Following the release of 007 First Light, May’s hot streak of exceptional video games continues, with new indie darling Mina The Hollower.
Well, that didn’t last long. Less than two weeks ago, Forza Horizon 6 became the top-rated video game of 2026, stealing the spot from Pokémon Pokopia.
But it’s already been knocked off the pedestal by none other than Mina The Hollower, the newest release from indie developer Yacht Club Games, the studio behind Shovel Knight.
This must be extremely vindicating for Yacht Club, as this is the studio’s first new game since Shovel Knight launched in 2014, not counting expansions and spin-offs it co-developed with other studios.
At the time of writing, Mina The Hollower has an average Metacritic score of 92 for both the PC and PlayStation 5 versions. The Switch 2 score is a little lower at 86. The game will also be available on Nintendo Switch 2, Nintendo Switch, and Xbox Series X/S when it launches on Friday, May 29.
This puts it just slightly above Forza Horizon 6, which has a score of 91 for the Xbox Series X/S version. As always, it’s important to remember that Metacritic scores are influenced by the number of reviews and since Mina The Hollower has so far received fewer reviews than Forza Horizon 6 (and most of those for the PC version) that’s fewer instances of lower review scores dragging down its final total.
Expert, exclusive gaming analysis
Sign up to the GameCentral newsletter for a unique take on the week in gaming, alongside the latest reviews and more. Delivered to your inbox every Saturday morning.
Even so, this is an impressive result from Mina The Hollower and Yacht Club, and another boon for the indie game scene. Plus, it puts Mina The Hollower in the running for best indie game of the year or even Game Of The Year in general.
Hopefully, these positive reviews will translate to strong sales as well. Last December, Yacht Club admitted it was having financial troubles (via Bloomberg) as even after six years of development it had to delay Mina The Hollower indefinitely, leaving it unclear if it would even launch this year.
Studio head Sean Velasco called Mina The Hollower a ‘make-or-break’ moment for the studio, adding, ‘If we sold 500,000 copies, then we would be golden. If we sold even 200,000, that would be really, really great. If we sold, like, 100,000, that’s not so good.’
May has been an incredibly strong month in general for video games. Aside from Mina The Hollower, this week also saw the launch of 007 First Light, which isn’t just the best James Bond game in years but one of the best licensed games ever made.
Before that, there was the new Lego Batman, Yoshi And The Mysterious Book, and Mixtape, all which have been well received.
Don’t miss Gaming news! Add us as a Preferred Source
As a loyal GameCentral reader, we want to make sure you never miss our articles when searching for gaming stories. We have all the latest video games news, reviews, previews, and interviews, with a vibrant community of highly engaged readers.
Click the button below and tick Metro.co.uk to ensure you see stories from us first in Google Search.
The highest rated video games of 2026 so far
If you’re curious, Metacritic’s list of the top-rated video games of the year (not counting re-releases and DLC expansions) currently looks like this:
- Mina The Hollower – 92
- Forza Horizon 6 – 91
- Pokémon Pokopia – 89
- Resident Evil Requiem – 89
- Mewgenics – 88
- 007 First Light – 87
- Saros – 87
- Hermit & Pig – 87
- Titanium Court – 87
- Perfect Tides: Station To Station – 86
- Nioh 3 – 86
- Mixtape – 86
- OPUS: Prism Peak – 86
- Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection – 86
- Cairn – 86
- Timberborn – 85
- Esoteric Ebb – 85
- Pragmata – 85
- Wax Heads – 85
- Demon Tides – 84
There’s a few indie games there that we haven’t played ourselves, and we weren’t that keen on Cairn and Monster Hunter Stories 3, but otherwise that’s a remarkably solid list of top quality games, that hopefully bodes well for the rest of the year.
Email gamecentral@metro.co.uk, leave a comment below, follow us on Twitter.
To submit Inbox letters and Reader’s Features more easily, without the need to send an email, just use our Submit Stuff page here.
For more stories like this, check our Gaming page.