Minit
Publisher(s)Devolver Digital
Designer(s)
Artist(s)
  • Dominik Johann
  • Kitty Calis
Composer(s)Jukio Kallio
EngineGameMaker: Studio
Platform(s)
Release
  • Linux, macOS, Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, Xbox One
  • April 3, 2018
  • Nintendo Switch
  • August 9, 2018
  • Android, iOS
  • June 27, 2019
Genre(s)Adventure
Mode(s)Single-player

Minit is an adventure video game developed by Jan Willem Nijman, Kitty Calis, Jukio Kallio, and Dominik Johann. The game is published by Devolver Digital and was released on April 3, 2018, for Windows, macOS, Linux, Xbox One, and PlayStation 4. On May 11, 2018, a Nintendo Switch version was announced on the first episode of Indie World, a web series from Nintendo of Japan that showcases indie games coming to the Japanese Nintendo eShop. It was released for the Nintendo Switch on August 9, 2018. It also came out for mobile devices in June 2019.

The game's premise is that each of the player's lives only lasts for one minute, resulting in "a peculiar little adventure played sixty seconds at a time".[1] With each interval, the player will learn more about the environment.[2]

Gameplay and premise

Minit is a 2D top-down adventure game. The player takes control of an unnamed duck-like creature at their house. Initially, the player has no time limit and can explore a small space and will discover a sword washed up on the shore. Upon picking it up, it is revealed by a now-active timer that the sword is cursed. Every 60 seconds the player will die and wake up back in their home. The gameplay progresses with the player keeping all items they have collected during each of their sixty-second lives. Where they respawn depends on their last save point, one for every location excluding the factory. The combat is a simple stab in the direction of movement, but extra abilities can be unlocked by certain items (the Gardening Glove allows the player to break trees).

It is revealed by a recurring mailman that the sword is a product of the sword factory and tasks the player to go there as soon as possible. Upon arriving, the player manages to upgrade their sword and reverse the production of the swords in the process. Through quick dialogue, it is revealed the owner of the factory's plan was finally working, and they would do everything all over again. However, the player can stop them by hitting the overloading main machine three times. The explosion turns the owner into a sword-like hybrid and the player has to defeat it. Upon its defeat, the sword will finally break, breaking the curse in the process (indicated by a now-stopped timer). With the sword now completely useless, the player flushes the broken sword down the toilet in the now-destroyed factory and returns home to get some rest.

The game consists of three modes. Normal mode has the standard rules and the 60-second timer. The Second Run can be played after Normal mode with added difficulties, restrictions, and a 40-second timer. An unlockable mode is Mary's Mode, where the player has no time limit and the music doesn't seem to play. In the second run, the player encounters the broken sword and re-activates the curse, but now the player is limited to one hit point, has less range, and the time limit is now 40 seconds. Upon doing everything again, the player flushes the sword once again, this time for good. In a post-credits scene, the player is relaxing on a remote island until almost all of the characters encountered suddenly appear.

Development

Minit was developed by Jan Willem Nijman, co-founder of Vlambeer; Kitty Calis, who contributed to Horizon Zero Dawn; Jukio Kallio, a freelance composer; and Dominik Johann, art director of Crows Crows Crows.[3] The concept for Minit was inspired by an earlier project from Jan Willem Nijman and Kitty Calis when they participated in an Adventure Time-themed game jam in 2012. The original game involved 1-minute long episodes. Years later, Willem and Calis wanted to make a new game with the same concept and recruited Jukio Kallio and Dominik Johann.[4] A prototype was pitched to Devolver Digital where the game was only a single screen and no time limit with little content. Devolver Digital approved the publishing of the game and provided support in playtesting, porting, and promotion. Development for the game took roughly over a year.[5] To ensure the game was simple to execute and enjoyable to develop, the team placed self-imposed limitations into the design such as being in black and white, and a 60-second timer.[6] [7] The team designed the world to have at least one secret in every section of the map.[7]

