Twelve Minutes

 Xbox Series X
User Score
5.8

Mixed or average reviews- based on 271 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 131 out of 271
  2. Mixed: 46 out of 271
  3. Negative: 94 out of 271

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  1. HeatIsOn
    Aug 20, 2021
    7
    Ambitious idea perhaps struggling to live up to its own aspirations. Certainly doesn’t warrant those 0-2 user scores but at the same time, not the game we were hoping it was going to be
  2. Cube1701
    Aug 21, 2021
    5
    It has some interesting concepts, but ultimately falls flat. Figuring out what is going on is interesting, but the final few things are just downright awful storytelling for shock value, even though it makes no sense. It's possibly one of the worst stories in a game.

    Dialogue and voice acting are a bit awkward and the animation is really wonky. Puzzles can be frustrating as you'll want to    It has some interesting concepts, but ultimately falls flat. Figuring out what is going on is interesting, but the final few things are just downright awful storytelling for shock value, even though it makes no sense. It's possibly one of the worst stories in a game.

    Dialogue and voice acting are a bit awkward and the animation is really wonky. Puzzles can be frustrating as you'll want to try things that the game won't let you, and sometimes you know what to do, but need to work out how to make the options pop up.

    Had the story ended earlier, it probably would have been a few points higher. A simple story would have worked better than the mess the game becomes.    … Expand
  3. nowells5
    May 29, 2022
    7
    Un juego muy narrativo con una gran idea, pero con una ejecución no tan buena. El bucle está muy bien planteado y la jugabilidad es muy adictiva durante las primeras 2-3 horas. Sin embargo, el juego llega a un punto donde es fácil perderse o quedarse sin ideas. Aún así, el juego merece mucho la pena porque consigue ser único a su manera y dar una experiencia al jugador muy distinta a loUn juego muy narrativo con una gran idea, pero con una ejecución no tan buena. El bucle está muy bien planteado y la jugabilidad es muy adictiva durante las primeras 2-3 horas. Sin embargo, el juego llega a un punto donde es fácil perderse o quedarse sin ideas. Aún así, el juego merece mucho la pena porque consigue ser único a su manera y dar una experiencia al jugador muy distinta a lo habitual. Duración aproximada: 8 horas… Expand
  4. eeyk
    Aug 22, 2021
    7
    i like the game, it's a bit confusing and slow but i like the simple easy story games. but this isn't worth 25€ the best way to get this game is on Game pass so it's free. if you pay 25€ i can understand that you don't like it. just wait until the game is 9,95€.

    one of my most hated thing is that they use the same voice for the Father as the cop so it's very confusing. Story : 6.    i like the game, it's a bit confusing and slow but i like the simple easy story games. but this isn't worth 25€ the best way to get this game is on Game pass so it's free. if you pay 25€ i can understand that you don't like it. just wait until the game is 9,95€.

    one of my most hated thing is that they use the same voice for the Father as the cop so it's very confusing.

    Story : 6.
    Graphics : 6
    Sound : 7
    Price Quality : 4
    Game play : 4

    The game got delayed a lot and i don't really understand why because it's actually a very short game if you know what to do.    … Expand
  5. imoviesreview
    Oct 1, 2021
    6
    Fine, but not that great. I like that you figure out things by trial and error. So even when you fail, you are still making progress. which can lead to multiple endings. But it can become tiring after awhile. Got it by Xbox Game Pass. The only reason I would really recommend this unless you really want to play this.
  6. MrJmeister
    Sep 16, 2021
    5
    I really wanted to love this game. Unlike a lot of others that are probably docking points for the story turns that were definitely shocking and uncomfortable, for me it’s the execution. I began playing games with Sierra point-and-click titles as a kid so the concept doesn’t bother me at all, but the game requires you to be so precise with what you do that there’s no freedom beyond theI really wanted to love this game. Unlike a lot of others that are probably docking points for the story turns that were definitely shocking and uncomfortable, for me it’s the execution. I began playing games with Sierra point-and-click titles as a kid so the concept doesn’t bother me at all, but the game requires you to be so precise with what you do that there’s no freedom beyond the only way to progress the puzzles. Which would also be fine, but there’s almost nothing giving you any indication of what to do or what could be done. I spent probably 4-5 more hours than needed playing the game because I tried something earlier in the game that said it wouldn’t work, when really it was just the “wrong” time to do it, which caused me to not try it again. There were a few situations like this, which force you to have to do everything you’ve tried repeatedly, whether it worked or not, in the hopes that doing it in a different order will progress the game. I completed it without hints, but I almost wish I would have just used a guide halfway through so I could have left while I still enjoyed the game.

