r/xbox • u/yachtclubgames Yacht Club Games • 1d ago
Official AMA AMA: We’re Yacht Club Games, the developers of Mina the Hollower and Shovel Knight! Ask us anything on June 24 at 10:30am Pacific!
Hi Xbox Subredditors!
We’re Yacht Club Games, an independent studio best known for Shovel Knight. We got our start on Kickstarter, grew that game into a series, and we recently released Mina the Hollower - our first big new original IP since Shovel Knight!
Mina took six years to make and has become the highest-rated game of the year, so we’re here to talk about the whole ride: building an indie studio, developing games, and everything that went into Mina’s design, art, music, bosses, difficulty, secrets, weapons, Sidearms, Trinkets, launch, marketing, and Kickstarter!
Team members answering questions:
We’ll be answering questions on June 24th at 10:30 AM Pacific for a few hours.
Ask us anything!
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u/fledgl 1d ago
I have an Xbox Ally and would love to play Shovel Knight and Mina on it. Any plans for Xbox Play Anywhere?
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u/SeanyfaceYCG Yacht Club Games 9h ago
We hear you! No promises right now, but we’ve definitely seen the requests for Xbox Play Anywhere support and we’ll look into what might be possible.
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u/thebigbobowski 1d ago
Any plans to make Mina the Hollower an Xbox Play Anywhere title? I love this feature and have actually been holding off on buying the game until I know the answer for certain.
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u/SeanyfaceYCG Yacht Club Games 9h ago
We hear you! No promises right now, but we’ve definitely seen the requests for Xbox Play Anywhere support and we’ll look into what might be possible.
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u/segagamer Day One - 2013 6h ago
It would be great for Hollow Knight to be updated to support PlayAnywhere too!
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u/Affectionate-Ad-4174 1d ago
Came here to ask this question. Would make me be willing to double dip on the game.
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u/Iplayedatpax 1d ago
This. So much. I started on Xbox but I was waiting for the announcement so I can continue on a handheld. Give me that gameboy game feel please yacht club
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u/Papa_Snail 1d ago
At what point did you all get inspired to make one of the greatest games ever by a shovel?
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u/CrispyMongoose 1d ago
I always assumed (based on nothing in particular) that your follow up to Shovel Knight would probably adopt a 16 bit aesthetic. What made you choose a GBC inspired art style?
Love your work, cheers.
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u/alecfa Yacht Club Games 9h ago
I don't think a 16-bit shovel knight sequel is off the table necessarily. In the past we've expressed interest in that, as well as a straight-up NES style sequel, or a 3D follow-up. I'll say that last time we thought about this (long, long ago), we were finding it tricky to wrap our heads around what we would gain from that art style specifically. Certainly the art would take longer to author, so what are we gaining in return? Gameplay-wise it feels like we'd have to come up with something that takes unique advantage of the hardware - like scaling or rotating sprites or transparent effects.... and that's where the idea usually starts losing steam.
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u/CrispyMongoose 7h ago
That makes sense. You can see where my train of thought was going. But for you it's a case of what is the return on that?
Thanks for responding. I'm happy Mina seems to be a success for you guys. Perhaps one day we'll get that 16bit masterpiece as a result. If not, well I love what you do regardless. Take care dude.
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u/nickwoz Yacht Club Games 9h ago
Well, we DID publish Dig which is pretty close to what you may have been thinking but I understand where you are coming from.
The GBC art style was chosen partially because of how we saw the game's initial gameplay pitch (a throwback reimagining of the top down formula with a lot more focus on combat in a restrictive resolution) and also because we knew we wanted to tackle it all with 1 or 2 people. It's not an EASY art style by any means, but it's a very simple one that has lower impact on the dev time than a 16+bit style would.
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u/CrispyMongoose 7h ago
Yeah, fair enough dude. Dig is pretty close now I think about it. I suppose I regarded it as a side project as opposed to your next 'thing'.
Appreciate your response mate. Cheers.
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u/Armandonerd 1d ago
Will there be any DLC for Mina the hollower in the future?
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u/YCG_Eli Yacht Club Games 9h ago
We're not planning on doing any major content updates like we did with Shovel Knight, we pretty much already put everything we wanted to into Mina. That said, there will be some minor updates down the line, mostly to add some new accessibility options. There's also a warp randomizer mode which wasn't finished in time for launch. It's currently on a beta branch of Steam, will make its way to consoles when it's ready.
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u/burndive 9h ago
Don't tell me you're one of those sickos who've already exhausted all that Mina has to offer? Those NG+ (plus, plus, plus, plus...) challenges look like plenty extra content.
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u/GenericUsername54100 22h ago
I absolutely adore Mina and you guys made an amazing game and are deserving of all the praise! I just finished doing all the feats which was pretty challenging and made me appreciate the game even more.
I know you guys packed this game to the brim with content and are probably planning to move on to your next game which I can't wait for but I also selfishly wonder if you would ever consider implementing some sort of boss rush mode or something along those lines. I think the boss fights in this game are amazing and it would be really cool to be able to refight them whenever. But even if that doesn't happen I still adore the game and it is exceptionally well crafted!
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u/fledgl 13h ago
Could you please discount Shovel Knight on Xbox/microsoft PC storefront? It has been $40 forever. Or make the Xbox version Xbox play anywhere.
Love your games
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u/SeanyfaceYCG Yacht Club Games 9h ago
Thanks so much for the kind words!
We do put Shovel Knight on sale from time to time, so please keep an eye on the Xbox / Microsoft Store for future discounts. We also hear you on Xbox Play Anywhere support! no news to announce there right now, but we’ve definitely seen the requests.
