Mina the Hollower draws from Zelda Oracle games but plays more like Castlevania or Bloodborne

Yacht Club Games says Mina the Hollower began as a Zelda-inspired project but evolved closer to Castlevania

Yacht Club Games, the studio behind Shovel Knight, has shared new insights into the development of its upcoming title Mina the Hollower, explaining that while the Zelda Oracle series inspired the game’s art style, its gameplay has taken cues from Castlevania and Bloodborne.

Speaking to Knowledge, Yacht Club co-founder Sean Velasco said the team initially wanted to move away from side-scrolling platformers and experiment with a new perspective. “Shovel Knight was our side-scrolling [platformer],” Velasco said.

“We wanted to do a top-down game that had different gameplay. I think many of us were thinking, ‘If only we could be doing something a little bit different.’ We wanted to go more fully into the RPG space and make something that had a lot more combat.”

The visual style was heavily influenced by Game Boy-era titles such as Link’s Awakening and the Zelda Oracle games. However, Velasco explained that designing within the game’s small tile-based resolution presented challenges.

“We tried not to go too far into 16-bit. The resolution of the game is so low... Our artists really struggled. If we get art and it’s big, it’s all got to fit in the tiles.”

While the visuals recall classic Zelda, Velasco noted that the combat system feels different. “You can burrow underneath enemies and hazards, and then you have this slow, methodical whip attack. It’s about getting that neutral space and playing it like a Castlevania or a Bloodborne – games that don’t have a block [move]. All we have is this jump, this burrow and this whip.”

Velasco added that, despite comparisons to Soulslike titles, Mina the Hollower aims to balance retro influences with modern action mechanics rather than replicate Dark Souls-style gameplay.