5 Hours and 12 Minutes

By Xander Townsend | Misfit Media Editor

One of the first Game Maker's Toolkits that I watched many years ago was an episode titled 'Redesigning Death', released in 2016. It comments on how death has been pretty much done the same way throughout game development history, you die and you try again. I found it refreshing seeing how even the most self-explanatory and necessary mechanics could be flipped on their heads and reworked in interesting and unconventional ways. It really made me start thinking about how to innovate when it came to gam design and development.

 12 Minutes (developed by Luis Antonio) came out at the end of 2021 and immediately left an impact. It was nominated for Best Independent Title at The Game Awards, and Most Innovative Gameplay in the Steam Awards, with it winning Silver in the Clio Awards (all in 2021). Generally it has been extremely favored with it being described as intriguing and ambitious. So why am I frustrated by the length of this game despite its scope, fantastic indie development qualities, and interesting premise?

There are many things I love about this game, the main being the implemented death mechanic due to the fact the game runs on a time loop. I really found the reinvention of what it meant to die in a video game within the context refreshing. It reminded me of why I tried to challenge myself by thinking outside of the box when I first started developing video games, and I am always going to appreciate what indie teams and studios bring to the game industry. I also really appreciated the execution of multiple endings within the game, especially with how seamless they appear when playing. The game abides by its own rules and you respect it more for doing so.

This all being said, the options are limited. One of my least favourite methods of problem solving is process of elimination as it tends to be tedious and restricts satisfaction of play. I found myself having to do a 12 minute set of repeated actions over and over with only one varying factor to slowly nudge my way to some sort of discovery, but found myself getting frustrated with the constant need to observe 12 minutes of familiarity. I also found the endings less satisfying then I thought I would, with this being due to the tediousness of the work compared to the short lived end result.

I love the concept, artistic direction, simplistic nature, and self-directed flow of play, but I struggled to justify the repeat of gameplay over and over again in lengthy 12 minute intervals. That being said, make sure to give it a play, it is currently available through Xbox's game pass.