Mina the Hollower

Mina the Hollower, out May 29, 2026, is Yacht Club Games’ newest title: Legend of Zelda–style top-down action fused with Bloodborne and Castlevania aesthetics, in Game Boy–era pixel art. It landed to extremely high praise, one of the highest-rated games of 2026 so far. I can confirm it is a certified banger.

You play Mina, brilliant mouse inventor and Hollower. You helped build Spark generators on the Tenebrous Isles that supplied energy, light, and Spaek, warding off dangerous creatures. Benefactor Baron Lionel calls you back: the generators have been sabotaged, the isles plunged into darkness. Your job is to cross the island, repair them, uncover the mysteries of the place, and dig into Thorne’s motive for destroying them.

Gameplay reads like older Zelda: top-down 2D action across the Isles. You fight mice, slimes, crows, fish, and nightmarish horrors with a pile of weapons. Early on you pick between daggers, mace, or hammer as your starter; the others unlock later, plus a parry shield and a hand-cannon blaster. Sidearms cover extra weapons and traversal tools on their own joule energy system, which you can upgrade. Trinkets stack damage, armor, and movement. Where other games give a dodge roll or block, Mina burrows: tunnel underground briefly, pop out. In combat that means evasion, repositioning behind shields; in platforming, the pop-out covers more distance than a normal jump. Tight platforming, creative combat, solid loop.

I love this game. It is the kind you feel compelled to 100%, not from checklist guilt, from wanting everything in the box. Full transparency: there is a learning curve. I died a lot at first. Burrow timing, weapon swings, enemy tells take reps. Once it clicks, it is deeply satisfying. I started on the whip and had a blast; late-game collectible backtracking, I switched to the hammer and it rules. I already want another run hammer-only.

If the play were the only high point, that would be enough. Almost every layer is cranked. The Tenebrous Isles ooze charm: cartoon soul like Shovel Knight, darker in tone and story. Castlevania and Bloodborne gothic make zones worth exploring. Abominations and horrors lean folkloric and cryptid inside cartoon horror, which I loved. Septemburg, one of the early zones, feels pulled from a Halloween movie: crows, fields, and the Carving Man, a boss who chases you through the area and even into your base when you try to heal. Layouts and characters make you want the next corner. Jake Kaufman did the soundtrack and, same as Shovel Knight, killed it. Not everyone lives for chiptune; I am excited for the covers, because he made something special here. Story uses the darker tone in ways I did not expect at first. Fairly straightforward, with a couple of twists that pleasantly surprised me.

Gripes mostly hit the onboarding. Difficulty settings exist if you want easier or harder; I left them alone and played it as designed, so your mileage may differ. That early curve makes the first few areas feel exceptionally punishing until the timing sinks in. Enemies drop bones for shops and for attack, defense, and sidearm upgrades. Die and you drop a spark, a little blue orb; if an enemy killed you, they pick it up. You can reclaim it, but die again without a spark and you lose all your bones. Enemies that already hold your orb generally cannot grab another, with some bosses able to hold multiples. More sparks show up later; early on you can get walloped, die sparkless, and dump your bones. Survivable. Annoying at first. The sewer guy in the crypt was a miserable early fight. I died too many times there. Fall damage is another one: knocked into a pit or mistimed platforming deals what feels like an unfair chunk, especially early, and a good run dies to one misstep. All of that fades as you acclimate. I can see some players bouncing before they get there.

Mina the Hollower is an absolutely solid game. Right now it is my Game of the Year. Highly recommend. 9.5 out of 10.