Beginner's Guide: 11 Tips & Tricks We Wish We Knew Sooner About Mina the Hollower

After much anticipation, Yacht Club Games has finally unleashed Mina the Hollower, and it is absolutely capturing the hearts of both retro enthusiasts and modern gamers alike. Stepping into this gothic world feels like a gorgeous love letter to the classic Game Boy Colour era, blending the top-down exploration of old-school The Legend of Zelda with challenging combat mechanics.

However, don't let those charming 8-bit visuals fool you! Mina the Hollower is incredibly heavy on exploration, and it takes immense pride in not holding your hand. Many of its core mechanics and environmental quirks are left unexplained, meaning you will have to figure out a great portion of this treacherous world entirely on your own through trial and error.

But fear not, fellow Hollower! To save you from some early-game frustration and tragic deaths, we’ve gathered a survival guide with everything I wish a friend had warned me about Mina’s journey before playing it, since there are certain things that, if you know them from the very first time you press start, will make your journey through Ossex infinitely smoother and more enjoyable. So let’s dive into the tips and tricks for Mina The Hollower.

11 Use Burrowing For Everything

The Holy Grail of Mina the Hollower

If you pay attention to the game’s opening cutscenes, you’ll quickly discover that Mina is a far cry from your typical, inexperienced adventure protagonist. In the lore of Ossex, she is already practically a legend due to her brilliant mind, having invented the very Spark Generators that keep the city alive. Because of her expertise as a Hollower, she starts her journey with powerful passive abilities that radically alter both combat and exploration.

And the pinnacle of her toolkit is the burrowing (or digging, to simplify it) mechanic, which serves as the signature feature of the title. By holding down the action button, Mina dives completely underground, granting you temporary invincibility.

But the thing is that you can use it for many purposes, and here’s my first tip: literally use this mechanic for everything – and I truly mean everything, even the less obvious scenarios. Use it to speed up your travel while exploring, to safely dodge boss attack patterns, to leap across wide bottomless pits, to snatch valuable items right out of mid-air (or underground), to slip effortlessly underneath physical obstacles, and whatever you want. Make it second nature!

10 Mina Can Walk on Water and Dive Into Puddles

Yep, Right From the Very Beginning

Riding the wave of the burrowing mechanic, here is a small, yet important secret that the game actively avoids telling you right away: this exact digging ability allows Mina to literally walk on water, and you can abuse this from the very start of the game.

To pull this off, you just need to activate the burrowing mechanic before your feet touch the surface of the water. Simply sprint, jump toward the water, and press and hold the action button mid-air to trigger the dive as you land.

Also, another small secret involving water is that Mina’s subterranean talents allow her to submerge into shallow puddles scattered across solid ground. If you spot a suspicious puddle, stand dead center in it and burrow straight down – you’ll frequently discover hidden underground passages packed with valuable rewards.

9 Take Care of Your Savings

The Fine Art of Bone Economy

In the world of Mina the Hollower, Bones serve a crucial dual purpose: they act as your experience points to level up Mina's core stats (such as attack power and defense), and they double as the main currency to buy essential upgrades from merchants.

Because they are so precious, you will constantly find yourself trying to hoard massive amounts of Bones to hit that next level or purchase a coveted item. To help you manage your finances, the game offers two ways to store your wealth: directly in your pocket (which is unlimited but holds raw, loose Bones that are at risk if you die), or inside the Bonestone Sinterer.

Located in your Underlab, this machine functions as a secure bank deposit, though it only accepts Bonestones (which are essentially large, crystallized diamonds) and only a limited amount of them. And the biggest financial tip here revolves around maximizing this machine.

First, never neglect upgrading your bank capacity when you level up. It is incredibly easy to fall into the trap of prioritizing raw damage or health upgrades because they look more appealing, but just like in real life, prioritizing your savings is paramount in the long run. Second, never withdraw your Bonestones just to walk around with them. Only pull them out when you are actively about to level up or spend them at a merchant. Since Mina risks losing all her pocketed Bones upon death if she runs out of Sparks, keeping them safely locked away eliminates unnecessary risk.

8 Always Read the Journal

A Heartwarming and Insightful Feature

Whenever you take a major step forward in the main story, a brand-new edition of the local newspaper will drop. And you can snag a copy directly from the paperboy or simply check one of the mailboxes scattered throughout Ossex to read it – and you absolutely should do it every single time.

That’s because, while it might look like a simple collectible at first glance, this journal is actually packed with some pretty useful (and also neat) information.

Not only does it provide more lore details regarding the major boss you just took down and its region, but it also features interesting tidbits like hints about NPCs’ quests and rumors about the world. To make things even cooler, the paper acts as an in-game stat tracker! By reading through it, you can check your personal player statistics, such as your total death count, your exact playtime so far, how many times you’ve jumped, how often you've healed, and more. It is a really cool detail that bridges the gap between lore and gameplay beautifully, so make sure to never skip an issue!

7 Buy Everything You Can From the Provisioner

An Early-Game Booster

Following the opening tutorial sequence, Mina finally arrives in the central hub of Ossex and reunites with Lionel, the city’s leader and our protagonist's wealthy patron. He lays out your main objective (which is restoring the six malfunctioning generators across the region and promptly sets you free to explore.

However, before you run off into the wild, you can immensely buff Mina right out of the gate to soften the blow of the early game (which is universally the most brutal part of any retro adventure!). All it takes is a tiny bit of initial Bone farming and visiting a specific, mysterious merchant known as the Provisioner – it’s the shop above the Hollower’s Guild, right on the left of the main square.

