. The only modern concession is the widescreen resolution.

Dirt is the best armor

The burrowing system is the main hook here. Mina can dive into the ground to bypass enemy attacks entirely. She is completely invincible while burrowing. Once underground, she moves faster and can pop up to surprise the gothic horrors wandering the map. She can also use this hollow mechanic to cross gaps or slip under hazards that would otherwise block her path.

Combat relies on four-way directional attacks. You get a primary whip and interchangeable sidearms. Mina can equip hatchets or daggers, but she can only hold one sidearm at a time. The game also includes a trinket system for permanent passive upgrades. You can equip these items to boost your navigational skills or combat stats. The developers have cited The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons and Castlevania as major influences. The visual language of both is obvious in the world design.

The boss fights are massive. One encounter pits Mina against a hooded skeleton creature that takes up a large portion of the screen. The plot follows Mina as she travels to Tenebrous Isle. She originally invented the Spark Generators that power the island. Those generators have mysteriously stopped working. She has to fix them, which naturally requires fighting through a cursed world full of monsters. She takes orders from an NPC named Lionel, who gives her free rein over the generator repair order.

The long road to May 29

Yacht Club originally announced the project via Kickstarter back in 2022. It suffered a few delays and missed a planned Halloween 2025 window before finally landing on the May 29 date earlier this month. The final release will cost $20.

The game is launching basically everywhere. It hits PC, Mac, Linux, Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Switch 2, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S simultaneously. PC players have options for where to buy it, but the DRM-free version will be available directly through GOG.

The scale of the game is apparently much larger than Shovel Knight. Yacht Club recently stated it has more screens than the entirety of the Treasure Trove collection. This is either genius or madness. Possibly both. It includes over 25 bosses, a level-up system, and 60 different trinkets to modify your build.

The soundtrack is handled by Jake Kaufman, who previously scored Shovel Knight, alongside guest composer Yuzo Koshiro. Koshiro is best known for his work on Streets of Rage and ActRaiser. Yacht Club Games has promised a dense, interconnected world map to explore, complete with a fishing mini-game. Because every retro throwback eventually requires you to catch a fish.