Minit

A simple idea that wastes no time. Clever, imaginative and full of personality. A mini-masterpiece. [June 2018, p.76]

Minit is a delight that never wanted to waste my time. It made almost every second I spent with it feel like I was accomplishing something, and even when I didn’t, the time limit placed upon me meant I wasn’t wasting all day on nothing. The characters were extremely charming and dare I say adorable. The soundtrack I would call wonderful if you enjoy chiptune with the perfect mix of ambient sounds. Puzzles were fun and sometimes fairly obtuse yet never unfair.

Minit is a tiny gem of an indie title, easy to overlook but not to be missed. It's overflowing with secrets to be found, mysteries to be solved, and adventures to be had 60 seconds at a time. The bite-sized nature only adds to the charms and addictive nature of this 1-bit action-adventure game.

Minit’s constant deaths are far from discouraging; they’re addicting. It’s far too easy to tell yourself “just one more try” in a world so densely packed with curiosities and no fluff. Minit is another wonderful reminder that you don’t need a million systems for a game to be great if you can do one novel idea very, very well.

Behind the very old looking graphics of Minit there is an original concept that the Dutch makers put together perfectly well. One minute sounds like a short amount of time, but it is actually longer than you might imagine.

Minit is a game about making you feel like a savvy speed runner, and it works. Even though it hits a few stumbles, you’ll come out of each session cheering about how fast you can explore an area, how fast you can solve a puzzle and how fast can you get through a dangerous maze full of wretched, awful snakes. Minit is relentless in its strict adherence to its one and only rule: no matter what you do, you only get one minute. You better make it count.

In Minit, retro Zelda charm meets a world as sweet as it is strange, with more and more incentives to explore, minute by minute.

Minit is a prototype rather than a videogame, since it shows how far the indie games can go. A title that uses time as a mechanic to deliver an amazing design lesson to the players.

Minit is a game you play in short games of a minute in duration that you'd like to play for hours.

Minit is a compact, fun and direct take on the classic (80’s - 90’s) adventure genre. It brings a number of dungeons and exhilarating puzzles that take full advantage of its distinctive death mechanic. It’s not always fun to run through the same scenario over and over, sure, but those who carry on will surely have a blast.

Minit is a Zelda-like game in which you die every sixty seconds. Its design is smart, its world is ridiculous and funny, and its gameplay is pleasant.

Minit is short and sweet. Its clever mechanic doesn't overstay its welcome, but an abrupt ending left me wanting more. Thankfully, a new game+ mode adds increased difficulty and new secrets for dedicated players. With its creative premise, stylish aesthetic, and engrossing progression system, Minit makes racing against the clock a compelling endeavor – even if it means dying a hundred deaths.

It’s a slickly presented adventure that continually manages to surprise you with every new area you uncover or item you procure, pushing you to pick away at its seams to uncover every drop of what it has to offer. With a delightful ending and more promised after its first run of credits, Minit is far more than just a collection of seconds.

Minit is a truly creative gem, putting an inspired twist on the classic top-down adventures of our youth in order to craft something truly special. Not only does it looks and sound amazing, it also has a cute sense of humor, great gameplay, a perfect level of challenge, and it contains a whole lot to see and solve, even after you initially wrap things up. It may take you mere minutes to play a session, but the overall experience is something that will leave an impact for a long time to come.

To die every 60 seconds could quickly get old, but Minit is smart enough to avoid any kind of frustration during the adventure. Purposely minimalistic, the pixelated art direction shines with personality.

On the one hand it is a game that deserves a great deal of attention for its experimentation with traditional genres and mechanics, but it never quite breaks free of feeling like a prototype. In many ways, this is the curse of the truly original title – breaking new ground brings a complex mix of expectations and frustrations.

The problem with this is that death, rather than some looming, ominous, ever-present threat, becomes little more than a minor inconvenience. And sometimes, when you’re stuck on a puzzle, it can be annoying too. Minit has no real stakes, which cheapens the timer system and makes it feel somewhat arbitrary.

A game of canny, and often quite annoying, design. [June 2018, p.120]

Minit’s pixel-art, black and white visuals takes players back in time to the good old Atari days, but unfortunately the fun stops there as Minit has not much to offer in other departments.