The Mina the Hollower wiki and guide hub — the action-adventure game by Yacht Club Games. Released May 29, 2026 on Nintendo Switch, Switch 2, PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and Steam.
Mina the Hollower launched to some of the strongest reviews Yacht Club Games has ever received. Critics called it not just a successor to Shovel Knight but an evolution that brings in Souls-like depth.
"Mina the Hollower is a masterpiece, fusing classic Game Boy Zelda aesthetics with modern souls-like design to create something fully its own."
— GameSpot, 10/10
"Mina the Hollower's retro world is crammed with mysteries worth finding and lively, clever combat I couldn't get enough of."
— IGN, 10/10
"An intricate, challenging, yet accessible adventure packed with content set against a gorgeous 8-bit gothic backdrop."
— Nintendo Life, 9/10
Weapon choice, area order, Bones management, and Hollowing basics — everything for your first hour.
All 28 bosses with strategies, trinket loadouts, and secret boss unlock conditions.
Release dates, platform differences, and buying guides for Switch, PS5, and Steam.
| Detail | Info |
|---|---|
| Developer | Yacht Club Games (Shovel Knight creators) |
| Genre | Action-adventure / Metroidvania |
| Release date | May 29, 2026 |
| Price | $19.99 on all platforms |
| Platforms | Nintendo Switch, Switch 2, PS5, Xbox Series X/S, Steam (PC/Mac/Linux) |
| Game length | 20–25 hours (first playthrough); 25–30 hours for completionists |
| New Game Plus | Yes |
| Physical edition | Yes — Switch, Switch 2, PS5 |
Complete area order, missable items, Bones benchmarks per boss, mirror requirements, and true ending checklist.
5 weapon archetypes ranked, trinket synergies per weapon, boss vs exploration kits, and overpowered combos.
All 50 achievements with requirements, missable warnings, speedrun trophy guide, and 100% roadmap.
First weapon, area order, Hollowing tips, Bones management, and early trinket priority.
All 28 bosses with strategies, phase breakdowns, and trinket loadouts.
All 60 trinkets with effects, locations, and build synergies.
All 5 Mina the Hollower weapons ranked, 10 upgrades, and the community’s recommended upgrade priority.
All 15 sidearms with Joule costs, locations, and trinket synergies.
Burrow inputs, invincibility timing, terrain rules, advanced tech (burrow-jump extension, edge pop, water chain), and trinkets.
All 7 NG+ cycles explained, difficulty ranks, what carries over, and the optimal NG+ builds per cycle.
Every shop, NPC quest, secret, and first-visit checklist for Mina the Hollower’s central hub town.
May 29, 2026 — all platform dates, Steam timing, and price information.
DualSense haptics, trophy list, and PS5 buying details.
Handheld and docked play — Switch version details.
Switch 2 enhanced version and backward compatibility with Switch cartridges.
PC, Mac, Linux, and Steam Deck — full details on the Steam version.
Boxed cartridge and disc — confirmed for Switch, Switch 2, and PS5.
Mina the Hollower is a top-down 2D action-adventure from Yacht Club Games. You play as Mina, a vampire who can burrow underground — a mechanic called Hollowing — to dodge attacks, traverse hazards, and reposition during combat. The game is set on Tenebrous Isle, a cursed island where six Spark Generators have gone dark, plunging each region into supernatural chaos.
| Game Element | Details |
|---|---|
| Core mechanic | Hollowing — burrow underground to dodge attacks and traverse hazards |
| Weapons | 5 weapons: Nightstar (flail), Whisper & Vesper (daggers), Blaststrike Maul (hammer), Battery Buster, Hollower’s Shield |
| Sidearms | 15 sidearms powered by a Joule energy system — secondary weapons and utility tools |
| Trinkets | 60 trinkets providing passive bonuses and build customisation; equip up to 6 simultaneously |
| Bosses | 28 confirmed boss fights, including optional secret bosses |
| Currency | Bones — lost on death; spend at shops before risky areas |
| Fast travel | Mirrors (Astral Orrery network) and train stations in Ossex |
| Progression | Restore 6 Spark Generators across 6 regions of Tenebrous Isle — see the walkthrough |
Mina the Hollower is rated E10+ by the ESRB. It is a solo single-player experience with no online multiplayer. The New Game Plus mode resets enemy positions and boss health bars while retaining all collected trinkets, sidearms, and weapon upgrades, making a second playthrough significantly different in feel.
Tenebrous Isle is divided into six regions, each with its own Spark Generator, boss, and distinct visual theme. The city of Ossex serves as the central hub connecting all regions.
| Region | Theme | Notable Feature |
|---|---|---|
| Queensbury Crypt | Gothic crypt and manor | Recommended first area; Proto Spark trinket reward |
| Nox’s Bayou | Dark swamp | Water traversal mechanics; Willis secret boss |
| Bone Beach | Coastal graveyard | Sandy environments; Dark Deluxy secret boss |
| Septemburg | Gothic farmland | Crow Town area; one of the six mirror locations |
| Coltrane Peak | Ice mountain | Slippery floors; Mirren secret boss; Thermal Pack trinket |
| Astral Orrery | Celestial realm | Accessed only via 6 mirrors; final region and hardest area |
Mina the Hollower comes from the same studio as Shovel Knight, but it is a meaningfully different game. If you bounced off Shovel Knight’s linear stage-select structure, Mina may click better. If you loved Shovel Knight, Mina raises the ceiling.
| Category | Shovel Knight | Mina the Hollower |
|---|---|---|
| Structure | Linear stage-select map | Open interconnected Metroidvania world |
| Combat depth | Platformer-style pogo combat | Souls-like: dodge timing, Joule management, weapon stance |
| Death penalty | Lose some gems, rooms reset | Lose all Bones; Hollowed state changes your abilities |
| Boss complexity | Pattern memorization | Extended multi-phase fights that "feel more akin to Elden Ring" (GameSpot) |
| Build variety | Relics are single-use | 60 trinkets + 15 sidearms create distinct build paths |
| Exploration | Mostly linear dungeons | 9 secret bosses hidden in world; requires active searching |
| Difficulty curve | Forgiving entry, moderate ceiling | Harder than Shovel Knight; reward is mastery over a deeper system |
Tips from the Polygon guide and community, condensed for first-time players.
