[UPDATED]

The Kickstarter for Mina the Hollower is finished, and the project topped out at $1,239,584 pledged, which is 397% of Yacht Club Games' backing goal. Hopefully, all 21,439 backers are as excited as we are that the project reached the 6th stretch goal! Now, we'll all get to see what it's like to go fishing in the world of Mina the Hollower​​​​​!

What is Mina the Hollower?

Yacht Club Games (developers of Shovel Knight, Cyber Shadow, and more) is calling their new Kickstarter project, Mina the Hollower​​​, "[a] bone-chilling ode to handheld games, refined for the modern era" and "a mix that may remind you of classic titles like Castlevania, The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening, or even Bloodborne". After watching some gameplay of the demo, which has been showcased by big-named YouTube channels (such as GameGrumps and XPlay), we at Yetling have to agree with those perfectly written descriptions.

Fans of Castlevania and Bloodborne will note the overall horror-aesthetic art style of Mina the Hollower​​​​​. Also, much like the Belmonts of the Castlevania franchise, the main character, Mina, wields a whip (amongst other weapons) and loves to destroy candles to find items, and the Soulsborne-like enemy respawn system is worthy of note. Fans of 2D handheld Zelda games will immediately agree that Mina the Hollower looks similar to those games they hold near and dear. Mina also breaks her fair share of clay pots, like a certain Hero of Time we know. It's hard not to place a top-down pixel-perfect action RPG in the same category as 2D Zelda, but the demo shows a game that transcends mere genre similarities. Yacht Club Games deserves more credit than to have their new intellectual property (IP) be equated to a conglomerate of other established IPs.

The game mechanics of Mina the Hollower offer so much more than any game from the Game Boy Color era, but the developers have specifically said they have tried to stick to the asset and sprite conventions of Game Boy Color. The demo presents what looks like it could be a Master Class of Game Boy Color game development; however, it doesn't actually function on the Game Boy Color hardware. A physical release has been planned, and they've included a Kickstarter backer tier for a physical copy, but they've expressed having no plans to port the game to Game Boy Color, citing the complexities of taking on such a project. They will undoubtedly consider current-generation consoles and maybe PS5 and the Xbox Series S/X, but we just want to see it hit the Nintendo Switch! The only confirmed platform, so far, is Steam (wishlist here), but it's not certain how they'd incorporate the physical copy tier for Steam users.

Mina the Hollower Announcement Trailer

Search: Yacht Club Games @YouTube

What's the Status of the Kickstarter Campaign?

As of writing this article, the Kickstarter campaign for Mina the Hollower has reached 282% of its goal, exceeding its 4th stretch goal, with 14 days to go before its backing deadline (Thursday, March 3, 2022, 6:07 PM, EST). Will the campaign meet all of its stretch goals? We're holding onto hope for that 6th stretch goal to be met. The game deserves that sweet, sweet feeling of being able to stop fighting ghouls and skeletons for a while and drop a line into an ol' fishing hole for a spell. The campaign is around $318,504 away from its 'Fishing Minigame' stretch goal. Let's make it happen! If the game strikes your interest, consider heading over to the Mina the Hollower Kickstarter page and becoming a backer. By the way, Yetling is not being paid or sponsored by Yacht Club Games; however, the writer of this article is most definitely a backer.

Extra Extra

For a deep dive into the demo, join Yacht Club Games on Twitch (Friday, February 18, 2022, 4:00 PM, EST), where they will be hosting a speedrunning event. More details about the Twitch event can be found on the Mina the Hollower Kickstarter page.

If you'd like to follow the development of Mina the Hollower, the Kickstarter is not the only place to find information. You can follow Yacht Club Games on Twitter, and you also have the option of joining the Official Yacht Club Games Discord. Of course, more information can be found at MinaTheHollower.com, as well.