One of the years best indie downloads comes to the Nintendo Switch, with a charming homage to old school Zelda games.
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With time being just as much a limit as money, when it comes to the games people choose to play, those titles which can fit a meaningful experience into as short a period as possible tend to do increasingly well nowadays. Its not just because of the ubiquity of mobile gaming, but because even those that would love to spend 100 hours on an in-depth role-playing game just dont have the opportunity. But that is one problem that the aptly named Minit does not suffer from.
High-concept video games are increasingly rare amongst big budget titles, but for an indie game an unusual premise often has to make up for a lack of marketing or graphical showboating. Minit is a top down action adventure that looks like a cross between a ZX Spectrum game and Zelda: Links Awakening on the Game Boy. You have lives, just like most old school game, but the key gimmick is that they only last for 60 seconds at a time.
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Minit is a very indie game, in more ways than one. Not just its premise and ultra-retro graphics but that its the work of just four people. And yet despite that they still have a combined gameography that includes Horizon Zero Dawn, Nuclear Throne, and Celeste. But while the game looks like Links Awakening its primary influence is actually a different Zelda title: Majoras Mask.
There are already quite a few video games, most notably Half-Minute Hero, that play around with the idea of only having a few seconds to save the world. In Minit youre constantly resurrected every time you die, with no way around the 60 second time limit. But the one advantage youre given is that when you come back its at your current home base, and there are multiple homes you can unlock within the game world.
This ends up working a little like the bonfires in Dark Souls, where you know that if you do die again at least youll have made some meaningful progress and can continue from where you left of. But not everything is reset when your minute is up and, like Majoras Mask, major story-related achievements and items are retained – even as your other influences on the game word, like cutting a path through trees or defeating enemies, resets when you come back.
Combat is only a minor part of Minit, and instead the focus is on puzzle-solving and exploration. Despite the simplistic graphics the sign-posting is excellent and there are plenty of subtle clues about where to go and what to do next. The game world is also filled with non-player characters who will offer up side quests in return for useful items, and while a cup of coffee and gardening gloves may not initially seem very helpful they soon prove to have a vital use in either interacting with the game world or increasing your own abilities.
There is no in-game map but youll quickly end up committing the relatively small game world to memory, as you set out on exploratory runs and gradually piece together your plan to reach the next potential house. Most of the in-game characters will also offer help in some way, but even just listening to them takes precious long seconds; especially when theyre a doddering old sea captain who speaks really slowly…
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We know the games graphics are going to put off many people but theyre honestly one of the games best features, with great attention to detail in the animation despite the prehistoric technology at play. The presentation has plenty of modern flourishes and together with a glorious chiptune soundtrack it ensures the retro stylings never seem obnoxious or overly restrictive.
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Minit will take most players around two hours to complete, although theres an equally enjoyable New Game+ mode that adds a welcome amount of changes and ups the difficulty by decreasing your lifespan even further. And as you can imagine this is one port the Switch does not have trouble with, and in fact the nature of the game suits Nintendos hybrid portable very well.
For just £9 (curiously £1 more than the other versions released earlier in the year) Minit offers a wonderfully minimalist adventure with not an inch of bloat. Instead, its a game where it seems like every tiny detail has been handcrafted and placed in the world only after careful thought from the creators. So while the lifespan of your hero, and the retro visuals, may seem very limiting they help to enable one of the most inventive and imaginative indie games of the year.
Minit
In Short: A great high-concept adventure that borrows liberally from old school Zeldas but has plenty of unique ideas of its own.
Pros: The central premise is exploited perfectly, as you get just that little bit further every time. Clever puzzles, charming visuals and music, and some witty dialogue.
Cons: The time limit is inevitably going to frustrate at some point and the game is disappointingly short once you work it out.
Score: 8/10
Formats: Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC
Price: £8.99
Publisher: Devolver Digital
Developer: JW, Kitty, Jukio, and Dom
Release Date: 9th August 2018
Age Rating: 3
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