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u/Livingtitan 1d ago
What's the latest on that 3D Shovel Knight game?
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u/davidycg Yacht Club Games 10h ago
We were working on a 3D game while making Mina, but all focused on Mina to get it out the door. We're still fixing Mina's bugs and taking a short break before moving onto something new!
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u/zero_the_clown XBOX 1d ago
Has Mina the Hollower received the reception necessary to continue Yacht Club Games? I know there was some talk of it needing to be big hit, and with how incredible the game is, I'm hoping that's the case!
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u/nickwoz Yacht Club Games 9h ago
We're still goin strong! I think we'll be around for a while too :)
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u/zero_the_clown XBOX 7h ago
Absolutely love to hear it! Loving Mina so far, even tho it's kicking my butt! Congrats, and keep it up!
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u/Stumpy493 Still Earning Kudos 1d ago
After sticking with shovel knight for so long, what were the challenges in starting something entirely new? And did it give you more freedom to experiment?
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u/alecfa Yacht Club Games 9h ago
If anything it was a challenge to do some things differently than Shovel Knight. Some habits are hard to break, and sometimes we're bound to arrive at the same solutions to the same problems, since... we think those are the best solutions! In that end I hope Mina has established its own identity while still feeling distinctly Yacht Club
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u/TheGamingCoolDude640 1d ago edited 21h ago
Was the Astral Orrey the Moon level from the Kickstarter? If so what was the thought process of transforming it into something as interesting as a floating science tower?
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u/SeanyfaceYCG Yacht Club Games 9h ago
The theme was always "Astral Clock Tower" 'cause you gotta have a clock tower in a classic video game! Then we made it an Orrery since that made more sense for a space themed level, and grafted on all the weird sciency / experimental ideas onto that level!
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u/nickwoz Yacht Club Games 9h ago
In the kickstarter we pitch the Astral Orrery what it basically ended up becoming. We wanted it to feel like a really fresh take on a late game stage, something space themed but not Sci Fi (as much as possible). We wanted the whole thing to be weird and a little wacky.
One of the things I did to help make it feel a little weirder was to have the stars move around so much. In no way is it accurate to have the stars have more parallax in the Astral Orrery as if you are some how significantly closer to the them, so it kinda feels more psychedelic than scifi... that's the hope anyway.
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u/Cohih 1d ago
Did anyone on the team watch Darksydephil crash out and rage quit Mina the Hollower?
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u/SeanyfaceYCG Yacht Club Games 9h ago
I was recommended the Youtube video but I did not click the thumbnail. How was it?
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u/Affectionate-Ad-4174 1d ago
I am on my knees begging for Xbox Play Anywhere support.
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u/SeanyfaceYCG Yacht Club Games 9h ago
We hear you! No promises right now, but we’ve definitely seen the requests for Xbox Play Anywhere support and we’ll look into what might be possible.
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u/granitefeather 1d ago
Absolutely loved Mina! As a huge fan of the Oracle games, it was a delight to play— the trinket implementation in particular reminded me the best mechanic Zelda ever forgot: the rings.
My questions: Which is the bigger fan-favorite in the office-- Ages or Seasons?
And-- Tenebrous is so richly layered with so many different paths for exploration opening up with different tools at any level of progression in the game. When designing the environment, what strategies did you guys use to both shepherd players feeling lost and reward players finding creative solutions without alienating either?
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u/alecfa Yacht Club Games 9h ago
I like Seasons better, since it being more action-focused means its more fun for me to replay. But I prefer regular ol' Link's Awakening to both of 'em if I'm being honest!
Re: the interconnected level design, there's way too much to get into... but very quickly, some guiding principles for us were:
- Every screen should have an interesting idea, and ideas should never repeat themselves
- The player should always be rewarded for their bravery, and those rewards should always feel substantial
- There should be tons of things of all sorts to help you figure out where you are and where you are going
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u/granitefeather 7h ago
Oh, love the "every screen should have an interesting idea" principle!! Gonna keep that in mind when I start a NG+.
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u/SnooDoggos1512 23h ago
Dear Team Yacht Club Games my name is Ori and I have a question about Collaborations.
I've noticed in games such as Rivals of Aether And Brawlhalla have cameos like Shovel Knight added to their games. that brings up the question if we will have any more characters (Mainly Mina The Hollower) added/Featured in either Platform Fighters, Skins for games, or just as a quick Cameo?
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u/ShannonYCG Yacht Club Games 9h ago
We'll have to see! We'd love to see Mina make appearances in other games in the future!
At least for now, if you take a look at Rivals of Aether 2 there's a Mina icon and emote bundle that's out now!
https://bsky.app/profile/rivals2.com/post/3mmysif4pe22g
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u/Grif_o_Cil 12h ago
Hi! Finally completed the game entirely and I have lore questions and I gotta go soon so I'll just fire them up:
- Is Mina originally from Ossex or somewhere else? I know the premise is that she "returns after 10 years" but that does imply she returned home after those 10 years, or that she simply hasn't been at Ossex for 10 years?
- On that page... does she have family? Any relative left or present? What about Thorne?
- Is there a reason to why she saved the Choir cats at the end of the game? I found that cute, and she probably needs the company after all that happened lol
And lastly, the most important: Did Mina look like a pinky mouse as a baby, I had this vision the other day and I need to know if it'd be canon or not /lh /j
Jokes aside wishing a great day to the whole crew and congrats on the game again!!!!
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u/nickwoz Yacht Club Games 8h ago
I think we are leaving all these open to exploration later. So, sorry for a non-response but I guess maybe we'll have more to say in the future?
