Review

Mina the Hollower

A pixel-art action adventure seen from above, with a gothic horror mood. You explore a dark world, fight with a whip and dig through the ground to reach new areas. The look recalls old handheld games, but the combat and exploration are built for modern players. Is it your kind of game?

Pixel artGothicAction-adventureXboxPCSwitchPlayStation

Games like Mina the Hollower

9/10

Game Avant verdict

A deliberately old-school action adventure whose burrowing mechanic, boss design and strict Game Boy Color look add up to something far more inventive than its retro surface suggests.

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By GameAvant · Published Oct 7, 2026 · Updated Oct 9, 2026 · 15 min read

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IGDB

86%

33 ratings

Steam:

88%

7,607 reviews

Fits you if

you want classic top-down adventure with tight combat and a dark fantasy tone.

Skip it if

you dislike precise, punishing combat or retro pixel visuals.

Availability

Where to play

Steam

$19.33

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Facts

Platforms: Xbox · PC · Switch · PlayStation
Release date: May 29, 2026
Length: About 21 hours
Difficulty: 5/5 (estimated)
Genres: Platform · Role-playing (RPG) · Adventure · Indie
Themes: Action · Fantasy · Horror
Perspective: Bird view / Isometric
Modes: Solo only
Languages: 3 languages
Text in your language: Yes
Steam Deck: Verified
Microtransactions: None

More about Mina the Hollower

Mina the Hollower is the rare retro-styled game built around an original mechanic rather than nostalgia alone. Yacht Club Games, the studio behind Shovel Knight, released it on 29 May 2026 as a top-down action adventure, moving into a different genre entirely while keeping its love of old hardware fully intact. The hook sits right in the title: Mina is a mouse, an inventor, and a member of a guild called the Hollowers, and her signature ability is to burrow beneath the ground. That single move carries almost every part of the game. The Hollowing lets Mina dive underground to cross gaps she couldn't otherwise reach, become briefly invincible while attacks pass harmlessly overhead, and reach hidden spots that reward exploring beyond the obvious path, and it shapes traversal, combat and puzzle design all at once rather than being a single isolated gimmick. Weapons add variety on top of that foundation: a whip, dual daggers and a hammer all feel genuinely different from the first hour you get them, and two further weapons unlock later in the campaign, each changing how burrowing and combat interact. The world, Tenebrous Isle, is divided into regions, and each one is built around a single broken Spark Generator guarded by a boss, giving the island's gothic story, told through a cast of talking animals, a clear structural backbone alongside its mystery. The art style is where the game's old-school commitment goes furthest: it strictly follows Game Boy Color rules of four colours per tile and no 3D assets anywhere, a genuine hardware-era constraint rather than a modern filter imitating one, and it looks striking precisely because of that discipline. Jake Kaufman and Yuzo Koshiro's soundtrack gives the whole package real musical personality to match. The commitment to old rules comes with old-school costs. Sidearms are temporary and vanish the moment you die, which can sting badly after a long expedition that was building toward a specific loadout, and the strict four-colour palette can make busy rooms genuinely harder to read than a modern pixel-art game would allow. The isometric three-quarter viewing angle also takes some getting used to for anyone who grew up on flat, side-on platformers, since depth and distance read differently than in a traditional 2D game. None of that undercuts what Yacht Club Games pulled off on its first attempt outside platforming. By building an entire action adventure around one verb, burrowing, instead of stacking together familiar ideas from other top-down games, Mina the Hollower earns its retro surface rather than hiding behind it, and it stands as one of the most inventive old-school adventures in years, refusing to play it safe even while wearing hardware limits as a badge of honour.

The thing you'll love. Or hate.

Burrowing as the core verb

Temporary sidearms

Hardware limits as a rule

Not quite for you?

Three alternatives, one line each on why.

Shorter

Similar, but noticeably shorter.

With co-op

Similar, but playable together.

Cheaper or free

Similar, for less money.

Frequently asked questions

How long is Mina the Hollower?: About 21 hours to finish the main story.
Which platforms is Mina the Hollower on?: Mina the Hollower is available on Xbox · PC · Switch · PlayStation.
Does Mina the Hollower have co-op?: No, Mina the Hollower is single-player only.
Does Mina the Hollower run on Steam Deck?: Verified
What does Mina the Hollower cost?: $19.33 on Steam.