There are games that arrive promising to be something special, and others that simply deliver on that promise without much fanfare. Mina the Hollower, from Yacht Club Games, the studio responsible for the acclaimed Shovel Knight, belongs to the second category, and I say this with complete conviction after spending more than 25 hours exploring every corner of the Hollower Isle. When the game was announced back then, still as a Kickstarter campaign, I was curious, but I kept my excitement in check. After all, the pressure on the studio was enormous: how to surpass a modern classic like Shovel Knight?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The answer came with Mina the Hollower, and it’s simple: not by trying to surpass, but by building something completely different, with its own identity, its own soul, and its own rhythm. The game changed my perspective on what an indie title can achieve in terms of depth, design, and immersion. And best of all: it comes at a ridiculously affordable price of 20 euros, which makes any counter-argument even harder to sustain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mina is an inventor and member of a guild of engineers called the Vaciators, who receives a letter from Baron Lionel asking her to return to Dark Isle to repair the spark generators she designed decades ago. These generators are the island’s main source of power and protection, and someone named Thorne, a mysterious rival, has been systematically sabotaging them. What seemed like a simple maintenance mission quickly turns into an epic adventure full of dangers, memorable characters, and secrets buried in every corner of the map.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What immediately captivated me was the game’s tone. There’s a very well-constructed Victorian Gothic atmosphere, with crypts, haunted mansions, cursed farms, and creatures that inhabit this universe as if they’ve always belonged there. But at the same time, Mina is a feisty character with a determined expression on her face, and there’s a gentle and charming humor that balances the darker side of the narrative. I laughed at secondary characters, was surprised by plot twists, and even felt a certain emotional weight in some of the side stories I encountered along the way. It’s not the most complex story ever written, but it’s very well executed within its own limitations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Before we get into the details, I need to say: Mina the Hollower is not a game to be played automatically. It demands that you pay attention, explore with curiosity, and accept being challenged. If you see this as an obstacle, you may have a frustrating experience. If you see it as an invitation, you will have one of the most rewarding experiences of the year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mechanics and Gameplay<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Talking about Mina the Hollower’s gameplay is talking about layer upon layer of very well-thought-out design decisions. At first glance, it seems simple: it’s a top-down adventure game, similar to the older The Legend of Zelda titles. But as you learn the game’s rules, you realize there’s much more depth than the 8-bit aesthetic suggests.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Mina’s core ability is digging. As a burrower, she can burrow into the ground at any time and move underground for a limited time. This mechanic is used in absolutely everything: in combat, to dodge attacks and find openings to attack; in exploration, to discover secret passages and hidden rooms; and in platforming sections, where emerging from the ground propels her jump to much greater distances than would be possible in the air. At first, I found this mechanic a little confusing, especially in the more chaotic sections, but after it clicked in my head, the whole game changed completely. I started to feel like a needle sewing a fabric, diving and emerging with a clear purpose in every movement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The combat also has surprising depth. Mina can’t attack in all directions at will, and attacks are directional, forcing you to intelligently position the character before acting. Enemies vary greatly: some crawl on the ground, others float in the air, and some alternate between the two forms. Learning to deal with each one requires constant observation and adaptation. And there’s a mechanic I’ve loved since I fully understood it: to heal effectively, Mina first needs to generate plasma by attacking enemies. Using a life flask without accumulated plasma recovers very little. With plasma at maximum level, the healing is much more significant. This transforms moments that would simply be difficult into situations where attacking aggressively is the smartest decision, even when you’re almost out of health.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Right at the start of the adventure, the game asked me to choose a main weapon from the available options. I went with the Castlevania-style whip, which has generous reach and a satisfying pace of use. Later I discovered a huge hammer, slow but devastating, and also a pair of daggers, extremely fast but more suited for close combat. Each weapon can be upgraded and has its own special characteristics that are unlocked with upgrades, which gives a very good sense of progression. Subweapons are a fun addition: they are of limited use and you lose them when you die, but while they are available, they open up interesting tactical possibilities, such as an umbrella to glide over holes or a drill to pierce certain obstacles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The amulets, or “abalorios” as the game calls them, are perhaps the richest element of the progression system. There