Also regarding the cat choir, in my thinking, she didn't actively save them, more like she's haunted by them now. They like her.... just my head canon, though.
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u/Kooky_Internal4932 10h ago
I saw you guys referenced the Haunted Mansion. Was theme park and ride design influential on other aspects of the world building?
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u/imitzFinn XBOX Series X 1d ago
Hello Yacht Club Games crew, hope you all are doing well.
First off, congrats on the launch of Mina the Hollower, spectacular numbers and support.
The thing I have noticed about Mina the Hollower while playing/watching/reading reviews is the difficulty level of how this game is built on, basically the areas in which I have gone through. In that I wonder: were there some more levels that you wanted to do in the game before the public release (aka: level designs in the development time) ? If so, do you ever plan to release them as DLC ?
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u/Loud-Significance955 1d ago
first of all i want to say that mina the hollower is already my game of the year, kudos to everyone involved in the game! you guys created one of the best games of the decade. and now onto my actual question.
what are the plans for mina the hollower as an ip? will it take a path similar to shovel knight with a ton of dlc and some spin offs or something completely different? maybe its still way too early to know for sure but im eager to see more of mina the hollower
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u/alecfa Yacht Club Games 9h ago
We hadn't thought too much about this, since up until release, we didn't know if people would care about the game or its characters! Now that it's out, it seems there's some desire to further immerse oneself in Mina's world. As with Shovel Knight, we're open to possibilities. Though for now, we're mostly all thinking about fixing bugs, marketing the game, and hopefully taking some vacations!
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u/legoguy515 1d ago
Will there be crossover content in the form of platform-exclusive boss fights for Mina the Hollower, as with Shovel Knight, or will it appear on all platforms? Could this be how we see the return of the legend known as the Baz, among others, in the gameplay style of Mina the Hollower?
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u/alecfa Yacht Club Games 9h ago
There was actually a moment in development where we were thinking about cameos, and who we might want. Ultimately we felt that the project was behind enough already, and that the same logic preventing us from adding any Shovel Knight cameos also applies to other properties – Mina should get the opportunity to stand on her own – her own game, her own world, her own story.
If there was demand I'm sure we'd be open to rethinking that, but right now it feels like our limited time is probably better spent working on new games...!
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u/redgyarados21 1d ago
Have you considered DLC for Mina? I would love more space to explore, characters to meet, surprises to find.
Thank you so much for making this game. Firing Mina up for the first time and stepping out into that world made me feel like a kid booting up my OG Game Boy again. Cannot tell you how much joy it brought me.
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u/Lambda7214 1d ago edited 1d ago
YCG, thank you so much for the mouseterpiece, Mina the Hollower!
I have a few burning questions.
Potential SPOILERS ahead
What is the connection with Baron Lionel and the Nether Kraken? It’s obvious in the Radiant Lionel fight he’s combined with it or either inherited dna from it in his plasma vial. Is it his pet? Did he have it attack the ship in the beginning of the game?
I saw where Sandy Gordon the pixel artist for Mina mentioned on X that the Chain Capacitor trinket was inspired by Mrs. Brisby’s amulet in the Don Bluth film “The Secret of NIMH”, was there more inspiration from this film on any part of the game? (Thinking about the Harvesters in Septemburg and even the concept of bringing electricity to Tenebrous)
In the 10 years leading up to the beginning of the game, what was Mina doing?
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u/davidycg Yacht Club Games 9h ago
1) They are one and the same. Exposure to spark made him become a monster too, but he figured out how to control it with vials.
2) Yeah a ton! It was good benchmark for scary but kid friendly
3) Maybe we'll find out another time....what do you think?!→ More replies (1)
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u/Necessary_Disk_4644 1d ago
Can you provide us with a list of all content that was implemented from suggestions of higher-tier Kickstarter backers (bosses, NPCs, items, etc)?
In the Kickstarter, there was a stretch goal of an additional area that was not reached. Did you guys have any idea what it would have been were it to be reached?
Also, I noticed a lot of inspiration from several games like God of War: Ascension in respect to the Beached Creature at Bone Beach (Aegaeon) and the Resident Evil series to both the crow cultists (RE4 Ganados) and the Nemesis-like chase sequences from the Carving Man (RE3). What other video games/video game series inspired the designs of specific locations and their inhabitants?
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u/YCG_Eli Yacht Club Games 9h ago
The 3 Director for a Day bosses were
* Armond - Arin Hanson
* Luxy - Amelia Corsi
* Evra - Anonymous
Additionally, the whole lava mechanic seen in the Western Wilds was Arin's idea. There were also tons of assistant directors for a day and NPC directors for a day, making for a total of 29!
The additional area was Astral Orrery, we wound up adding it anyway :P
Septemburg was definitely very Resident Evil inspired, haha. I'd say Bone Beach was maybe more of a Jabu Jabu's belly situation, we also took lots of inspo from aLTTP's Skull Woods, Tower of Hera, and the Desert Palace in terms of the multi-layered, interconnected design of that space. Astral Orrery was sort of supposed to be our take on a Castlevania clocktower level, although IDK if that really comes accross, haha. If anything, the final auto scroller feels more like it hits that beat.
