Mina The Hollower Hits 500,000 Sales With a 91 Metacritic Score
The game's sales and critical reception show that a small studio can succeed by rethinking a classic genre's core rules rather than just imitating them.
Reporting from 1 sources: Automaton.
Yacht Club Games' Mina The Hollower has sold over 500,000 copies and holds a Metacritic score of 91. The 2D action RPG uses a digging mechanic to let players slip through enemies and walls, blending nostalgic Game Boy Color-era aesthetics with modern design principles that the developer calls a new experience rather than nostalgia bait.
Yacht Club Games, the studio behind Shovel Knight, has a new hit on its hands. Mina The Hollower has sold over 500,000 copies and earned a Metacritic score of 91, making it one of the year's best-reviewed titles. The game is a 2D action RPG available on PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch, and Nintendo Switch 2 for 2,480 yen.
The core mechanic is simple: dig holes and dive underground to slip through enemies or dodge attacks on the spot. This changes how players approach combat and exploration. Instead of adjusting spacing based on enemy attack ranges, players can move proactively, similar to a 3D action game. The art style and chiptune music evoke the Game Boy Color era, and the combat references games like Zelda II and Castlevania, but the developer frames the result as a modern rethinking rather than simple nostalgia bait.
Synthesized by Yomimono from the 1 cited source below, including Japanese-language reporting where cited, then editorially reviewed before publishing.