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

Everyone was excited for Mina the Hollower, and now that it’s here, it’s winning over players old and new! The game beautifully recreates the feel of classic Game Boy Colour titles, combining exploration similar to early Legend of Zelda games with tough, engaging battles.

Don’t be fooled by the cute, retro-style graphics! Mina the Hollower is a game that really emphasizes exploration, and it doesn’t offer much guidance. You’ll need to learn how things work and discover secrets on your own, through experimentation and figuring things out as you go, in this challenging world.

Don’t worry, adventurers! To help you avoid early struggles and unfortunate mishaps in Mina The Hollower, we’ve put together a survival guide with all the advice I wish I’d had before starting. Knowing these things from the beginning will make your journey through Ossex much easier and more fun. Let’s get started with some helpful tips and tricks!

11. Use Burrowing For Everything

The Holy Grail of Mina the Hollower

Pay close attention to the game’s beginning, and you’ll realize Mina isn’t a typical, fresh-faced hero. In the world of Ossex, she’s already famous for her intelligence – she invented the Spark Generators that power the entire city. Because she’s a skilled Hollower, she begins her adventure with strong, built-in abilities that dramatically change how you fight and explore.

The most unique part of the game is the ability to burrow underground – you simply hold a button to dive beneath the surface. While underground, Mina is safe from harm for a short time.

This ability is incredibly versatile, and here’s my main advice: use it constantly – really, for everything, even in situations where it doesn’t immediately seem helpful. Use it to move around quickly while exploring, avoid damage from boss attacks, jump over large gaps, grab items in the air or even underground, and bypass obstacles. Practice it until it becomes automatic!

10. Mina Can Walk on Water and Dive Into Puddles

Yep, Right From the Very Beginning

Building on the digging ability, there’s a helpful trick the game doesn’t immediately explain: Mina can actually walk on water using this same digging power, and you can start using it right away.

To dive successfully, activate the burrowing ability right before you land on the water. Run, jump towards the water, and hold the action button while in the air to dive in as you touch the surface.

Here’s a helpful tip about water: Mina can actually dive into even small puddles on the ground! If you see one that looks out of place, stand right in the middle and dig downwards. You’ll often find secret underground tunnels filled with treasure.

9. Take Care of Your Savings

The Fine Art of Bone Economy

In Mina the Hollower, Bones are incredibly important. You use them to both grow Mina’s abilities, like her attack and defense, and to purchase upgrades from shops.

As a huge fan, I’m always scrambling for Bones – you seriously need a ton to level up or get the cool stuff! Luckily, the game has a great system for keeping them safe. You can just carry them around, which is unlimited, but if you die, you lose them all. Or, you can stash them in the Bonestone Sinterer, which is way safer for long-term storage. It’s a tough choice between convenience and security!

This machine in your Underlab works like a safe deposit box, but it only takes Bonestones – large, crystallized diamonds – and has a deposit limit. Getting the most out of this machine is a key financial strategy.

First, always increase your bank’s storage as you gain levels. It’s tempting to focus on upgrades that boost damage or health, but like saving money in real life, a strong bank is crucial for long-term success. Second, don’t carry Bonestones around unnecessarily. Only take them out when you’re ready to level up or make a purchase. Since Mina could lose all her carried Bones if she dies without enough Sparks, storing them safely is the best way to avoid losing them.

8. Always Read the Journal

A Heartwarming and Insightful Feature

Okay, so whenever I make a big move in the story, a new edition of the local newspaper comes out. I can grab it from the paperboy running around, or just check the mailboxes all over Ossex. Honestly, you need to read it every time – it’s got important stuff in there!

This journal seems like just a collectible, but it’s actually full of helpful and interesting information.

This in-game paper isn’t just about the boss you defeated and its area – it’s packed with interesting details! You’ll find clues about what to do with characters you meet and hear rumors about the game world. Plus, it cleverly tracks your progress! You can use it to see how long you’ve played, how many times you’ve died, how often you jump or heal, and other fun stats. It’s a fantastic way to connect the story with what you’re actually doing in the game, so don’t miss an issue!

7. Buy Everything You Can From the Provisioner

An Early-Game Booster

After the initial introduction, Mina reaches Ossex, the main city, and meets with Lionel, its leader and a key supporter. He explains your primary goal – fixing the six broken generators scattered throughout the area – and then gives you the freedom to begin your exploration.

Okay, so before you really dive into the game, trust me, you’ll want to give Mina a little boost right away. The beginning can be tough in these old-school adventures, but it’s easily fixed! Just do a little bit of Bone collecting at the start, then head to the Provisioner’s shop. It’s right above the Hollower’s Guild, on the left side of the main square – you can’t miss it! It makes a huge difference.

