Mina the Hollower Reviews
Mina the Hollower brilliantly blends retro Game Boy-inspired visuals with modern gameplay mechanics to create a memorable action-adventure. Its rewarding exploration, satisfying combat, and extensive accessibility options make the experience enjoyable for a wide range of players. Combined with its excellent soundtrack, affordable price, and polished design, it stands as one of Yacht Club Games' finest achievements.
Review in French | Read full review
Mina the Hollower is not an homage or a nostalgia exercise — it's an original work that uses its inspirations as raw material for something genuinely new. Every hour on Tenebrous Isle adds another layer of understanding. Finishing it doesn't mean you've exhausted it. For fans of soulslike and action-adventure games, it's an essential purchase.
Review in Italian | Read full review
All in all, Mina the Hollower is another fantastic retro-inspired entry from developer Yacht Club Games. The unique world combined with strange NPC’s and tons of secrets scattered throughout make for a memorable experience that nobody should miss.
Breaking away from the studio's own track record, Mina the Hollower is original in how it seeks to both pay homage to and evolve a formula once perfected on handhelds of past generations; by adding its own touch of freedom, unique game design, and even a dash of modern trends—and despite occasional missteps—it establishes itself as one of the year's great retro-style indie titles.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
Mina the Hollower easily cements Yacht Club Games' capacity to deliver high-quality retro experiences. The game takes inspiration from several sources, both old and new, and carefully fine-tunes each into a polished experience that is both curated and customizable.
The game is a fun, retro-styled romp. The soundtrack is great, and the Gameboy style graphics pull its weight perfectly. If I hadn’t died so many times, I’d probably have beaten the game in under 15 hours and be less angry. But overall, I had a blast. Mina The Hollower is a really solid pickup, especially for only $20. Definitely worth picking up.
Excellent dungeon design, a versatile digging mechanic, and rewarding progression make for an outstanding adventure. While the story falls short of its potential and the difficulty can be unforgiving, this is a must-play for fans of challenging action-adventure games.
Review in German | Read full review
Mina the Hollower succeeds because it understands that nostalgia is only valuable when paired with innovation. It borrows inspiration from Zelda, Castlevania, Bloodborne, and countless retro classics, but never loses its own identity in the process. The Hollowing mechanic is brilliant, the world is endlessly rewarding to explore, the bosses are unforgettable, and the presentation perfectly balances retro authenticity with modern craftsmanship. More importantly, it captures the magical feeling of discovery that defined gaming’s earlier generations while remaining unmistakably contemporary. Yacht Club Games built its reputation with Shovel Knight, and with Mina the Hollower, the studio proves that lightning can strike twice.
Mina the Hollower is perhaps one of the best-value Switch/Switch 2 games of recent times, which has to be applauded. I personally found it a bit too frustrating at times, but if you give it the patience it deserves, then the rewards are pretty handsome. The soundtrack, pixel art, level design and sheer breadth of gameplay make Mina the Hollower another hit from Yacht Club Games.
At its heart, Mina the Hollower is a message about the health of video games. More importantly, it demonstrates that the most effective manner of storytelling is not necessarily via long cutscenes or cinematic spectacle, but within gameplay itself, through the player’s actions, discoveries, struggles and triumphs. Mina the Hollower trusts the medium, and in doing so, it proves everything that makes video games unique.
Rarely has there been a game that I’ve immediately restarted in New Game+ mode upon seeing the credits roll. Mina the Hollower made me not only want to continue playing but also check out the games it was inspired by. It accomplishes what it sets out to do with tremendous success: combining old and new design philosophies into something fun, addictive and wholly unique.
Mina the Hollower is a a robust game that is a joy to play and proves Shovel Knight wasn’t lightning in a bottle for Yacht Club Games.
Mina the Hollower is a genuine success, a retro game that doesn’t pander to retro nostalgia.
Review in French | Read full review
Mina the Hollower has been on many gamers lists for a long time coming and I'm happy to say, it's not bad. It lets you experience "old school hard" gameplay or new age accessible gameplay in hopes of reaching all players. It lets you experience the game in so many ways that fit you which is something I think most games don't allow. Easy recommendation for gamers looking for action adventure through an old school lens.
Mina the Hollower stands out for offering an adventure that successfully blends the nostalgia of classic action-adventure games with modern mechanics that bring dynamism and a unique personality to the experience.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Mina the Hollower is the whole Game Boy Color experience, perfected, modernized, and elevated.
Mina the Hollower is a splendid tribute not only to a specific era of the past, but also to an approach to video games that is becoming increasingly rare these days. Ossex and its surroundings exude character from every pore thanks to a mix of absurd personalities, bizarre dialogue and unexpected situations, presented to the player through a truly remarkable layering of quests, activities and events. The gameplay follows this same formula, offering a combat system that is mechanically simple yet effective, and a platforming element that evolves over time with an endless array of ideas and movement mechanics that are varied and increasingly unique.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Mina the Hollower is a sharp, stylish adventure that blends retro charm with modern precision, delivering a journey that feels both familiar and fresh. Its tight combat, clever progression and gothic atmosphere kept me hooked from start to finish, and even with a few navigation frustrations, the overall experience shines far brighter than its 8‑bit roots suggest.
Mina the Hollower blends gothic atmosphere, expressive movement, clever customisation, and meaningful player freedom into one of the most rewarding indie adventures in years. Its minor frictions are easily outweighed by its charm, craft, and replayable design, ingredients that make for a modern masterpiece.
Mina the Hollower delivers a standout indie experience, blending classic Zelda-style exploration with challenging Souls-inspired combat. Packed with secrets and striking retro-inspired visuals, it marks another strong release from Yacht Club Games and a serious contender in this year's awards.
Review in Arabic | Read full review