Mina the Hollower arrived as a genuine event: Yacht Club Games’ first new original IP since Shovel Knight, six years and a $1.2M Kickstarter in the making, and it landed as the highest-rated game of 2026 at launch. At $19.99, the value question is easy for most players — but the fit question (is it for you?) is worth a closer look.
The short answer
Worth it for action-adventure fans who like a challenge, anyone who loved top-down Zelda or Shovel Knight, and players who appreciate deep difficulty options. Think twice if you bounce off slow openings or punishing default difficulty — though the modifiers largely solve the latter.
How it reviewed
| Source | Score | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Metacritic | ~92–93 | ”Universal Acclaim” / “Must Play”; 100% positive across 45+ critics |
| OpenCritic | ~92 | ~97–98% of critics recommend |
| IGN | 10/10 | ”an absolute masterpiece of an adventure” |
| Screen Rant | 10/10 | — |
| Game Informer | 8.75 | — |
It unseated Forza Horizon 6 (91) to top both aggregators in 2026. Praise centred on level/world design, combat, pixel art, soundtrack and accessibility. The recurring criticisms: a slow/confusing opening, no detailed map, a demanding default difficulty, and the fact that modifiers disable achievements.
How long is it?
| Goal | Time |
|---|---|
| Main / first playthrough | ~20–30 hours |
| Completionist | 25–30 hours+ |
| All New Game Plus cycles | 100–150+ hours |
The developer framed the main game as “like all the Shovel Knight campaigns in one,” and their own final save clocked over 150 hours with full NG+ cycling.
How hard is it really?
By default, hard — deliberately so. Death has Soulslike consequences (you drop your Bones and must recover them, with a one-retry grace via Sparks), combat is pattern-driven, and there’s no hand-holding map. But the game ships with 200+ modifiers under Settings that you can flip at any time, even mid-fight:
- Easier: Take 0.5x Damage, Boss Checkpoints, Quick Heal, More Plasma, No Bone Loss, damage immunity.
- Harder: Take 1.5x Damage, slower Boning Up, Less Plasma.
- Weirder: 1.5x Mina size, super-high jump, permanent hollowing.
Caveat: using modifiers disables achievements for that playthrough, and most modifiers are locked behind New Game Plus — your first run has the most useful assists only.
Replay value: 7 New Game Plus modes
There are seven distinct NG+ modes (up to NG+7). These remix the game rather than just cranking numbers — items are shuffled, the world can be mirrored, enemy difficulty changes, and a shuffler/randomizer reworks runs. This is where the 100–150+ hour figures come from.
What is it like? (genre comparisons)
- Zelda’s heart — A top-down Zelda-like at the core, explicitly modeled on Game Boy Zelda (Link’s Awakening, the Oracle games), down to camera pans and cutscenes. The visuals are “HD Game Boy Color,” the way Shovel Knight was “HD NES.”
- FromSoft’s soul — The death loop is pure FromSoftware: Bones behave like souls/XP dropped on death, the attack-to-heal Plasma loop echoes Estus, and combat is punishing and pattern-driven. The widely used tagline is “Zelda’s Heart, FromSoft’s Soul.”
- Castlevania’s coat — Gothic aesthetic, a Simon Belmont-style Nightstar whip, sidearms tucked in candelabras, and Castlevania music pedigree.
- Shovel Knight lineage — Same studio “game feel”; the bone/death-recovery mechanic is shared with Shovel Knight, and the closest internal comparison is Specter of Torment’s speed, but top-down.
Reviewers are firm that it’s its own blend — not a pure Soulslike, not a Zelda clone, and not a roguelike.
The verdict
At $19.99 for a 20–30 hour adventure (and 150+ if you chase NG+7), with the year’s best critical reception and difficulty options that scale from accessible to brutal, Mina the Hollower is an easy recommendation for anyone who likes the genre. Just go in expecting a slow first hour — and read the beginner’s guide before you start. If platform and pricing details are your last question, see Platforms, Price & Editions.