The Provisioner stocks permanent upgrades that are invaluable for your early survival, and they are surprisingly affordable at first. But there’s a catch: every single time you purchase an upgrade, the price of that specific item type skyrockets for the next purchase! Therefore, your best strategy is to farm just enough Bones to buy the very first tier of each available item right away.

These immediate, permanent upgrades include:

• Health Rose(increases your max health)
• Vial Pouch (expands your maximum capacity for Plasma Vials
• Spark Container (adds an extra Spark, helping you enter shops that require multiple Sparks and also giving you more safety nets to recover your lost Bones upon death)
• Joule Box (increases the maximum number of times you can use Sidearms)
• Trinket Bag (expands the total number of Trinkets you can have equipped).

Oh, and a nice spot for farming at the beginning of the game is by exploring the right side of the city, walking towards Queensbury Crypt. There are some nice graveyards with goblins and armored enemies that reward you with good amounts of Bones. Not to mention the graves that cave gives you extra Bones when dug up!

6 Don’t Be Ashamed to Flee the Battle

Live to Hollow Another Day

Any basic enemy (or a poorly timed environmental hazard, if you aren't paying attention) can swiftly send Mina to an early grave. Because the stakes are so high, you should never feel ashamed for being extra cautious, especially during the opening hours of the main campaign!

If you find yourself overwhelmed by tricky foes like armored guards or nimble flying pests, a fantastic and simple trick to regain your composure is to literally “flee” the screen. Simply sprint toward the pathway that transitions into an adjacent map zone and cross over. Leaving the screen immediately resets the enemy’s aggro, causing them to completely drop their pursuit.

The minor downside to this tactic is that the enemy’s health pool will completely replenish when you return, but the trade-off is absolutely worth it. It gives you a vital moment to take a breath and regain your composure. At its heart, Mina the Hollower is a grueling test of endurance, and knowing when to tactically retreat is a sign of a smart player.

5 Just Look at the Flowers

Mastering the Soul-Like Health Bar

The health system in Mina the Hollower isn't quite as straightforward as a traditional arcade life bar. Instead, it adopts a punishing mechanic commonly found in modern soul-like titles. Basically, when Mina takes damage, her maximum health pool temporarily shrinks. Even if you use a healing potion, you won't recover your full health bar – you can only heal up to the current orange threshold of your HP meter.

So, how do you expand that orange threshold back to full capacity? You have two methods: consecutively striking enemies to build up your Plasma meter, or tracking down vibrant Orange Flowers. And since the game doesn’t fully explain this second option, it’s incredibly easy for beginners to accidentally overlook it.

These flowers aren't terribly difficult to find, you just need to channel your inner Hero of Time and start cutting down every patch of grass in sight! However, you can predict which patches will definitely drop them by keeping an eye out for grass that features distinct floral detailing. So use them strategically: if your orange health bar is already maxed out, leave the floral grass intact and save it for later when you actually need it.

Additionally, keep a sharp lookout for rare Red Flowers, which instantly heal your actual health points (provided your orange threshold is high enough). They are much harder to come by, so cherish them when you spot them!

4 Fishing Rods Are a Girl’s Best Friend

Fancy a Combat Support Tool?

Forget everything you think you know about traditional cozy RPG fishing minigames, because Mina the Hollower approaches the mechanic from a wildly different angle. In this game, your Fishing Rod essentially functions as an incredibly potent Subweapon.

While you can absolutely use it to register and collect a vast catalog of unique marine life, its true value lies in acting as the most overpowered support utility in the game.

Because Ossex has many bodies of water, you can cast your line in most places to pull up fish that instantly reward you with game-changing power-ups. A successful catch can net you emergency Plasma Vials, Orange Flowers, Red Flowers, or even vital Mana points. So the rule is clear: the moment you get your hands on a Fishing Rod, never unequip it, because its combat support capability is unmatched.

3 Watch Your Step

The Environment Is a Puzzle

Terrains like thick grass, deep water, and muddy bogs aren't just there for visual flair – they physically slow Mina down and hinder her mobility. You must always stay highly aware of your surroundings because the level design is meticulously engineered to act as an environmental puzzle.

And trust me when I say that the developers sure love to place highly aggressive, tricky enemies on specific terrain meant to severely disadvantage your movement.

Oh, and remember our earlier tip about running off-screen to escape a tough fight? Be exceptionally careful with your positioning so you don't accidentally trigger this yourself! When combat gets fast and chaotic, it is remarkably easy to lose track of your spacing, blindly roll backward into a screen transition, and inadvertently reset a miniboss fight. It can be annoying, so keep your feet planted firmly in the arena.

2 Mina Can Jump Higher

And Yes, Right From the Start Again

Just like walking on water, Mina is fully capable of jumping much higher and crossing gaps right from the very beginning of the game. Naturally, the game won't explicitly tell you how to pull this off, only leaving loose hints scattered about and forcing you to figure out the mechanics on your own. Thankfully, it is way easier than it looks!

While there are various Sidearms and Trinkets later on that boost your vertical mobility, there is one tool that completely outshines the rest – and the best part is that you can get your hands on it pretty early in the game. We’re talking about the Drill Driver, a Sidearm that launches Mina forward, meaning you can combine it with a regular jump to simply jump “higher”.

It can be found in the Eastern Heath, the first region you access by leaving through the eastern exit of Ossex. Instead of crossing the bridge, head upward through the tall grass, pushing past a few enemies until you spot a house. Leap over to the left side and use your burrowing ability to slip right underneath the fence next to the building. Head up the stairs, continue to the right while clearing out any threats, and step into the cave entrance that appears along the path. Navigate through it to reach the opposite exit, then climb up the stairs on your right and leap across the gap to the right to uncover a hidden path – where you’ll find the drill, a must-have for any Hollower.