Shovel Knight devs unveil the demo and release date for the Castlevania meets Zelda: Link's Awakening game I've wanted for years, and I can tell you it's every bit as good as that pedigree suggests

Mina the Hollower has been near the top of my indie wishlist for years. The Shovel Knight devs using their 8-bit bonafides to build a Game Boy-style Zelda tribute with Castlevania vibes? That's a fantastically exciting pitch, and today at Summer Game Fest the folks at Yacht Club Games finally confirmed the release date and revealed a free demo for the game. After a bit of time with an advanced version of that demo, I can confirm that Mina's been worth the wait.

Yacht Club announced today that Mina the Hollower will launch on October 31 for PC. You can try the game for yourself right now with a free demo on Steam. This lands slightly ahead of Steam Next Fest, but it's still technically part of the event - which means you should be prepared for it to disappear around June 16.

It's definitely worth clearing some time to try it out, too. I got advanced access to the demo, and much like Shovel Knight, Mina the Hollower builds on its retro influences to create something at once fresh and nostalgic. Take Link's Awakening at a base, slather it in Castlevania aesthetics and subweapon choices for spice, and you'll have the basic idea, but it's much more than that.

The demo covers the opening stage of the game, where you find yourself shipwrecked and have to fight your way through a maze of adorably spooky creatures. You choose your starting weapon from a selection of three options, and each feels meaningfully distinct from one another. The speedy daggers are probably my favorite - they do feel the most like the Link's Awakening sword, after all - but the others let you lean into your own playstyle.

I initially chose the mace-laden whip, which gives you excellent reach over your enemies at the expense of leaving you quite vulnerable to counter-attacks. A certain brand of high-impact weapon sicko out there will certainly dig the hammer, which you can charge up for a massive crashing attack. The catch is that you'll be stuck in place while you charge, with only a limited dodge roll to get you out of harm's way while you prepare your attack.

The action is much more taxing, and subsequently satisfying, than you'd expect from a Zelda-style adventure game, and you'll face a stiff challenge from each roomful of baddies. Tying it all together is a move that lets you burrow underground, popping out in the air afterward. This works as a dodge, a platforming move, and puzzle-solving maneuver all at once, and really helps to give the action its own identity.

You can finish the Mina the Hollower demo in well under an hour, but I found myself drawn back to check out the other weapons and see how cleverly I could speed through the opening areas. The demo is everything I'd hoped it would be, and it's definitely a game that shouldn't be lost in the shuffle as the Summer Game Fest 2025 schedule rolls on.

Check out our Summer Game Fest 2025 live coverage for more from the show.