The Provisioner offers essential early-game upgrades that are initially quite cheap. However, each time you buy an upgrade, the price for further purchases of that same item type increases dramatically. To get the most value, it’s best to quickly gather enough resources to buy the first level of every available upgrade.

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).

Early in the game, a good place to collect resources is on the right side of town as you head towards Queensbury Crypt. You’ll find graveyards with goblins and armored enemies that drop a lot of Bones. Plus, digging up graves in this area gives you even more Bones!

6. Don’t Be Ashamed to Flee the Battle

Live to Hollow Another Day

Mina is vulnerable – even a common enemy or a simple mistake can quickly defeat her. Don’t worry about playing it safe, especially when you’re first starting the game, because the consequences of failure are significant!

Feeling overwhelmed by tough enemies, like heavily armored guards or fast-flying creatures? A great way to quickly reset the fight is to simply run to the next area. When you move to a new map zone, enemies will lose interest and stop chasing you, giving you a chance to regroup.

While running away briefly will fully restore the enemy’s health when you come back, it’s a worthwhile trade-off. It provides a crucial chance to pause, collect yourself, and plan your next move. Mina the Hollower is a challenging game that demands stamina, and knowing when to strategically retreat shows skill.

5. Just Look at the Flowers

Mastering the Soul-Like Health Bar

Mina the Hollower’s health system is a bit different from typical arcade games. When Mina gets hurt, her maximum health decreases temporarily. Healing doesn’t fully restore her health bar; it only goes up to the reduced amount indicated by the orange section of her health meter. This makes the game challenging, similar to many modern ‘soul-like’ games.

To restore your orange energy to its maximum, you can either repeatedly hit enemies to fill your Plasma meter, or find bright Orange Flowers. Many new players miss the flower option because the game doesn’t explain it very well.

Okay, so finding these flowers isn’t too bad, honestly. You just gotta go full Link and slash at every single patch of grass until you find them! But here’s a tip: look for grass that already has flower details on it – that’s a guaranteed drop. And don’t waste them! If my health is already full, I leave that flowery grass alone and save it for when I really need a heal. It’s all about being strategic!

Also, be sure to watch out for rare Red Flowers. If your orange health bar is full enough, they’ll immediately restore your health. They’re difficult to find, so save them for when you really need them!

4. Fishing Rods Are a Girl’s Best Friend

Fancy a Combat Support Tool?

Most RPGs have simple fishing minigames, but Mina the Hollower does things very differently. Instead of just being a relaxing side activity, fishing in this game turns your fishing rod into a powerful weapon.

Although it’s great for documenting and gathering information on many different sea creatures, this tool is most effective as an incredibly powerful support feature within the game.

Ossex is full of water, and fishing is incredibly useful! You can fish almost anywhere and instantly get powerful items like Plasma Vials, special flowers, or Mana. Once you get a Fishing Rod, keep it equipped – it’s the best way to get combat support during your adventures.

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.

Developers often put tough enemies in areas that make it hard to move around, and it’s definitely something to watch out for.

Remember that trick we mentioned about running off-screen to avoid a difficult enemy? Be extra careful not to do it by accident! It’s easy to get disoriented during a fast-paced fight, roll backward without realizing it, and unexpectedly restart a miniboss battle. To avoid frustration, try to stay aware of your position and keep yourself within the fighting area.

2. Mina Can Jump Higher

And Yes, Right From the Start Again

Mina can jump incredibly high and leap across wide gaps right from the start of the game, almost as if she’s walking on water! The game doesn’t directly teach you how to do this, instead offering subtle clues and letting you discover the ability yourself. Don’t worry though, it’s much simpler than you might think!

Although you’ll find other items later in the game that help you move upwards, the Drill Driver is by far the best. Plus, you can get it relatively early on! This Sidearm launches Mina upwards, letting you jump even higher when combined with a normal jump.

Okay, so I found this drill, and it’s totally worth the effort to get it. You’ll want to head to the Eastern Heath – it’s the first area you reach by going east from Ossex. Don’t bother with the bridge; instead, go up through the tall grass, fighting off a few enemies. Keep an eye out for a house. Once you see it, jump over to the left side and use your burrowing ability to get under the fence. Then, just head up the stairs, clear out any enemies, and go into the cave entrance you find. Follow the cave through to the other side, climb the stairs on your right, and jump across the gap – that reveals a hidden path where the drill is waiting. Trust me, as a Hollower, you need this thing.

2026-05-29 07:23