The GameSlayer had the opportunity to speak to Alec Faulkner, the designer of the recent indie hit Mina The Hollower, a game we thought very highly of in our review.
With the title being such a throwback to isometric adventures of the past, we were keen to learn more about what inspired the creation of the game, as well as its lore and lead protagonist.
We also touched on the game’s difficulty, what the developers hope people take away from the experience, and the big question – will players get to see more of Mina and her world?
What were your influences from a design point of view?
Alex Faulkner: “There’s an undeniable love for the Zelda series that’s evident in the game’s world and tone, but much less so when it comes to the moment-to-moment gameplay. We were more interested in capturing the feeling of those first few Zelda titles than in borrowing any of their specific ideas. The combat instead takes inspiration from the weighty, intentional, and positional nature of classic Castlevania games like 1, 2, 3, or Rondo of Blood.
When you add all those flavors together, rewarding exploration, an interesting open world full of secrets and mysteries, and deliberate, challenging combat, I think you get something that feels sort of like a top-down 2D Souls game. We also have a deep love for platformers, and I think that love, which led to us making Shovel Knight, is the same love that led to Mina’s strong emphasis on platforming elements. Those are probably the biggest influences, though I’m sure those who have played the game can identify many more, from the Resident Evil-style stalker enemy to the Zelda 2-style level-up system.
We play all sorts of games, and our inspirations can be quite varied, though a frequent commonality is that the ideas we’re most interested in are the ones that feel most underutilized and forgotten. It’s probably not a coincidence that we were drawn toward more methodical combat during an era of action games dominated by the dodge roll, where a single button press is often all that’s ever required to instantly negate danger!”
What about the characters, lore, and protagonist?
Alex Faulkner: “We had fun dipping our toes into a darker world with Shovel Knight: Specter of Torment, and we liked the idea of having a franchise that could enable us to lean into horror more explicitly. And while there are tons of horror games, it didn’t feel like there were many that captured the spirit of Halloween.
Every October, we found ourselves wanting to get in the mood for spooky season and not finding much to play, aside from revisiting Castlevania yet again. To try and capture some of that magic, we went straight to the source, that being the early literary Gothic fiction upon which our modern notion of monster horror is based, stories like Dracula, Frankenstein, Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, and The Picture of Dorian Gray.
What we found were stories largely about industrialization, inequality, and the fears of those living through unprecedented times. Through that lens, we observed many parallels between the late 1800’s and modern day, so we used those themes to craft a story and world we feel is appropriately authentic, yet resonant and relevant to the world we live in today.
Despite wanting to touch on darker themes, we nonetheless wanted a game that could be considered family-friendly. Amongst other things, we were inspired by early Disneyland rides like Haunted Mansion and Pirates of the Caribbean, as we felt they walked that proverbial tightrope in a very elegant and natural way. Haunted Mansion starts with dad jokes written on tombstones, then shows you a man hanging from the ceiling with a noose around his neck, before ending with a jaunty stroll through a festive graveyard full of singing and dancing ghosts, yet through it all somehow avoids feeling disjointed or overly ambitious.
I see that same appeal in some of the Nintendo games I grew up with, namely Majora’s Mask and Mother 3. Those are games with horrifying themes hiding underneath their cute exteriors, and I think it adds a compelling dimension to a work when you can get one message out of it as a kid, and another one entirely as an adult.”
So the game is noticeably difficult. Was this a deliberate design choice, and if so, why?
Alex Faulkner: “The game has a similar level of challenge to our previous titles. As always, we aim to create games that are challenging, but fair. Our games demand full attention, and ask the player to demonstrate mastery of their many systems. It’s not possible to sleepwalk through our games. We want players to grapple with our encounters, and we ask that they use their whole brain when devising strategies to get through them.
I think an adventure is more engaging and more memorable when it presents real adversity that must be overcome, and I think much of the fun of Mina comes from the fact that our players are constantly being presented with new challenges that, more often than not, necessitate thinking outside the box or figuring out a new approach.
That’s what games like Zelda 1, 2, or 3 asked of players, and it’s a feeling I miss in games. I think games are better when they are less interested in making the player feel comfortable, and more interested in asking the player to figure out something new. I find that process of learning, adapting, and growing to be fun and fulfilling, and I hope there are others out there who feel the same. After all, why would anyone want to play a game they already know how to beat before picking up the controller?”
What did you hope players would take away from the experience?
“Alex Faulkner: If there’s one takeaway players have, I’d want it to be the thought that innovation is not inherently linked to technological advancement. Mina’s gameplay and mechanics aren’t anything that couldn’t have been made 30 years ago, yet for some reason, they were only concocted here and now.
Aside from the unfortunate realities of budgets, timelines, and publishers, I believe that the only thing holding gaming back is the imagination of the teams making them. We are still so incredibly early into the lifespan of this art form, and there is so much yet to be made with the tools we already have.”
Of course, the game has been a massive hit, so I have to ask, will players see Mina again?
Alex Faulkner: “Surely! Throughout development, we often mused about where the series should go, and we have no shortage of ideas there. If Mina 2 hypothetically kicked off tomorrow, I think we would already have a pretty good idea of what we want it to be. But for now, we’re focused on fixing bugs and marketing Mina 1.
Know too that a couple of years back, we paused another game in development to dedicate more resources to Mina, and I think we need to see that project through before we can even think about making more Mina. In the meantime, there’s plenty of merchandise to make, development materials to release, and she may even pop up here or there in a cameo or two.
Whenever we’re ready to think about new projects, we’ll be very curious to see what our fans want us to spend our limited time working on. More Mina? More Shovel Knight? Something else entirely? Whatever the case, we’ll definitely be paying attention!”
