Maps, mice, and moody hues: The making of Mina the Hollower

Mina the Hollower humbled me in minutes. I play as Mina, a savvy mouse, with the nightstar mace and an axe sidearm I keep losing. It’s us against the world — which, so far, has meant falling off so many ledges while escaping a shipwreck. With a little determination and a lot of lost Sparks, I finally make my way to Ossex. Adventure awaits.

Mina has become the year’s indie breakout, selling more than 500,000 copies in the first two weeks. Though it isn’t Yacht Club Games’ first hit — the Shovel Knight series is a real banger — it is its largest game so far, with substantial “scope creep,” according to game designer Alec Faulkner.

On June 16, Mothership visited Yacht Club Games’ studio in Los Angeles and talked to Faulkner and lead artist Sandy Gordon about Mina the Hollower’s inspirations, both aesthetic and literary.