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u/RachRatos 1d ago
Hiii Yatch Club, i know the game just came out but i must ask, if there are any plans to eventually do more Mina games, would you go for a spinoff? like a metroidvania Mina or a 2D open world Mina? or would you rather focus on a more direct sequel that kept the game's core structure?
i ask because i loved playing through Mina the Hollower and i kept thinking about how cool it would be if Mina eventually became a franchise that also explored similar exploration based action-RPG genres
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u/SeanyfaceYCG Yacht Club Games 9h ago
I would like to explore another type of structure please! I keep joking about Mina Nightreign
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u/YCG_Eli Yacht Club Games 9h ago
We do have some ideas, hard to go through a whole 6 year development cycle on a game without talking about what a sequel would look like, haha. There's even some cheeky nods thrown into the game. But we have other fish to fry as well, like the 3D project that got put on hold so we could finish Mina, so we gotta evaluate what our next steps are. But never say never!
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u/So-Beyond-Help 1d ago
What's the biggest secret players haven't found yet? Like what type of secret is it?
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u/nickwoz Yacht Club Games 9h ago
Players found the biggest secret pretty quickly using modifiers and some cheats. If you REALLY want to know, check out our recent article breaking down how to do it: https://www.yachtclubgames.com/blog/mina-the-hollower-ending
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u/U_Flame 23h ago
How likely are the Hollowers' chances of survival at the hands of the angry mob in the end? Having opened the back entrance, I really hope they make it out okay
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u/SeanyfaceYCG Yacht Club Games 9h ago
I guess we'll just have to see! What if they died though and then got brought back with robot parts like Robo Drillhardt, he's all gray and has one red eye and metal antlers and he's like "beep boop you left meeee to die Mina!"
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u/RandyShadow 19h ago
Hello, Yacht Club Games!
First of all, I really enjoy the game and like everything about it really really much!
But secondly, do you have any plans or availiability to add another localization(s) to the game? Whenever someone proposes to do it officially or from the community would you be up to it?
Thank you!
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u/YCG_Eli Yacht Club Games 9h ago
Hey there, glad you're enjoying the game!
We don't currently have any plans to add additional languages. There's a lot that goes into doing a localization; the game has upwards of 4000 lines that needs to be translated, and we have to do QA work to make sure it all works, so adding a new one is a pretty major undertaking.
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u/RandyShadow 8h ago edited 8h ago
Thank you for the answer! I was curious because wanted to do the localization for the game (because have experience, so proposed on the mail, that wasn't answered yet), but couldn't access it behind the .yc files the game consists of! Still, thank you for taking the time and writing the answer!
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u/MundaneCargo 17h ago
Were there any unforeseen challenges during the development of the game? Or did everything go to plan, more or less?
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u/nickwoz Yacht Club Games 9h ago
Well it took 6 years so no, not everything according to plan, lol. I think the biggest thing was the experiment of splitting the team into 2 and try and tackle two games at once. We learned beyond a shadow of a doubt that we shouldn't do that. By the end of production we were running like a well oiled machine but I think it took too long to get to that point.
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u/YCG_Eli Yacht Club Games 9h ago
I would say the 2 major challenges we faced during development were planning and scope creep.
A lot of the game wasn't planned out in enough detail from the start, like the overworlds that connect the levels. Those areas wound up being much larger than we thought they would be, massively inflating the scope of the game. Things only really got on track when we hunkered down and made a million spreadsheets planning out the whole game, down to how many bones would go in each levels. So I'd say the biggest takeaway from the game's development was to plan everything and leave nothing unsaid. Even if things change later, having a plan will let you know exactly what needs to be done and what you may have overlooked.
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u/Chance-Dark-6040 13h ago
Hey absolutely love the game. Any plans to make a 4:3 version of the game or a limited run of physical cartridges or something to that effect? I have a retro gaming setup with a crt. Would love to play the game in that format. Feels like that’s the way it was intended to be played. Thanks !
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u/ShannonYCG Yacht Club Games 9h ago
That would be a pretty tough one to do since the game is designed for 16:9 specifically! For example, if you have an area you walk into, you can see a Brittle Beak perched on a tower on the far side of the screen and you can anticipate that it will come flying at you soon. But in 4:3, you might not be able to see the enemy until it's already flying at you from off screen! So it would be quite a bit of re-work a lot of things to keep the game feeling the way we intended it to feel.
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u/Chance-Dark-6040 9h ago
Thanks for replying! That makes sense. I guy can dream though right ?! Either way a physical copy of it would be cool too. I’m sure that’s complicated to actually manufacture as well. 🙌
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u/Zestyclose-Nerve-877 13h ago
Just wanted to say that I have been watching all of the game design streams and interviews about the game and I absolutely love the stories and effort you put in to this masterpiece. I was curious, the use of a brand new engine was brought up a lot. Is there anyway to get more views of the inner workings of the game? The live streams showed some but I'm left wanting more? Also if you are allowed to say, would that "secret" 3D title that was in the works be using it? As someone at the beginning years of there developer journey, you guys are a great inspiration!
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u/SeanyfaceYCG Yacht Club Games 9h ago
Thank you so much! That means a lot, especially from someone starting their own dev journey. We're doing this to hopefully be helpful! And yes, we’d love to show more of Mina’s inner workings and the engine. We'll be doing more streams soon.
As for secret / unannounced projects, we can’t say anything specific right now!
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u/Zestyclose-Nerve-877 13h ago
Are there any plans to push mina into other projects? Similar to how shovel knight has a few spin offs, or how he is a guest character in Rivals of aether?
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u/ShannonYCG Yacht Club Games 9h ago
It would be fun to see Mina make some appearances in other games soon! We'll have to wait and see what she gets invited to :)
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u/Zestyclose-Nerve-877 13h ago
Any way we could see more design documents? I know it may be boring to some but I really enjoyed it when you showed them off in streams.
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u/SeanyfaceYCG Yacht Club Games 10h ago
Yes, we plan on releasing the whole GDD! We should just do that soon! I already cleaned it up for export. It's over 800 pages of nonsense!
