# 9 Ways Mina the Hollower Was as Complex and Audacious to Make as Any AAA Game

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/9-ways-mina-the-hollower-was-as-complex-and-audacious-to-make-as-any-aaa-game/
- Published: 2026-11-02T18:00:18+00:00
- Updated: 2026-11-02T18:21:20+00:00
- Original publisher: Polygon
- Original article: https://www.polygon.com/mina-the-hollower-yacht-club-games-interview/
- Topics: Americas, Entertainment, TV

## Key points

- *Mina the Hollower* began as an art experiment.
- Burrowing gives players a clear way to evade and reposition.
- Yacht Club aimed for simple controls with deeper combat.

## Summary

Yacht Club Games says *Mina the Hollower* demanded creative and technical work comparable to much larger games, despite its Game Boy Color inspired look. The team discussed how the project grew from an art experiment into a top-down action game, and how its distinctive mechanics were designed to make combat both readable and deep.

Designer Alec Faulkner developed Mina’s burrowing as a way to escape corners and preserve clear positioning in a top-down view: players dive underground briefly, then emerge to attack or evade. The idea drew on the tense spacing of classic *Castlevania* combat, while the team aimed to give players a few controls with multiple uses. The article presents the developers’ account of the game’s design and production as awards season approaches.

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Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.