Imagine, if you will, if the old man in the cave at the beginning of the original The Legend of Zelda laughed at you after you took the sword. That’s pretty much the introduction to Minit, although instead of being handed a cursed sword you find it washed up on the shore near your house. What could be so bad about a cursed sword, you ask? Well, do you consider dying to be a bad thing? Because that’s what the sword does – after 60 seconds you DIE! It doesn’t matter how many hearts you have left, how close you are to accomplishing something or how much you scream at the game, after 60 seconds you’re a corpse. Oh, but hey, there’s an upside to it! Anything you find in that 60 second period is kept forever, so once you find a flashlight to let you see in dark caves, for example, you’ll hold on to it even once you’ve died 522 times! You can also change where you begin your new, short life by going to one of the various buildings with beds.
Minit is a rather unique exploration game. It’s packed full of hidden items and sidequests, while at the same time challenging you to reach them before you die. The game’s controls are simple enough – your sword is cursed, sure, but it’s still a sword with a pointy end that can defeat your various foes. Arrows move around, and there’s a nifty button that allows you to travel in time, sorta – you’ll instantly die, just like you would after your 60 seconds are up. That sums up the controls – moving, stabbing and dying!
When I first started the game, I ended up dying a lot without really much to show for it. Minit is a unique game that takes a little getting used to, but once things click it’s like having your mind blown open. One of the things that makes Minit so addictive really is just how much there is to do – there’s so much, in fact, that when I watched a speedrun playthrough they managed to beat the game with less than 30% of everything found! The game isn’t randomized at all, so once you beat it the first time you can absolutely go through and try to do it faster, better and more thoroughly. Instead of dying three or four times before accomplishing the first couple tasks you can easily accomplish two of them in your first life, and then you’ll have a perfect idea of what to do in the next one. It’s an addictive, wonderful loop, even if it does get a little frustrating trying to figure out what to do the first time around sometimes. And once you beat the game the first time you unlock a Second Run mode that whittles your life down to 40 seconds, cuts your starting health in half and generally making things more difficult. It’s definitely a challenge for the most hardcore perfectionists!
I was also really surprised by the graphics. Yes, they’re simple, and yes they’re entirely black and white (with shades of grey in between), but I never once felt confused about walls or what something was. In fact, the simpler graphics made it so much easier to just glance at the screen and see everything right away. Don’t mistake the graphics and simple look in this game for a lack of quality or effort – it’s very clear that the developers (listed by their twitter handles – @kittycalis, @jwaaaap, @jukiokallio and @zerstoerer) put a great deal of effort into every aspect of the game, from making sure things are perfectly spaced out to the really interesting story twist to the graphics themselves.
Minit is a lovely, unique experience that had me dying to look up what to do next and feeling proud as hell when I accomplished things just in time. It even has a neat little story that’s way more interesting than I ever would’ve expected! Folks who like classic, top-down Zelda-like games, hunting for all sorts of awesome secrets, speedrunning or even puzzle games will get a kick out of Minit, and people who have too many controllers and want to break a few will make great use of the Second Run playthrough as well!
You can get Minit on: PS4 (reviewed), Xbox One and Steam (Windows, Mac, Linux)
I received a free copy of this game from the developer in exchange for my honest opinion.