Mina the Hollower Review - Yacht Club Does It Again

I played Shovel Knight for the first time years after its initial release, which meant I came into it without any of the nostalgia that surrounded its launch. My reaction was simply that it was an excellent game - tight design, great feel, exactly as long as it needed to be. Yacht Club Games built a reputation on that game, and Mina the Hollower has spent years being the answer to "okay, what comes next?"

The short version: what comes next is also an excellent game.

The Setup

Mina is a renowned Hollower - something like a supernatural investigator or salvager - who arrives on Tenebrous Isle to restore the Spark Towers that power the city of Ossex. The towers have been targeted by an entity called Thorne, the city is in trouble, and Mina is the person called in to deal with it. The story has some predictable beats in its first half and gets more interesting in the final act, with a couple of moments that hit harder than you'd expect from a game presenting itself in this aesthetic register.

Mina herself becomes genuinely endearing through animation and visual storytelling rather than lengthy cutscenes. The way she moves, reacts to environments, and carries herself does more characterization work than most games accomplish with dialogue. The supporting cast gives the world personality - this is a place that feels inhabited rather than constructed.

The Burrowing Mechanic

Where Shovel Knight's shovel mechanics were central to both combat and traversal, Mina the Hollower is built around burrowing. Mina can dig underground, which serves multiple purposes: dodging enemy attacks, repositioning in combat, crossing obstacles, and extending jump distance when timed correctly.

This is well-designed in ways that only become apparent as you play. Burrowing underground creates a brief window of invincibility, which means the timing of when you go underground in combat matters strategically. It also means encounters that initially seem unfair become solvable once you understand how to use the mechanic correctly.

You choose your primary weapon at the start - whip, hammer, or blades - and unlock the others through exploration. Each plays differently, and you can't change your starting weapon once chosen, which gives builds some identity across playthroughs.

Navigation Is a Real Problem

The main issue with Mina the Hollower is its map. The world is non-linear and densely interconnected, which is usually good. But the map system doesn't give you enough information to navigate effectively, particularly in the mid-game when you're trying to figure out where to go next. I spent more time lost than I should have, not because the world was confusing but because the tools for orienting yourself within it weren't up to the complexity of the design.

This is a complaint I've seen consistently from other reviews and community feedback, so it's not just me being bad at reading maps. Yacht Club is presumably aware of it and may patch improvements - but as of launch, expect to spend some time wandering in ways that feel unintentional.

Accessibility Without Compromise

The accessibility options in Mina the Hollower are extensive. You can adjust damage taken, burrowing duration, checkpoint frequency, and a range of other parameters. The game also has modifiers that make things harder if you want more challenge - reduced invincibility frames, damage amplifiers, conditions that affect level-up behavior. You can make the game weird in good ways too, adjusting the color palette or giving Mina absurdly high jumps.

Some of these options disable in-game feats and presumably Steam achievements. The game is clear about this rather than hiding it. The philosophy seems to be that the intended experience is available, optional modifications are available, and players get to decide which version they want to play.

At $20 USD, this is remarkable value.

Where It Stands

Mina the Hollower is one of the best action-adventure games released this year. The burrowing mechanic gives it a distinct identity, the world is well-crafted and rewarding to explore, the boss encounters are varied and designed around the game's specific mechanics, and the visual presentation is beautiful in the way that good pixel art at this level of craft always is.

The navigation issues are real and they affected my experience. But they don't define it. What defines Mina the Hollower is the cumulative effect of playing a game made with this level of care and attention to what makes the genre satisfying.

Yacht Club Games made another excellent game. That's maybe not surprising at this point. But it's still good news.

Score: 8.5/10

Reviewed on PC (Steam Deck). Approximately 17 hours, one full completion.