The creators of Shovel Knight finally release a new game and it’s another retro-inspired action adventure, this time inspired by handheld classics like Zelda: Link’s Awakening.
It’s more than a decade since indie game Shovel Knight put developer Yacht Club Games on the map and Mina The Hollower has taken so long to make that it’s put the studio in jeopardy. Originally started by developer Alec Faulkner, as a way to hone his coding skills, the game was initially funded by fans on Kickstarter, as a homage to the games of the Game Boy Color handheld console.
The game’s hero is Mina, a mouse who also happens to be something of a folk hero. She’s a Hollower (which means she can tunnel underground for short periods of time, although this is never really explained in detail) and an inventor who helped bring about something of an industrial revolution on Tenebrous Isle, by designing a series of spark generators to bring power and light to the region.
Years later, however, the spark generators are failing and the isle is being plagued by all sorts of eldritch nastiness. Guess whose job it is to smite the forces of darkness and bring law and order back once more?
For such a complicated premise, the plot of Mina is a little thin, and any plot twists (such as they are) are clearly signposted in advance. Little explanation is given about things like Hollowers or the land of Ossex, beyond the expository manual in the game’s settings – which is totally in keeping with how things worked on the Game Boy Color.
But why read when you can stab things instead? And there are a lot of things to stab. Mina starts off with one of three weapons: a maul, a pair of daggers, and her trusty Nightstar whip, with which she can slice and dice her way through the game’s pleasingly varied range of foes.
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In addition to her weapons, she has access to a selection of rotating sidearms, which provide a secondary attack and can be found around Tenebrous Isle. Meanwhile, Mina can use hollowing to escape incoming damage, pop up behind opponents, or navigate under obstacles on the map.
Hollowing also proves exceptionally handy for exploring, and this is where the game truly opens up. Yacht Club Games have created a Gothic puzzle box to explore: every street is hiding a secret, whether that’s a stash of bones (which serve as in-game currency), a hidden tunnel or a new trinket – which can be equipped to give Mina a permanent buff. Or a park bench might be hiding an entry point to an underground cave network, which could in turn lead to a secret merchant.
The same applies to the wider map. Accessing each of Tenebrous Isle’s different regions – where the broken spark generators and the bosses guarding them are waiting – is a matter of careful exploration, of poking each bit of wall to see if anything is hiding behind it, and of a fair amount of trial-and-error problem solving.
Each of the regions, which are all pleasingly warped and run the gamut from snowy wasteland (Coltrane Peak) to Halloween farmland (Septemberg), also boast their own individual challenges, which feel primed to catch you unaware.
Nothing comes easily in Mina, including taking out the enemies, some of who can defeat Mina in just one hit during the early stages of the game. On the flip side, everything feels earned and extremely satisfying when you make progress.
Fortunately, the game’s developers realise that the game’s high difficulty could be a problem for some and have added a whole bunch of modifiers designed to make the playing experience easier (or harder) depending on your predilection for suffering. If you keep dying you can toggle on unlimited lifes for a boss battle or if you want more of a challenge you can turn on settings such as ‘death lose 50% bones’ or ‘take 3x damage’.
All of this makes for a surprisingly customisable playing experience, given the game’s decidedly retro aesthetics. Faulkner and the team at Yacht have gone to great lengths to create a game that’s faithful to the limitations of the old Game Boy Color, with imagery that uses the old pixel setup of four colours per tile and a lack of anything remotely 3D.
But that’s all part of the fun. Even after hours playing Mina The Hollower, there are still secrets waiting to be uncovered and passageways to explore. It’s a game that rewards the patient and embraces the creepy; even if the Halloween style thrills do feel a bit out of place in the current summer heatwave.
Mina The Hollower review summary
In Short: The Game Boy Color lives again, via an inventive top-down adventure that’s filled with clever design decisions and surprisingly nuanced combat and gameplay.
Pros: The retro-flavoured aesthetic is great and the map design is very clever, and filled with secrets. Impressive array of different enemies and bosses, with enjoyable combat despite the simple controls. Custom difficulty settings are very welcome.
Cons: Despite establishing a complicated premise and setting the game itself boasts relatively little plot. The graphics are cute but they can be difficult to parse at times.
Score: 8/10
Formats: Nintendo Switch 2 (reviewed), Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch 2, and PC
Price: £17.75
Publisher: Yacht Club Games
Developer: Yacht Club Games
Release Date: 29th May 2026
Age Rating: 7
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