are over 60 equipable items that profoundly modify how Mina behaves. Some increase attack, others defense, there’s one that saves you from dying once, another that emits a shockwave when you dig, and so on. Putting together the right combination of amulets for each situation, or for your favorite playstyle, is genuinely engaging and had me testing combinations for hours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The game’s structure is based on a central hub, the city of Ossex, from which paths branch off to the six regions of the Dark Isle that house the spark generators. You can explore these regions in any order you want, without the game placing a luminous arrow pointing the way. There are no formal tutorials. The game has an internal manual, which is very well made and styled like the old physical manuals, but it’s up to you to discover the mechanics by experimenting. This can be an initial shock, especially in the first few hours, when the learning curve is quite steep. But each barrier overcome brings a genuine satisfaction that few games can provide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The death and progression system is clearly influenced by Dark Souls. When you die, you lose the bones you were carrying, which are the game’s currency and experience resource. If you return to the point where you died and defeat the enemy that eliminated you, you recover them. If you die before that, the bones are gone forever. It’s tense, it’s risky, and it’s emotionally engaging in a way that surprised me. The game’s checkpoints, called hideouts, function like the bonfires in Dark Souls: using one restores health and resources, but all normal enemies respawn. Each time I used a hideout, it was a deliberate decision.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The level design is simply exceptional. Over 1,200 handcrafted screens, all brimming with secrets, shortcuts, hidden rooms, and unexpected connections between areas that I only discovered as I progressed. There’s a very well-constructed sense of space, where places that seemed separate are revealed to be connected in clever and elegant ways. And the dungeons, which serve as the great challenges of each region, have original themes and level design that impressed me. One involves flooding rooms with water to open paths, another completely changes the rules of platforming with sand currents. Each area of \u200b\u200bthe game presents something new.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For those who want to customize the experience, the game offers an absurdly extensive menu of modifiers. You can increase Mina’s jump height, reduce damage received, add checkpoints before bosses, increase movement speed, or even make the game even harder. All this without compromising achievements or game accomplishments, making Mina the Hollower accessible to any type of player. It’s one of the most well-thought-out accessibility systems I’ve ever seen in an indie game.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Graphics<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n When I saw the first images of the game, I confess I was a little hesitant. Game Boy Color pixel art is something many studios attempt, but few manage to execute with true excellence. Yacht Club Games not only succeeds: it delivers a result that leaves the competition far behind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The game’s aesthetic is inspired by the real-world limitations of the Game Boy Color hardware, but with small modern adjustments that make the experience smoother and more legible on contemporary screens. The game’s resolution has been expanded to 256\u00d7144, adapting the classic Game Boy window to today’s formats without distorting the intended visual fidelity. The result is incredibly faithful to the era it pays homage to, but at the same time clearly well-produced by current standards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The color palette is dark and elegant, with tones that reinforce the Victorian Gothic atmosphere of the Dark Isle. Each biome has its own very distinct visual identity: the eternal autumn zone has reddish foliage and a melancholic light that matches the area’s mysterious tone, while the icy regions have a cold bluish-white that conveys isolation. The baroque cemeteries have that palette of purples and grays that made me genuinely uncomfortable in the best possible way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The characters are expressive within the limitations of pixel art, and the bosses in particular are absolutely spectacular. Each one is a striking visual creation, with designs that linger in the memory long after the confrontation is over. Mina’s animations when digging, emerging, attacking, and moving are fluid and charming, and the common enemies have an enormous visual variety, from the zombie snowman to the screaming turnip, each one visually distinct from the others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There are moments when the game does something very interesting: it forces a three-dimensional perspective within the very visual rules of pixel art, creating an illusion of depth that works surprisingly well. I was reminded of certain Game Boy Color games that ventured into a pseudo-3D with the limited resources of the time, and seeing this recreated in an intentional and controlled way was a real aesthetic pleasure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n My only visual reservation is that, occasionally, the depth perception in the environments can be a little confusing. At times I was unsure whether a certain element was an insurmountable wall or an obstacle I could jump over. It’s not a serious problem, and you learn to read the environments over time, but it’s something that might feel