Life in 60 Seconds - A Mini Minit Review

Minit is a game by Wilem Nijman, Jukio Kallio, and Dominik Johann. It’s an adventure game not dissimilar to the classic Zelda games, and it has a very limited art style, color pallet, and time constraint.

You see, Minit can only be played in 60-second increments.

If Minit is a game you’re interested in just know it’s about an hour long, and I highly recommend it! Do not read this if you want to try it out. It’s short enough that knowing anything might hinder your enjoyment!

Come back when you’ve finished the game!

Beginning a Bitesized Adventure

The game begins with you - this little Tamagotchi-lookin’ dude - at your house. You have a dog, a bed, a fireplace, a desk, and some posters hanging on the wall. The only thing you can do is walk, and when you exit your abode, you’re greeted by the rest of the world.

If you continue to walk around you’ll notice there aren’t many places you can go. You quickly find many pathways are blocked by plants. However, because you know a little bit about games, and you remember this is inspired by Zelda, you think “If only I had a sword so I could chop those plants down.”

This is the first introduction to the main loop of this game - something is blocking your way, and I need an item to move said block.

I know it’s such a small moment in an already small game, but I also find it interesting that they used plants as the first blocker. If you play games you’ll know that Link chops down plants with his sword. So without needing a tutorial or an NPC flag posting the need for a sword, the player already knows what they need. It’s simple, but it’s effective.

Even if you don’t know anything about video games you’ll quickly find the sword, and when you do a timer starts on the top right of the screen. You now have 60 seconds to live. Upon death, however, you wake up at home with the sword and the countdown starts again.

This time restraint might seem like a stressor for some, but the world of Minit is so thoughtfully designed that I never found myself unable to do what I knew I needed to do.

The Loop

After exploring for a bit you’ll find some NPCs to chat with. None of them have much to say, but some have specific requests. Go to the cafe and you’ll hear the barista complaining about the crabs scaring away business - sounds like a quest. If you fulfill his request and deal with the crabs you’ll get a cup of coffee. An item that lets you move boxes, now there are more pathways open to you!

This is the core loop of the game. Someone says something, or something is blocking your way and then you find an item that can be used to open up new pathways.

Bite-Sized Exploration

For most of this game, I knew what I needed to find, but I found it difficult at some points to know where to explore. Because of the time constraints, venturing deeper into the world limits experimentation. You only have 60 seconds, make it count.

Luckily enough there are other houses you can find so when you die you’ll respawn at that new location. These houses act as a hub for exploring the games’s 4-5 areas.

One thing I liked about the exploration is that the game isn’t limited by space, but it is by time. 3 of the sides of the world are covered in endless water or sand. There are no mountains to signpost the end of the world, you can just freely walk. This makes the world feel a little less small, seem more adventurous, and teaches the player that if you can’t get somewhere in 60 seconds you either need faster shoes, or you just can’t do that.

The Story

You know that sword that you picked up on the beach? Turns out it’s cursed.

During your time exploring you’ll find multiple rivers with barrels floating in them. Turns out there’s a factory in Minit, and that factory is polluting the rivers, over-working their staff (they also literally trap someone who files a complaint), and producing weapons.

As the game progresses it becomes clear that the factory needs to go down.

Once you’ve infiltrated the factory you’ll destroy the machines producing massive amounts of swords and defeat the guy in charge. He becomes like a massive sword monster, it’s a fun boss.

During the final moments of the game, you have a broken sword, and the factory is completely covered by swords. The only place you can go is the bathroom.

You flush the broken sword down the toilet. I don’t think the meaning needs much explanation.

Conclusion

I started the game right after finishing Persona 5 Royal - A 150-hour JRPG with a lot of deep systems and reading. It was such a breath of fresh air to play a short straight-forward game.

There is a new game + mode that I haven’t delved into (and I probably won’t). There are also a lot of puzzles and areas I haven’t seen and I think that’s kind of exciting!

If you’re interested in trying this game out, go in blind (kind of hard now), and see what adventure awaits you!