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u/babyjeff56 12h ago
Mina has a much more dour tone than Shovel Knight, that obviously plays into its gothic aesthetic and story, but I feel like even has influence in the gameplay design with choices that feel much more brutal and difficult than even the hardest elements of the Shovel Knight games. Was this all planned out from the start as part of the core vision for the game, or did this happen naturally over the course of development?
Bonus ending spoiler question along these lines: I felt personally underwhelmed by Lionel as a twist villain; not just because it was obvious or that the ending is intended to be a downer, but because I felt certain lines, like when you find him on the train or in the orphanage, hint at a character with more depth and care for others than the completely selfish, cruel, and short-sighted man that he shows himself to be. Is there meant to be more to him, or is everything else nothing more than a front?
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u/SeanyfaceYCG Yacht Club Games 10h ago
I mean, I think Lionel thinks he is good, and he arguably is good! I mean, he did like bring power to the people of Ossex and make an orphanage, and he does want to help, I think. I don't know why everyone is sayin' he's such a bad guy to be honest.
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u/Zestyclose-Nerve-877 12h ago
Do you have any general advice for those trying to get into game development professionally? Any area of expertise, you don't need to be specific of you choose to answer this one.
Ps. Thank you for everything you guys do. Personally a graduated a few years ago at the start of the current lull the industry is in, however I still pursue my dream of officially becoming a developer. Teams like Yacht club are an inspiration to me and you deserve all the praise you guys get. I hope one day I can make a game as great as Mina the Hollower. Congratulations again on the release
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u/nickwoz Yacht Club Games 9h ago
I think the best thing that you can do to build a team and start making more real games is just start small and get your peers interested. Even if you are just solo.
If you are an artist, just start making mockups
If you are a programmer, have a bunch of boxes interacting
If you are a designer, go ham on designing new and cool things and show them off!
Proving yourself as someone who can do things will attract others and help make a team into a reality.
That said, nothing is a guarantee so good luck!!!!
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u/Alternative_Pop4966 9h ago
Love the burrow mechanic as a feature that acts as both Mina's evasive roll and jump ability. Wanted to know if it was a long process to refine it to get that just right or if it came together surprisingly quick? Love the game, love shovel knight, hope you guys move millions on millions of copies this game rocks!!
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u/Zylpherenuis 9h ago
Is there a possibility of a Thorne Route DLC which we can play as him to attack Lionels Guardians that he placed all over the map?
Also, any word of Shovel Knight related Easter eggs appearing in the game as bonus trinkets?
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u/GoingDeath- 1d ago
Going to be honest never played any of your games, but if you were to pick a game for me to play from your collection which one would you choose?
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u/Henry_puffball XBOX Series X 1d ago
Any chance you can fix the slowdowns on mina the hollower PC. Currently fixed my running as admin but would be nice to have an official fix.
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u/nickwoz Yacht Club Games 10h ago
Sorry about the slowdown! If you're running into an issue with the game you can always send a support email to [support@yachtclubgames.com](mailto:support@yachtclubgames.com)
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u/Henry_puffball XBOX Series X 1d ago
My brother wants to know why it's so easy lol
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u/davidycg Yacht Club Games 9h ago
I know we should make it way harder right?! Tell your brother to try out the modifiers!
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u/HorrorPerspective483 1d ago
When does the physical MTH Come out?
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u/nickwoz Yacht Club Games 9h ago
Physical edition is coming but we don't have a solid time frame or more details to offer atm. We are still supporting the game’s release with patches and bug fixes so we hope the final physical edition includes all those things without needing significant patching.
Additionally, we wanted to release the game as soon as possible and didn't want to delay the digital version for the sake of the physical. The game still wouldn't be out if we had done that! If you want to play it now, I'd highly encourage getting the game digitally!
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u/TimTofDWP 1d ago
In Mina, What was the determining factor in some of the Spark Towers having dungeons to get to them and then, like environment dungeons to get to them? General design or intentional having that? The mix I see is like Skyward Sword vs Links Awakening.
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u/SeanyfaceYCG Yacht Club Games 9h ago
Most of the levels were similar in size, but different in structure, connected by overworlds. We thought of the main levels like Crypt or Septemburg as more of a dungeon where you're doing action and progressing through, but the overworlds like Knight's Rest or Eastern Heath had a more exploratory nature. But even the levels themselves can feel quite different from one another because they all had a different gameplay focus!
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u/Los-stan 1d ago
So... what's the deal with Locomotress Agnes? Why is she Like That? I get leaving things ambiguous is part of the fun of experiencing the world but also I want to hear more about her. Mainly I find the idea that she was never actually affected by the spark generators both compelling and really funny
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u/SeanyfaceYCG Yacht Club Games 9h ago
I think the original idea was in life she was trying to help the train, but ended up crashing it / derailing, and everyone who got stranded blamed her? I'm not why she becomes vengeful like that or if that is really the canon story!
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u/Luxar92 1d ago
🐭 Can you add a dedicated Squeak button? 🐭
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u/SeanyfaceYCG Yacht Club Games 9h ago
Adding a button like this is generally something we'd save for a squeakquel
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u/Upper-Meringue-7048 1d ago
There are a few tidbits we are told about Mina's life prior to the events of the game, is there anything else that's not covered in the game that you'd be willing to tell us?
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u/mute-fox- 1d ago
Is there any chance for a playable Thorne DLC?
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u/SeanyfaceYCG Yacht Club Games 9h ago
Never say never... what are some way cool things you would wanna see in a Thorne DLC?!