    The wife will constantly have information that she refuses to say, interactions she could do but doesn’t, she’ll reveal you hiding when you are, she’ll walk out the door after promising to stay locked inside and hiding, etc. It’s incredibly frustrating to know what to do and not be able to do it. And I don’t understand why they chose to have two people with rich, gorgeous accents like James McAvoy and Daisy Ridley use bland American accents (I’m a bland American) that could have been done by anyone, instead of using their own which would have been much better for the money spent. Willem Dafoe sounds like himself and that’s great. Not saying artists shouldn’t do accents, but the ones they did here could have been done by any voice artist and the money saved could have been used to polish the game instead. I wanted to enjoy this game more, and I wish that I did. It is on GamePass though, so just try it if that’s available to you.    … Expand
  7. B-Bog
    Aug 25, 2021
    5
    Good idea in concept, but the execution is sorely lacking. Aside from the general glitchiness, clunkiness and jank in the gameplay mechanics, after a while, the game just broke down into tedious and frustrating trial-and-error for me; not exactly helped by all the red herrings in form of dialogue options and possible combinations of interactions the dev put in. Essentially, after you'veGood idea in concept, but the execution is sorely lacking. Aside from the general glitchiness, clunkiness and jank in the gameplay mechanics, after a while, the game just broke down into tedious and frustrating trial-and-error for me; not exactly helped by all the red herrings in form of dialogue options and possible combinations of interactions the dev put in. Essentially, after you've reached a certain point, you're only trying to brute-force the exact sequence of things that the game will finally be satisfied with.

    Then the ending(s) I did not understand at all. Is it even supposed to make sense? No one knows. It's one of those arts-fartsy, go-make-up-your-own-interpretation kind of affairs. Which are not always doomed to failure, but in this case, I felt pretty let down and like I was owed at least a little bit of an explanation for my time and effort.

    Also, if I had not known about the star power in the voice cast (probably the game's biggest selling point), I would've never guessed that these were famous Hollywood actors, since the performances come across as rather bland and disjointed (probably due to how the lines were recorded and are used in the game). Definitely not one of the stronger performances for any of the three actors.

    In summary, if you have Game Pass and the game's premise sounds intriguing to you (and you're quite patient), maybe give this a try. Otherwise, if you want to play a puzzle-based game with a time-loop mechanic from Annapurna Interactive, just get Outer Wilds, which is vastly superior.    … Expand
  8. nigh5
    Oct 23, 2021
    6
    there's a video on instagram of a joke tutorial on how to find a stud in the wall: The guy suggests that you drill into the wall over and over again, inch by inch until you feel resistance and wallah! You found the stud.

    That is twelve minutes gameplay to a tee. But I wouldn't call this a game, more of a simulation. The frustration of it is so you feel like the protagonist, for the    there's a video on instagram of a joke tutorial on how to find a stud in the wall: The guy suggests that you drill into the wall over and over again, inch by inch until you feel resistance and wallah! You found the stud.

    That is twelve minutes gameplay to a tee.

    But I wouldn't call this a game, more of a simulation. The frustration of it is so you feel like the protagonist, for the sake of virtual empathy. The game designers in my opinion could've rewarded the player a little bit more when they finally "found a stud" but instead, you just go back to a beginning that you've had enough of. I stopped the game 70% of the way and I'm so glad I did. I really liked the idea of the 'game' but I couldn't bring myself to hear the wife and setup the whole board, for the 100th time.

    I think it's worth checking out, but I wish the game rewarded drilling 500 holes into the wall, instead of asking to drill 500 more.    … Expand
  9. Bcastelar28
    Aug 23, 2021
    5
    Regular game...can't stand till the end! The mechanics are just ok,the up câmera is charming but the gameplay sucks...
  10. Bato
    Sep 13, 2021
    5
    Story: 8/10
    Gameplay: 4/10
    Graphics: 6/10
    Enjoyability: 5/10
    Overall: 5/10
  11. xXCDRageQuitXx
    Aug 28, 2021
    7
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I've been excited for Twelve Minutes and while it didn't meet my excitement in the way I hoped, it was still a fun and interesting game for the most part.

    Going straight into criticism, sometimes the writing isn't believable. Twelve Minutes is a timeloop story and what causes these loops is being knocked unconscious. As soon as your character enters his second loop, he just gets it. He just fully understands that the day is repeating the first time he's reset back into his apartment, without having much proof to fully conclude it at that point. The dialogue options available at that point also immediately scream "This is definitely a timeloop". There's a layer of confusion about the situation that I'd expect in the first few loops that is just not there.

    Similarly, reaching the game's ending is fairly difficult because there's absolutely no (as far as I saw) encourager to get the player to do the specific thing that gets you to the end of the game. You spend your loops trying to lock down information, and in my playthrough that pursuit of information led me to drug my wife and interrogate the cop, then in the next loop I'd talk to my wife and talk peacefully with the cop, and that slowly brought in all the information while utilising various items, but it never deviated from these two tracks. In order to reach an ending you just need to inspect one particular item for long enough. You probably can't do that from the start and I have no idea what you need to achieve to enable it, but nothing suggests that you should reinspect this item.

    Reaching the game's "true" ending also feels nonsensical, and is more of a "did you comb through everything in the game?" check. This "true" ending involves inspecting another item but the item's value to the story even in the last minutes just doesn't seem important. Even when the main character talks about it he sounds like he's reciting lines rather than speaking out of his heart, like he's reciting a spell that he doesn't quite have down yet and it cheapens this ending that was probably meant to be philosophical or thought-provoking.