strange in the first few hours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sound<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Jake Kaufman has already proven with Shovel Knight that he is one of the most talented chiptune music composers today. In Mina the Hollower, he went even further, and also enlisted the participation of Yuzo Koshiro, the legendary composer responsible for Streets of Rage, to contribute some guest tracks. The combination is simply stunning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The game’s soundscape is based on the SCC sound chip from MSX computers, a precise technical choice that gives the soundtrack a unique and unmistakable character. It’s not just “generic Game Boy chiptune music”: it’s a well-defined sonic signature, rich in textures and with an impressive ability to create atmosphere. Each region of Dark Island has its own theme, and all are perfectly suited to the tone and personality of each area. The music of the autumn zone is melancholic and slightly unsettling; that of the catacombs is oppressive and tense; that of the central hub has a warm charm that made me breathe a sigh of relief every time I returned there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The complete soundtrack has over 90 tracks, which for a game with this aesthetic is a truly impressive number. And what’s most remarkable is that the quality remains consistent throughout the entire catalog. There are no forgettable or generic tracks here: each composition has a purpose and its own identity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The sound effects also deserve attention. The sound of Mina digging has a tactile sonic satisfaction that is difficult to describe, but it makes all the difference when performing the mechanic repeatedly. The enemy sounds are equally well-crafted, and each type of creature has a sonic signature that helps the player identify them even without looking directly at them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If you have the option, play with headphones. The soundtrack of Mina the Hollower takes on a completely different dimension when you can hear all the details of the mix, and it’s one of the most enjoyable auditory experiences I’ve ever had in an indie game.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Fun<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Now we come to the most important point: Is Mina the Hollower fun? The answer is an enthusiastic yes, with one important caveat: the game requires you to commit to it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The first three or four hours can be intimidating. You arrive in Ossex, the central city, without a map, without tutorials, and with a sense of scale that can feel overwhelming. I got lost a few times, retraced my steps without knowing exactly what I was doing, and at one point died to a thief roaming the city stealing my accumulated bones, which was simultaneously hilarious and frustrating. But as soon as the mechanics started to make sense, as soon as I internalized the combat rhythm and the exploration logic, the game transformed into something I simply couldn’t stop playing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The fun here comes from several different sources. There’s the pure satisfaction of well-executed combat, especially in boss battles, which are designed to teach patterns and punish impulsiveness. There’s the pleasure of exploring and discovering secrets, a hidden path behind a seemingly solid wall, an underground room full of rare items, a shortcut connecting two areas I thought were on the other side of the island. There’s also the more intellectual pleasure of solving the world’s mysteries, realizing that the NPC who said something seemingly meaningless in the second hour of gameplay was giving me a hint about something I would only discover in the tenth hour.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The train is one of my favorite moments in the entire game. When I finally unlocked the island’s rail system, it wasn’t just a fast travel mechanism that opened up. It was a real train, with carriages I could travel through, passengers to talk to, and environmental details that further enriched the world. Little things like that are what separate a good game from a great game.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The boss fights deserve special mention for the fun they provide. Each one is an event, not just an obstacle. They have elaborate attack patterns, distinct phases, and an imposing visual presence that makes each encounter feel like a special occasion. Some knocked me down several times before I managed to win, and each defeat taught me something new about how to approach combat differently.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The replayability is also generous. Besides the main campaign, which can last between 25 and 30 hours depending on how completionist you are, there are seven New Game Plus modes, each with specific variations: items redistributed across the map, a mirrored world, altered enemy difficulty. There are also dozens of charms to find, a fishing minigame, and hundreds of modifiers for those who want to experiment with different combinations. It’s an amount of content that surprised me and ensures that Mina the Hollower will remain installed for a long time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Performance and Optimization<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n I played Mina the Hollower on the Nintendo Switch 2 version, and the performance was flawless throughout. The game runs at 120 frames per second with HDR support, and this fluidity makes a huge difference to the experience, especially during boss battles and the more intense platforming sections. I didn’t notice a single framerate drop or stutter, even in the most visually dynamic situations, with multiple enemies on screen simultaneously and visual effects happening at the same time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In handheld mode, the experience is equally good. The Game Boy Color aesthetic fits very naturally on a smaller screen, and playing Mina the Hollower in handheld mode has a special charm that perfectly matches the game’s visual style. The soundtrack, which is brilliant in any situation, takes on an even more intimate character when listened to through the Switch 2’s compact speakers in handheld mode.