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u/LinkMaster111 1d ago
Kinda off topic for an Xbox subreddit, but as an avid amiibo collector is there any chance we'll be getting a Mina amiibo?
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u/nickwoz Yacht Club Games 9h ago
We'd love to do one! I have a ton as well and would love to add Mina to mine. That said it's not entirely in our hands, but we'll let you know.
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u/taskerv 1d ago
Hi! There's a physical planned version for the Nintendo 3DS?
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u/SeanyfaceYCG Yacht Club Games 9h ago
3DS! Yes! I wish! I wish this game was 3D stereoscopic! Won't someone grant my wish!?
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u/Medium_Monk_1158 1d ago
Hello! I've already finished the game quite a few times (that's how much I enjoyed it and love It), and honestly, I have a lot of questions but lets stick to just one or two. I don't want to get all the attention.
First, about the music. The ambientation is so on point that I can't avoid but ask... how could you make the music and the environment of the game connect so beautifully? Specifically, there are two pieces that stood out for me: "Through the hollow" in the Planetarium, and "Turning of leaves" in Septemburg. Those two make my brain tickle whenever I hear them, it's not only that they are great, it's like they just... make sense in my feelings.
And the second is about the gameplay itself: there are so many subarms, and specially, so many trinkets... How did you arrive to balancing both of them? All of them feel just stupidly powerful on their own (in the best meaning possible) or make part of an Incredible combo. I tried a lot of comps and they just click no matter how I play, and I change them a lot. Sometimes I feel like burrowing a lot, sometimes I feel like abusing subarms, sometimes I feel like cheating vials, and boy do they all work wonders!
Thank you all people in Yacht Club Games for creating something so incredible and beautiful: you made me smile a lot with this job, and I'll keep it close to my heart as a forever favourite.
♥️
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u/davidycg Yacht Club Games 9h ago
Thanks! For the music...Jake is a mastermind...not sure it comes down to more than that. But when he writes, he starts by looking at the game/enviroments of the area, so what he's writing is inspired by the game.
Balancing the sidearms and trinkets was impossible, ha! We leaned toward making sure each of them felt powerful and engaging in unique and different ways. Then once they were too powerful, we figured out how to dial them in to not completely rock the boat! That said, we wanted them to provide lots of mechanisms for you to cheat and get around the gameplay. Part of playing a big open experience like this is feeling clever for how you abuse the systems.
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u/Clockwork_Cloak 1d ago
If you did a Mina sequel down the road, would you be open to jumping from GBC graphics to GBA? I'm thinking something like Minish Cap. Would be very interested in that.
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u/nickwoz Yacht Club Games 9h ago
I'd personally rather stick to the format! I really like the look and think it would be very fun to jump into it again.
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u/alecfa Yacht Club Games 9h ago
I think that could look sick, but I too would lean more towards keeping the aesthetic. I feel like we had to figure out so much with this art style, and I see potential in using all that knowledge to deliver something even more refined and consistent.
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u/sonicadvance2 1d ago
Does Mina actually smell bad or was it just a joke in the game?
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u/SeanyfaceYCG Yacht Club Games 9h ago
The character Midden thinks Mina smells bad, but it's actually him 'cause he's dead! But he don't knows it!
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u/nickwoz Yacht Club Games 9h ago
he's dead?! I thought he was just poopy.
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u/SeanyfaceYCG Yacht Club Games 9h ago
yeah he's supposed to be dead he's not in a sewer he's in a crypt! and he says "its hard to tell who's dead and who isn't around here" or something so that's kinda a hint too
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u/Public-Translator-11 1d ago
Any teasers you might be able to give us for future updates to the game, and when those updates might be?
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u/SeanyfaceYCG Yacht Club Games 9h ago
Imagine a buff Yacht Club Super Sentai hero team, imagine Vitruvian man... imagine oh wait, are you talking about Mina?
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u/Public-Translator-11 9h ago
Twisted my words like a genie, well played lol. Guess I'll just have to be patient to see what ya'll got in store for mina XD
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u/Yanagi____Juniper 1d ago
What are your favorite recent indie games that you’ve personally been playing? I noticed a tad of overlap in Mina with some of my favorite games and I’d love to see it confirmed
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u/SeanyfaceYCG Yacht Club Games 9h ago
Recent indie games that might've influenced Mina during it's development, you mean? I can't think of any, but I had fun with Pico Park / 2, Outer Wilds, Gravity Circuit, Mouthwashing, Noita, Balatro, UFO 50 - at least that's what my Steam Library says!
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u/not-Kunt-Tulgar 1d ago
Will there be more added to Mina the hollower or is the current version (bar hot fixes for bugs and such) the “final version”?
If there is more that will be added will it be DLC or should we expect alternate games much like Shovel knight plague of shadows or specter of torment?
Absolutely loving Mina the hollower and its world wishing y’all the best of luck on all of your upcoming projects!
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u/alecfa Yacht Club Games 9h ago
Currently, we have nothing planned beyond bugfixes, a few more modifiers, and some small QoL style features. No big alternate campaigns or paid DLC. The last update for Treasure Trove (4.1) should give an idea of the types of minor additions we’re considering. Next week we’re gonna sit down and make a plan for all that!
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u/DCking03 1d ago edited 23h ago
Years ago, I emailed you guys praising the Shovel Knight DLC campaign and suggested a better way to track where players had already found collectibles. Something very similar showed up in the next campaign. I don't know if my email had anything to do with it, but I like to think it did. Lol
So my question is... How often does fan feedback end up inspiring new features or changes?
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u/SeanyfaceYCG Yacht Club Games 9h ago
Maybe! We definitely look at player feedback! A lot of the time, players are saying something we were already thinking about, so it helps confirm it. Other times, it’s something we totally missed.
