Grade: B+
Top-down 2D RPG played in 60 second chunks.
Released by Devolver Studios in 2018, Minit is from the same developer group as the breakthrough hit, Loop Hero. Minit is a unique top-down 2D retro RPG presented in simple black and white colors. The story begins with our main character picking up a horribly cursed sword. With the cursed blade, the character dies and is returned to their home every 60 seconds. This means that you have 60 seconds to get each task accomplished before dying and resetting. Somehow, you have to make your way into the factory and destroy the sword to lift the curse.
With each game task you complete, you gain items that give you new abilities (like sword throwing, tree chopping, dark vision, or box pushing) and allow access to new areas. After resituating to a new area, you can gain some more items, which unlocks more content, and the cycle repeats until the end game. It’s a classic game callback, but the 60-second timer on each task is an especially novel idea.
60 seconds countdown – is it stress or fun I am feeling?
This review is the tale of two playthroughs. In my first time playing the game, I just felt overwhelming stress and pressure. Normally, my gaming is a laid-back laissez-faire experience. Minut, though, is the absolute opposite of that. In each reset, you have about the first 15 seconds to get where you need to be and push to a new area. Then, roughly 30 seconds to explore and finish a task. Lastly, you have 15 seconds to stress that you have only 15 seconds left before you die and reset again.
The second time I came back to the game, though, I somehow left the stress behind. Maybe this was because I had changed my expectations about what I was getting into. For whatever reason, the second time through, I was past the change curve and starting having a bunch of fun. I explored, poked at the world, found some walkthroughs, and embraced the experience. At the start of each 60 seconds, you have to set yourself a definitive task and micro-focus on that one thing. If you do that, then it is less overwhelming.
The world is pretty small overall, and as you unlock new areas, you get abilities that let you go back to the old areas with shortcuts very quickly. Once you start to remember where stuff is, then everything gets less stressful. Also, if you mess up in your first few seconds, you don’t have to wait around till the full 60 seconds is up to reset. Instead, there’s an early reset button you can press.
Without a walkthrough, I very much doubt I would have been able to beat this game. I admire the brave adventurer’s who trailblazed ahead of me and documented their journey. There weren’t many on-screen clues for the harder puzzles, and the game is brutal that way. That lack of hand-holding is part of the charm for many gamers, though, I’m guessing.
Wrap-up
The rough-hewn hand-drawn characters, including black backgrounds with white pictures on top, elegantly sold the retro experience. While the game setup was old-school, the actual run-time was quick and intuitive, and everything was packaged well. I was glad to have all the info I needed at my fingertips in the menu.
One word to the wise: in a near-final update to the game after the initial release, the studio replaced the Press Pass item with a Camera instead. In many walkthroughs, you’ll see references to a Press Pass, but that object no longer exists! This threw me for a loop, so just replace the word “Camera” in your head, and you’ll be fine.
Devolver Digital has an incredible website that posts various propaganda for their other projects (Propaganda is their word, not mine!). I’m keen to pick up a few more games from this same group.
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