<\/p>\n\n\n\n HDR in dock mode makes the pixel art colors extraordinarily vibrant, with an intensity I didn’t expect from a deliberately limited palette. The contrast between the deep shadows of the night scenes and the vivid colors of the attack effects was very good with this feature enabled.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I didn’t encounter any bugs, crashes, or any significant technical issues throughout my entire journey through Dark Island. For those who own the original Switch version, the game runs at 60 frames per second with the same stability, and the upgrade to the Switch 2 version is completely free, which is a genuinely generous gesture from Yacht Club Games.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The controls respond with a precision I didn’t expect from a game with this level of demand on these platforms. Every mistake was mine, not the controls’, and that’s the only metric that matters when talking about a game where precision of movement is so fundamental.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Conclusion<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Mina the Hollower is, without a doubt, one of the best games of the year and one of the most remarkable works I’ve ever played in the action-adventure genre. Yacht Club Games didn’t just repeat the successful formula of Shovel Knight: they created something completely new, with its own personality, genuine depth, and a handcrafted care that shines through in each of the game’s more than 1,200 screens.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It’s a game that demands patience, that will challenge you and that will leave you lost from time to time. But each moment of confusion is replaced by a wave of satisfaction when the pieces fall into place. When you finally find your way to that area that’s been blocked for hours, when you defeat a boss after the fifth attempt, when you discover a secret room hidden behind a wall you never imagined could be interactive: these are moments that will be etched in your memory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The presentation is extraordinary within its aesthetic aspirations, the soundtrack is one of the best of the year, the gameplay system has a depth that will keep you occupied for dozens of hours, and the technical performance is impeccable. All this for a price that makes refusal virtually impossible to justify.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Mina the Hollower is enthusiastically recommended for any fan of action-adventure games, for those who miss the classic Game Boy Color games, for those who enjoy the philosophy of Souls-style games, and frankly, for anyone who wants to play something truly well-made. It’s one of those rare games that only gets better as you progress, and that stays in your mind long after you close the console.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Positive points:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Negative points:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Rating:<\/strong> There are games that arrive promising to be something special, and others that simply deliver on that promise without much…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1786,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/revolutionarena.com\/pt-br\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/06\/Mina-the-Hollower.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2,4,5,6,7,9,12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1784","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-games","category-highlights","category-nintendo","category-pc","category-playstation","category-reviews","category-xbox"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/revolutionarena.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1784","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/revolutionarena.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/revolutionarena.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/revolutionarena.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/revolutionarena.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1784"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/revolutionarena.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1784\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1785,"href":"https:\/\/revolutionarena.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1784\/revisions\/1785"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/revolutionarena.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1786"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/revolutionarena.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1784"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/revolutionarena.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1784"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/revolutionarena.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1784"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
\n
Graphics: 9.0
Fun: 9.5
Gameplay: 9.5
Sound: 9.5
Performance and Optimization: 10.0
FINAL SCORE: 9.5 \/ 10.0<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"