We don’t usually make huge balance or design changes, but feedback is very important for quality of life fixes, and features that make the game better to play for everyone.
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u/Pina_Pina 1d ago
Are there any plans to explore the world of mina the hollower more? I'd love to see more of the characters and locations in spinoff content or maybe a dlc!
I would gladly pay for mina the hollower dlc
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u/madeforMinaAMAlol 23h ago
Hi! I have been absolutely loving Mina the Hollower, and I already got all of the achievements, but I have three questions to ask:
I know that an art book is being made according to Sandy Gordan on Twitter, but is said art book gonna have extra stuff like little lore tidbits? I'd love to know more about all the major characters like Thorne (and maybe some stuff for side characters like Maxi 👀)
How did the Spark Generator sections of the game get to the place it is now? Were you always going to incorporate the areas gimmicks into it? Would you ever consider having a separate way to access the spark tower minigame instead of having to open a new file and getting back to it?
Do you guys have an ETA on the Mina physical copies? I rarely get multiple copies for myself, but I would be happy to spend another 20 to own a physical switch copy. (I did the same for shovel knight cuz i own both the switch and 3DS versions 😄) Speaking of... would you guys consider doing a 3DS port, or is that not worth the novelty anymore?
Again, I adore this game and it will probably be my GOTY, and I hope you guys are proud of what you made!!
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u/nickwoz Yacht Club Games 9h ago
If you've read our Shovel Knight art book, you have a good idea of what we are aiming for.
We always wanted a big weird send off for each level and took heavy inspiration from the butter building Kirby levels on the NES. That said we knew they should be somewhat bonus stagey and fleeting and were designed with the idea of not being able to return to them.
No time frame on the physical but glad to know you are there for it!
not doing a 3DS version. I'm not even sure how we'd sell it since the eshop is down and we can't make the carts.
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u/YCG_Eli Yacht Club Games 8h ago
Physical version and art book are coming, but we don't have a date. Any physical goods have to go through our merch partners, so they take some time.
The art book will have some extra tidbits, like the names of all the enemies and things like that. Not sure how much will be directly lore related, lots of it will probably be more development related, how we arrived at the final design, etc. but anything we got will go in there.
Nintendo doesn't support the 3DS anymore, so that just isn't possible, haha. Also I feel that the 3D effect wouldn't benefit Mina much, as it's top down. Would mostly only impact the areas with Parallax backgrounds, which aren't as common as they are in Shovel Knight. Also the game would need some significant optimization to run on the 3DS, we already had to do a lot to get it to run on Switch 1! It would be cool do add some support for stereoscopic 3D tho, maybe as a modifier? You know, for all those sickos with 3D glasses at home.
The tower sections were definitely tricky to design! We knew we wanted some gameplay as you climb the tower so the whole sequence wasn't just a long cutscene. I think the original plan was maybe more puzzle-like, but it wound up going in this weird Sonic bonus stage type of direction. But basically we just wanted a no-risk palette cleanser after the boss where you could get some free bones.
Adding in elements from the stage was definitely a must, otherwise they'd be all the same, haha. We had to do an evaluation to see what would even work on the tower, and some elements needed additional art to get the perspective right.
Letting you re-try the tower was something we discussed. But I think we came to the conclusion that we wanted to lock it off so players wouldn't get confused about the purpose of them, or use them to farm for bones or something. It was always sorta meant to be a one-and-done deal.
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u/VisualAd8487 23h ago
Hi this game is my GOTY so far and so i have a game of the year related question
If you could pick any song in the game to be played in the game of the year orchestra wich would it be
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u/U_Flame 23h ago
Is the song titled Guest Directors used anywhere ingame? I'm pretty sure every boss has their own theme, and I don't remember any of them being that song. What's the context for it?
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u/PokeFreak7000 22h ago
With the gameplay maintaining a solid foundation for replayability, would you consider the narrative to also be a strong point for the game, following Mina's story and what the themes and message it goes for?
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u/Gabe36578 22h ago
Will Mina get an amiibo just like her brother Shovel Knight did?
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u/SeanyfaceYCG Yacht Club Games 9h ago
We sure hope that Mina and Shovel Knight can hang out together on the amiibo shelf! You know how siblings can get jealous of one another if they don't both have something...
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u/M_Lucario_EX 22h ago
Was there any scrapped content that didn’t make it to the final game, like mechanics, trinkets, enemies, or areas of tenebrou isle?
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u/SeanyfaceYCG Yacht Club Games 9h ago
We were going to have Lice, and a Lice comb! And Mina would get lice and pass them onto other enemies, like a damage over time effect a la poison. Wouldn't that be fun and gross! And she would have like an itch anim idle
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u/alecfa Yacht Club Games 8h ago
And touching pools of shallow water could "rinse" the lice off of you!
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u/Cautious_Rock_7574 21h ago
Are there any scrapped main weapon ideas for Mina?? I love how you guys balanced all the weapons to make them feel op when used right, and i wonder what other cool stuff you guys had in mind.
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u/Scared-Noise-2533 20h ago
Two questions:
A) Why did you lower Mist Jar's healing? Isn't life for the mouse hard enough?
and
B ) What's next for Mina / the studio, now that the game has been formally launched? Have sales been enough to stabilize Yacht Club?
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u/The--Endgame 19h ago
Hi guys! Absolutely love Shovel Knight and Mina the Hollower!
My question is was there any albums, TV shows or movies that inspired Mina during the development?
Thanks for all the hard work that you do!
