Yacht Club Games has done it again. Mina the Hollower, the long-gestating follow-up to the studio's beloved Shovel Knight, launched worldwide on May 29, 2026, and it has arrived to near-universal acclaim. The gothic action-adventure currently sits at a 92 on Metacritic, making it the highest-rated game of the year so far — comfortably ahead of heavy hitters like Forza Horizon 6 and Resident Evil Requiem.
Available now on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Switch 2 and PC, Mina the Hollower casts you as Mina, a renowned Hollower summoned to a cursed island to restore its failing source of power. It is an unabashed love letter to the late Game Boy Color era of action-adventures, drenched in a moody, high-contrast palette and built around a whip that can lash enemies, snag distant hooks and crack against the island's nightmarish wildlife.
The headline mechanic is right there in the title. At the press of a button Mina can burrow beneath the ground, slipping under hazards, dodging attacks and popping up behind unsuspecting foes. It is a simple idea that the level design wrings enormous variety from, hiding secrets beneath floors and turning boss arenas into deadly games of cat-and-mouse.
A Zelda heart with a FromSoftware soul
Reviewers have reached again and again for the same comparisons: the top-down exploration and gear-gated progression of the classic Legend of Zelda games, married to a punishing, deliberate combat rhythm that asks you to read enemy tells and commit to every strike. Equippable trinkets, secondary weapons and bonk-style magic let players tune Mina to their own approach, whether that means glass-cannon aggression or a slower, defensive grind.
Years in the making
First revealed during a wildly successful 2022 crowdfunding campaign, Mina the Hollower took longer to arrive than fans hoped, slipping past its original window as Yacht Club polished every pixel. On the evidence of launch week, the extra time paid off: critics have called it not just another Yacht Club success story but a strong contender for one of the finest indie games of the generation.
Where to play it
The good news is that there is no bad version. Outlets that tested the game across platforms found it excellent on Steam Deck and Switch, and outright stunning on Switch 2 and PS5, where higher frame rates and crisp HDR make the hand-crafted spritework sing. Wherever you land, Mina the Hollower is out now — and right now it is the game to beat in 2026.