Hollowing (underground burrowing) is your primary defensive tool, not just a traversal gimmick. Practice it on weak enemies before boss rooms. Timing when to surface is the game’s core skill — experts describe the flow of burrow→surface→attack as Mina’s equivalent of a dodge-roll.
The Underlab in Ossex is your upgrade hub. After each dungeon, go back and spend Bones on weapon upgrades before exploring the next area. Skipping the Underlab is the most common reason players hit a difficulty wall mid-game.
Plasma Vials are your healing items. Do not pop them at half health — they are finite and not refilled automatically at checkpoints. Save them for bosses. Players who burn through Vials on normal rooms frequently die to bosses with no heals left.
You start with 1 trinket slot. The Trinket Bag can be upgraded five times at the Ossex Emporium to reach a maximum of 6 slots. The first three upgrades cost 1,500 / 3,000 / 5,000 Bones — prioritise these before spending on other shop items.
Bones are the main currency and are lost on death. Do not carry a large Bones stack into a boss you have not beaten before. Spend first, attempt second. There is a merchant near most boss doors for exactly this reason.
Sidearms are the secondary weapon system and many are hidden in optional areas. GameSpot noted that "finding a new Sidearm always adds excitement" — they meaningfully change how you approach encounters. Do not skip exploration chests hoping to revisit; some sidearm locations are easy to miss on a second pass.
The game also features a fast-travel network called Mirror’s End, built by entering and activating six mirrors hidden across the Isle. See the mirrors guide for locations and how to unlock them. Ossex train stations provide a second fast-travel method for surface locations.
Mina the Hollower is an action-adventure / Metroidvania game by Yacht Club Games, the creators of Shovel Knight. It features whip and flail combat, underground burrowing (Hollowing), 60 trinkets, 15 sidearms, and 28 bosses across 6 regions. Released May 29, 2026 for $19.99. Metacritic score: 93 (Universal Acclaim).
May 29, 2026 on all platforms simultaneously: Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Switch 2, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and Steam.
A first playthrough takes approximately 20–25 hours according to Yacht Club Games. Completionists hunting all secret bosses and the full trinket collection can expect 25–30 hours. The game includes New Game Plus mode where retained upgrades make a second run feel noticeably different.
Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Switch 2, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and Steam (Windows, macOS, Linux). Physical editions are available for Switch, Switch 2, and PS5.
Nightstar is recommended for most players. Its flail reach lets you deal damage while keeping distance, making it the most forgiving weapon for learning enemy patterns. See the Mina the Hollower weapons guide for full comparisons and the community tier list.
Hollowing is Mina’s core mechanic. Press the burrow button to dig underground and become temporarily invulnerable to most attacks. Hold a direction to tunnel forward while underground. Surface with another button press. The burrowing state has a brief recovery animation when surfacing, so timing matters — surface too early and you emerge inside an attack. The game builds its entire combat rhythm around mastering when to go under and when to come up. See the Hollow Mechanics guide for advanced techniques.
No. Mina the Hollower is a fully separate IP with no story, character, or mechanical connection to Shovel Knight. Both games are made by Yacht Club Games and share retro-inspired pixel art, but Mina is a standalone game. It is meaningfully harder than Shovel Knight and incorporates Souls-like mechanics that GameSpot described as making it "feel more akin to Elden Ring than Link’s Awakening at times."
Yes, most players report Mina the Hollower is harder than Shovel Knight. The Souls-like mechanics — losing Bones on death, Hollowed state debuffs, multi-phase bosses — add tension that Shovel Knight lacks. However, the difficulty is considered fair: deaths are rarely cheap and usually teach the player something. The community consensus is "challenging but rewarding," not "punishing."
Priority order: Trinket Bag upgrade (expands to 6 slots) → weapon upgrades at the Underlab → Plasma Vial stock-up before bosses → trinkets you are missing. Do not bank Bones heading into an unfamiliar boss. The merchant near boss doors exists for exactly this reason.
You start with 1 trinket slot. The Trinket Bag can be upgraded five times at the Ossex Emporium, reaching a maximum of 6 slots. The first three upgrades cost 1,500 / 3,000 / 5,000 Bones respectively. There are 60 trinkets in total, so choosing which 6 to equip becomes the game’s core build decision. See the trinkets guide for synergy recommendations.
Both, and that is the point. The overworld exploration, dungeon structure, and NPC towns feel Zelda-inspired. The combat depth, death mechanics (losing Bones), and boss difficulty feel Souls-like. GameSpot described it as "incorporates modern Souls-like mechanics, elevating it beyond a simple homage." Players who enjoy both genres tend to click with Mina the Hollower immediately.
Yes. New Game Plus resets enemy and boss placements while letting you keep all trinkets, sidearms, and weapon upgrades. The result is a noticeably different experience — your tools are familiar but enemy patterns are changed, and the retained upgrades let you experiment with builds you could not afford on the first run.
