Shovel Knight developer Yacht Club Games has announced Mina the Hollower as a Gothic action adventure game and Game Boy Color love letter that channels the likes of The Legend of Zelda, Castlevania, and Bloodborne. It shared the news as its major announcement during the Yacht Club Presents at G4TV. Meanwhile, a Kickstarter page for Mina the Hollower is live now, with a goal of $311,503. Gamers have already pledged $100,000, so don’t expect it to take too long to reach that initial goal.
Where Shovel Knight served as a love letter to NES-era gaming, Mina the Hollower takes on a Game Boy aesthetic, including taking on a “widescreen” version of the standard Game Boy resolution. From the announcement trailer, it’s easy to see that Yacht Club has been busy filling the game with loads of callbacks and references, but it includes fresh elements like a leveling system that sees players collecting bones to upgrade different skills and stats. The eponymous mouse of Mina the Hollower will utilize different spooky items and companions through her journey.
The Mina the Hollower Kickstarter page also includes a brief story synopsis:
You play as Mina, a whip-wielding Hollower and visionary inventor. She receives a troubling letter from Baron Lionel, her longtime patron and the overseer of Tenebrous Isle. Mina’s advances in Spark Technology brought power to the Isle for the first time many years ago, ushering in newfound prosperity for its citizens. But now, the Spark Generators have gone out, and foul play is suspected.
Mina the Hollower has been in development at Yacht Club for around two years. Following the overwhelming success the team saw with Shovel Knight and its various spinoffs, many might be wondering why the indie developer decided to turn to Kickstarter again.
“Compared to our original Kickstarter, we’re not in dire straits,” Yacht Club explained on its Kickstarter page. “We’re financing a majority of Mina the Hollower‘s development internally. Our main reason for launching a Kickstarter this time is to build a brand new universe in the same way we did with our first game, Shovel Knight—with our community involved in creating something special along with us! Every backer that joins the development will help to make a more robust game. Together, we’ll break new ground!”
Various reward tiers are available for those who contribute to the game’s Kickstarter campaign, and if Yacht Club’s past is any indication, expect lots of additional content to arrive down the line. There’s no telling when Mina the Hollower will release and platforms aren’t finalized, but Kickstarter mock-up images suggest the game may come to Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox platforms, and PC via Steam.
