Minit Review

Minit is an Adventure video game created by a development team coined as: JW, Kitty, Juloo & Dom. They have developed a single player game that allows you 60 seconds to achieve your task at hand before your untimely demise.

Minit’s story is based in a small town much like any other, this is until the hero finds the cursed sword. He is now destined to live his life in 60 second chunks, groundhog day, but without the comic genius of Bill Murray to keep him company. As the story progresses, you identify that the only way to break the curse is to destroy the place that created it, the cursed sword factory.

At the heart of its gameplay Minit is an adventure RPG that has clearly taken influence from the original Zelda, the tasks required to progress are simple puzzles. Hack through bushes, pick up items, move statues and find hidden paths. Do this within the restricted time limit. The added time pressure suddenly makes an easy puzzle a little more difficult. Failure to succeed isn’t accompanied by frustration, just a desire to correct your mistake instantly. Another 60 seconds to correct your errors and succeed at your goal.

During your limited and fleeting life you progress through the map, you will find new buildings which act as checkpoints, a new rebirth location. A task which previously would have been out of reach will now be easily completed, the new start points will allow you to further venture into the unknown to expand your adventure.

Your task is to search an area whilst the clock ticks down, the inevitable feeling of failure looming closer, but there is a dawning realisation of progress as the next step of the task presents itself. The clock hits zero death takes you away and resets your clock. You now have 1 minute to try again.

A recent revival in 8 bit retro games allows developers to evoke feelings of nostalgia, I believe that Minit will appeal to an older audience who will recall a time when they happily played on their Atari or Commodore 64. The monochromatic colour palette feels like you have reverted back to playing the original Gameboy. The simplistic details of the scene in front of you means you can just dive into the game, and enjoy the task at hand, success before death.

The game has a replayability factor. Once you have completed the first playthrough, a game+ option is available. This additional mode turns the known gameplay on its head. The story and goals do not change, but the time to complete your task is reduced to 40 seconds, all the previous puzzles now require a new approach to complete. There are a number of collectibles to source whilst madly dashing around trying to fill your short life with as much action as possible.

The joy of this game is not only the simple tasks to follow, but the ease of which the developers have mapped the controls, with so much time pressure it is a relief that you do not have to think about how to complete a quest, all actions feel so natural, and the game just flows.

The soundtrack is constant and varied, as areas become more dangerous the beat picks up, heightening your desire to succeed and explore. Sound effects for key items are reminiscent of a past era and really fills you with joy and a sense of achievement. The sound that you must fear the most is the ever present sound of the final 10 seconds of your life, tick, tick, tick.

Such a simple idea that is a joy to play out. There is quite the feeling of fulfilment when a quest is completed, another task done and one step closer to removing that damned curse. The developers have really achieved something special, a time driven joy that will make you want to try just one more life.

Minit is not going to be everyone’s cup of tea, a number of gamers will be put off by its basic approach and simple graphics. Personally, I would recommend this game to anyone, its sense of nostalgia, beautifully simple graphics, and easy to follow quests make this an absolute joy to play. At the time of playing it is available free on game pass, so there is absolutely nothing to lose.

REVIEW CODE: A complimentary Microsoft Xbox One code was provided to Bonus Stage for this review. Please send all review code enquiries to press@4gn.co.uk.