The action-adventure game Mina the Hollower from the creators of the legendary Shovel Knight is already available on Nintendo Switch and Switch 2, finding hundreds of thousands of fans. Following an intense release, the developers at Yacht Club Games shared behind-the-scenes details of developing their ambitious retro project in an interview with Polygon.
Influence of the Resident Evil Series
As it turned out, the team drew inspiration from a wide variety of sources, including classic Capcom horrors. One of the most vivid examples is the dangerous enemy The Carving Man:
“The Carving Man was our Nemesis-style stalker from Resident Evil, relentlessly pursuing you. This demonstrates our approach: we take elements from retro, modern, and indie games, and then adapt and develop these ideas further.”
The Game World Was Pieced Together Only at the End
Interestingly, the interconnected map, which is one of the game's main strengths, was formed virtually “blindly.” The team spent years developing separate locations, enemies, and bosses without creating a single vertical slice. Only in the final stages of production did the developers bring all the zones together—and, fortunately, the world structure worked almost flawlessly without major reworks.
The Threat of Bankruptcy and Maximalism
Creating the game nearly brought the studio to financial ruin. The developers noted several key difficulties:
- Splitting the team: Attempting to work on multiple projects simultaneously slowed down processes by half, heavily draining the studio's bank account.
- Maximalist approach: Just like in Shovel Knight: King of Cards, the creators wanted to implement all planned ideas without cuts.
- Complex interdependence: Cutting content was impossible because all mechanics and locations were tightly intertwined.
Ultimately, the risk paid off, and the release of Mina the Hollower solidified the studio's success on current Nintendo consoles.
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