    With these negatives noted though, the game is still an enjoyable puzzle while you don't have the solution. Discovering the consequences of actions and the resulting circuit of actions you learn to take is fun to reach when you're searching for the game's solution. Finding out critical information about a character or event feels like a breakthrough moment that will get you further in your next run and that feels great. The story between the start and end of the game is also pretty interesting although some revelations are sure to put people off, I think the story is interesting no less.

    I had fun with the game, the voice acting was done well for the most part, if it weren't for the most important parts of this timeloop falling flat I probably would've loved this game.    … Expand
  12. d3uzZ
    May 28, 2022
    6
    Нормально, но не настолько здорово, как могло показаться на первый взгляд. Мне нравится, что ты все выясняешь методом проб и ошибок, поэтому даже когда вы терпите неудачу, вы все равно добиваетесь прогресса, что может привести к нескольким концовкам. Но через некоторое время это утомляет и заканчивать игру не сильно хочется.Нормально, но не настолько здорово, как могло показаться на первый взгляд. Мне нравится, что ты все выясняешь методом проб и ошибок, поэтому даже когда вы терпите неудачу, вы все равно добиваетесь прогресса, что может привести к нескольким концовкам. Но через некоторое время это утомляет и заканчивать игру не сильно хочется.
  13. Koteevich
    Aug 28, 2021
    7
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Интересный продукт, который в первой половине игры оставил целую свору невероятных, крутых впечатлений! Интересно разбираться в сюжете, узнавать новые крупицы информации, которые могут не на шутку удивить... но... игра СЛИШКОМ долгая. Я ее прошел примерно за 9 часов, под конец начинаешь путаться, не понимаешь, чего от тебя хочет игра, все начинает банально наскучивать. Игру нужно было сделать часа на 4-5 максимум.

    В целом, интересный продукт, не такая уж и плохая реализация. Ах да, сюжет под конец... разочаровывает... но инцест дело семейное, осуждать не смею.

    Чисто за первые впечатления (убийство жены например, у меня аж мурашки по коже пошли) ставлю 7 с большой натяжкой и жирным минусом.

    Осталось только додрочить ачивки.    … Expand
  14. LoneWolf8021
    Aug 25, 2021
    6
    Good concept, but didn't really have a "wow" factor for me. The gameplay is pretty straight forward, and it's fun to figure out more things through each time loop to take into the next. The acting was decent and provided some charm to the game and made the characters likable and interesting. But the story was lacking in my opinion. It seemed too short and not super thought out, and theGood concept, but didn't really have a "wow" factor for me. The gameplay is pretty straight forward, and it's fun to figure out more things through each time loop to take into the next. The acting was decent and provided some charm to the game and made the characters likable and interesting. But the story was lacking in my opinion. It seemed too short and not super thought out, and the twist was pretty weird. Overall, around a 5-6/10 for me.… Expand
  15. zezeljmare
    Sep 16, 2021
    7
    EN:
    Nice game, good voice acting, interesting story with many choices and great puzzles. Unfortunately it's too short and becomes repetitive. The controls could have been better.

    SRB:
    Simpatična igra, dobar voice acting, zanimljiva priča sa mnogo izbora i odličnim zagonetkama. Nažalost dosta kratko traje i postaje repetativna. Kontrole su mogle biti bolje.
  16. Salt_addict
    Feb 14, 2022
    6
    Interesting game to play on slow day with a partner, trying to piece together the story. Thankfully gamepass exists. Off gamepass id review lower.
  17. Paul_French
    Jun 4, 2023
    6
    When Originality Becomes Frustrating

    Twelve Minutes quickly captivates with its original concept and impeccable atmosphere. However, it disappoints fairly quickly once you realize that our choices are too limited compared to the possibilities you can imagine.

Awards & Rankings

59
#59 Best Xbox Series X Game of 2021
15
#15 Most Discussed Xbox Series X Game of 2021

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
72

Mixed or average reviews - based on 31 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 18 out of 31
  2. Mixed: 11 out of 31
  3. Negative: 2 out of 31
  1. LEVEL (Czech Republic)
    Feb 17, 2022
    40
    12 minutes is a point’n’click thriller playing with a time loop theme with a great premise and introductory setting, but with a lack of interactivity and an unfortunate story. After the enthusiasm from the beginning of the game, when you will enjoy the offered possibilities of the game sandbox, frustration and disappointment will come. Even dabing with brilliant actors is not helping the game. It seems to be recorded in a hurry and without the possibility for the actors to get used to the character.
  2. Games.cz
    Oct 4, 2021
    50
    Great idea woefully executed. The story, gripping at first, soon devolves into frustrating repetition. The characters just aren’t interesting enough and the A-list actors offer what might just be the blandest performances of their careers. Spend your twelve minutes elsewhere.
    Read full review
  3. 4P.de
    Sep 17, 2021
    75
    Inventive adventure thriller, that produces a lot of tense moments within the limited scenario. The solution doesn't meet expectations, though.
    Read full review
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