Mina the Hollower is nearly here. Yacht Club Games' 2D action platformer sends you onto a cursed island as Mina, armed with trinkets, sidearms, and a whole lot of monsters to cut through. The game is releasing on Friday, May 29 across PC and consoles simultaneously, and it already carries a 90+ Metacritic score ahead of launch. If you've been waiting to see what Yacht Club does after Shovel Knight, the wait ends tomorrow.
What time does Mina the Hollower release?
The global launch is tied to a single worldwide unlock rather than region-by-region rollouts. Here are the exact times you'll be able to play:
The same unlock time applies to both PC and consoles, so no platform gets an early advantage.
If you're on the East Coast or further east, you'll technically be playing on May 29 from the moment it launches. West Coast players get it a few hours earlier on the evening of May 28.
Mina the Hollower launch screen
What is Mina the Hollower?
The core premise
You play as Mina, and your job is to rescue a cursed island from the creatures that have overrun it. The design philosophy leans hard into hardcore retro aesthetics — think pixel art, tight movement, and a punishing-but-fair challenge — but the animations, controls, and visual execution have a distinctly modern polish to them. This isn't a throwback that feels rough around the edges. It plays like something built today that happens to love the past.
Nightstar combat in action
How combat and loadouts work
Mina's primary tool is the Nightstar, but the game doesn't lock you into a single playstyle. You can equip sidearms as alternative weapons and layer on trinkets that trigger exotic effects when conditions are met. The combination of sidearms and trinkets gives you a surprising amount of build flexibility for what looks like a straightforward action game.
The basic loop is simple on paper: dodge and leap to avoid damage, then punish enemies with your chosen weapon. Executing that cleanly against the game's harder encounters is a different story.
Trinkets aren't just passive stat bumps. They trigger specific exotic effects, so the order and context in which you equip them matters. Experiment early rather than sticking with your first setup.
Secrets, levels, and replayability
The island holds plenty of hidden content beyond the main path. Secrets are baked into the level design, and the game rewards thorough exploration rather than rushing through. Battles and levels are structured to be cleared, but the density of optional content means a single run through won't uncover everything.
For fans of adventure games with strong exploration loops, Mina the Hollower looks like a natural fit.
There is no demo available before launch, and the game does not offer pre-orders. You'll be buying it at release or wishlisting it on your platform of choice until then.
Cursed island level design
Is Mina the Hollower worth picking up at launch?
A 90+ Metacritic score before most players have even touched it is a strong signal. Yacht Club Games has a track record that earns them the benefit of the doubt, and everything shown so far points to a game that respects both its retro inspirations and the player's time.
The lack of a demo means you're going in somewhat blind, but the critical reception suggests that's not much of a risk. If tight 2D action with real build depth sounds appealing, this is exactly that.
For more tips and strategy content as the game launches, check out the full Mina the Hollower strategy guides collection on GAMES.GG.