A quirky micro RPG that has you living life one minute at a time as the result of a cursed sword. The premise is pretty cool, and the minimal art style compliments the minimalist design of the game which mimics similarly minimalist RPG's like Links Awakening.

Since you only have one minute to do anything the actual options are all very clearly signposted and telegraphed. Getting from one save point to the next will take about a minute. Completing a nearby challenge will take about a minute. And some of the events are hilariously timed, giving you ever increasing anxiety as you're forced to wait or find yourself trying to reach a destination just in time.

What's disappointing then is that such a tight and efficient design is explored to such a shallow level - or perhaps there simply isn't a way to give it depth. The game is very small, the things you can do are all very straightforward gaming faire, and while I wouldn't say the ending is predictable it is abrupt. There's a small handful of mundane side quests but there's not really the motivation to pursue them since the main story doesn't require anything of you.

It's a cute package and it does have some funny moments, but despite the interesting premise it doesn't really go anywhere or explore the idea in any depth leaving it feeling more like a proof of concept than anything.

tl;dr: charming little game about time loops and exploration. Buy it if you find it for cheap. If not, but you like retro exploration games or speed runs, also get it. It is short and sweet, but isn't for everyone.

Bought it with a crazy discount that made it less than 2€. I'll spare you any further reading: if you find it for such a bargain and do not mind a ticking clock, it is five stars and a great game.

Now onto more about my experience. I cleared it in just under 2 hours with a 56% completion. There are 2 extra game modes, new game pluses of sorts, which i might try eventually, however they will not be taken into account for the rest of this review. I ended up using no guides and had little to no previous information about the game itself prior to buying it. However I played this right after finishing the original The Legend of Zelda, which i think had the in the right mood and mindset for such a game.

I felt quite satisfied with the game. It is very charming graphically and the sound fits the game quite well. Given the premise, there can't be much of a narrative or text, but the dialogue that exists is very good and quite funny at times, given the context.

The gameplay loop itself is interesting however it can be very frustrating and repetitive if you find yourself lost, however if one pays attention to the dialogue and the environment that shouldn't be a problem. Also the ticking clock and the time loop probably makes it very appealing to speedrunners.

In the end, had a great time and might revisit it in the future.

Minit is played in a peculiar way and each "life" lasts 1minute. Since there is no map, it's basically speedrunning without knowing the directions and I love that. Each screen/level has something interesting, fun and unique. There isn't a single moment where I thought it was wasted or overlong and I found it very rewarding to have learned the map by heart, which isn't that big either, but this was further enhanced in the new game+ where they make you follow an alternate path for each key item and it was great fun to re-discover Minit and laugh at the silly new things the developers came up with to waste your time.

Very nice all around, I'm so glad I got to experience Minit in its entirety, with all the achievements.