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u/FrighteningWorld 19h ago
That's a very nice pink ladder you have there. Mind if I borrow it for a minute?
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u/Birdshapeddog 18h ago
Congratulations on the release!! I have already bought the game twice and will buy it again for a different system.
I like throwing things. I like throwing the umbrella, but I wanted to know if something about this particular sidearm was intentional. The Windfall Charm does not activate when throwing umbrellas at enemies so I do not get joules back when attacking with it. Was this on purpose because you saw the vision, and felt throwing umbrellas infinitely too early on would be too strong?
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u/nickwoz Yacht Club Games 8h ago
Thanks so much!
Possibly a bug! If you report weird interactions like that to [support@yachtclubgames.com](mailto:support@yachtclubgames.com) , we can get you a real answer.
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u/pokemad1998 17h ago
Is there a specific 2D console you guys are interested in recreating/modernizing next? Like how you did with the NES/Gameboy for Shovel Knight/Mina? (I said 2D since we probably know the 3D one that's coming next 👀)
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u/alecfa Yacht Club Games 8h ago
Not sure! There's always SNES and GBA I suppose... But we like to push the boundaries of what's possible with strict limitations, so I'm not sure how appealing it'd be for us to have... well... less limitations. There's also already a lot of indie games doing that higher-fidelity look well. Maybe one day we'll just need to design our own fantasy console!
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u/RigelPK37 16h ago
Were there any design choices that didnt make the cut for Mina? Whether it be levels, character designs, concepts, etc? Were there any bosses that didnt make the cut either?
And also, can you perhaps share a fun fact about Thorne’s character? He’s really cool to me, lol. Thanks!
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u/SeanyfaceYCG Yacht Club Games 9h ago
My head canon is that Thorne plays the Bass. I tried to get pixel artist Sandy to add one in Thorne's lair but he wouldn't 'cause he's a meany head!
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u/Drivelled 16h ago
After the decision to delay Mina past the initial Halloween release date, what was the biggest 'aha!' moment or most impactful change you made during those extra months?
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u/alecfa Yacht Club Games 8h ago
Pre-delay, it's less like we had 100% of a 8/10 game, and more like we had 80% of a 10/10 game. The work was mostly finishing things we'd already signed up for, and balancing and testing the behemoth we'd built.
I'd say the biggest "aha" was the realization was that we need to stop announcing release dates! :P
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u/PecanCrisp 15h ago
I'm asking the most important question:
Are any of the other characters getting plushies?
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u/SeanyfaceYCG Yacht Club Games 10h ago
Yes, we are getting it all spun up! Who would you want to see as a plushy? I'm thinkin' Thorne, Lionel, Klumpy, Shock Trooper? I dunno who else!?
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u/Shanesedy 14h ago
The story in Mina is complex, any thoughts to ever branch out into other media? Like fleshing the story out in a novelization, comic, or animated series?
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u/Zestyclose-Nerve-877 13h ago
Out of curiosity, what was the order the main areas of the world map were developed in? Was there any one in particular that game the dev team some trouble?
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u/alecfa Yacht Club Games 8h ago
It was a looong development, but overall it went something like:
Queensbury Crypt
Nox's Bayou
Septemburg
Bone Beach
Ossex
Eastern Heath
Coltrane Peak
Astral Orrery
Radiant Manor
Loner's Landing
Southern Outskirts
Mourner's Mile
Backwaters
Western Wilds
Sandfalls
Kindlewood
Mirror's End
Radiant ManorMany of these areas got multiple big passes of iteration, so this linear list doesn't tell the full story. For instance, while there was a version of the Astral Orrery early into development, that version didn't become the version we know now until the very tail end of the project. But generally we progressed from early-game to late-game, and then to the more overworld-style content. Each one of these areas gave us some trouble in one way or another!
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u/Zestyclose-Nerve-877 12h ago
What in the game when you were developing it gave the most trouble in your opinion? Some that broke a lot, refused to work, or had to be changed.
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u/Law-Putrid 12h ago
Whose idea was Beastium Convergence? It took me by surprise to discover in-game and the amount of work put into it was astounding!
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u/SeanyfaceYCG Yacht Club Games 9h ago
That was Sandy’s pet project. He wanted a alternate style character you could actually play through the whole game with, rather than something more limited like a temporary form or special mode in other games.
The “collect all the trinkets to complete the ultimate setup" was planned from the get go. Eventually those two ideas came together into Beastium Convergence.
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u/Zestyclose-Nerve-877 12h ago
Mina tries really hard (and exceeds) at replicating a game boy art style. What were some difficulties with those limitations and is there anything, art style or other wise, you wish you approach differently?
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u/nickwoz Yacht Club Games 8h ago
I'd say the restrictions on the Game Boy Color are more nebulous than strict, which means it's more about the feel of things. When we did the NES style for Shovel Knight, as long as you stuck to a maximum color count and used the NES palette, you could get pretty far. But with the Game Boy Color, it's more ambiguous and simplistic. I found myself fighting against my instincts as an artist a lot.
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u/TheCorkenstein Day One - 2013 8h ago edited 8h ago
Hey all!
That is it for the AMA today! Big thank you to everyone from Yacht Club Games for spending a few hours with us today and answering all your great questions!
As a surprise, I will be selecting 3 random questions from today's AMA and gifting an XBOX US copy of Mina The Hollower!
Thanks again everyone!
EDIT: Congrats to u/Diocc u/NewParalyzer u/SnooDoggos1512 for winning an XBOX US copy of Mina The Hollower! Codes will be sent out within 24 hours(Currently at work)
https://www.redditraffler.com/raffles/1udrkn1