Jukio Kallio found it challenging composing music due to the 60-second timer causing the death of the player character and interrupting the audio. To overcome the issue, Kallio divided the songs into roughly 1-minute increments that would loop with the next track when the player character dies.[6]

A demo for the game was presented at E3 2017.[3] The game is published by Devolver Digital and was released on April 3, 2018, for Windows, macOS, Linux, Xbox One, and PlayStation 4. On May 11, 2018, a Nintendo Switch version was announced on the first episode of Indie World, a web series from Nintendo of Japan that showcases indie games coming to the Japanese Nintendo eShop.[8] It was released for the Nintendo Switch on August 9, 2018.[9] It also came out for mobile devices on June 27, 2019.[10] A port by for Commodore 64 was announced on June 20, 2019 and was scheduled to release later the same year.[11] No new information had since released.

Promotion and merchandise

Devolver Digital partnered with Esc-Toy to release a collectable plus doll of the player character with Steam code included.[12] Jukio Kalio self-published an original soundtrack with cover art by Thomas Wellman on April 3, 2018, via Bandcamp.[13] Ghost Ramp released a limited edition vinyl version on January 25, 2019, with cover art by Justin Chan.[14][15]

Spin-off

In 2021, Devolver Digital launched a spin-off game, Minit Fun Racer, which is available on Steam and proceeds of which will always go to an unspecified charitable effort.[16] Minit Fun Racer is an iteration of the original game, as the player drives a motorcycle in a 10-second round, with the time increasing by collecting coins.[17]

Reception

Minit received "generally favorable" reviews for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch, according to review aggregator Metacritic.[18][19][20][21]

Accolades

YearAwardCategoryResultRef
2018 Develop Awards Gameplay Innovation Nominated [32]
Golden Joystick Awards Best Indie Game Nominated [33][34]
Titanium Awards Nominated [35]
2019 New York Game Awards Statue of Liberty Award for Best World Nominated [36]
22nd Annual D.I.C.E. Awards Outstanding Achievement for an Independent Game Nominated [37]
National Academy of Video Game Trade Reviewers Awards Game, Original Family Nominated [38]
Independent Games Festival Awards Seumas McNally Grand Prize Nominated [39]
2019 G.A.N.G. Awards G.A.N.G. / MAGFEST People's Choice Award Nominated [40]
15th British Academy Games Awards Game Design Nominated [41]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Donnelly, Joe (January 25, 2017). "Minit is a new '60-second adventure' from an indie supergroup and Devolver Digital". PC Gamer. Future US. Retrieved June 18, 2017.
  2. ↑ Warr, Philippa (February 1, 2017). "Use tiny time loops to lift a curse in Minit". Rock Paper Shotgun. Gamer Network. Retrieved June 18, 2017.
  3. 1 2 Campbell, Colin (June 13, 2017). "You're going to want to find some time for Minit". Polygon. Vox Media. Archived from the original on June 14, 2017. Retrieved June 18, 2017.
  4. ↑ JAZZKING2001 (April 1, 2018). "Minit Interview". Neocrisis. Archived from the original on August 16, 2018. Retrieved June 16, 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  5. ↑ EdEn (March 30, 2018). "PS4Blog.net Interview: Minit on PS4". PS4Blog.net. Archived from the original on November 30, 2020. Retrieved June 16, 2023.
  6. 1 2 Valentine, Rebekah (June 5, 2018). "How Minit's team found creativity through limitations". GameIndustry.biz. Archived from the original on November 28, 2022. Retrieved June 16, 2023.
  7. 1 2 Wiltshire, Alex (April 12, 2018). "In it to Minit: Designing a world of one-minute adventures". Gamasutra. Archived from the original on April 13, 2018. Retrieved April 22, 2023.
  8. ↑ Calvert, Darren (May 11, 2018). "Zelda-Like Adventure Game Minit Heading to the Japanese Switch eShop". Nintendo Life. Archived from the original on August 21, 2018. Retrieved June 16, 2023.
  9. ↑ "Minit for Nintendo Switch - Nintendo Game Details". www.nintendo.com. Retrieved October 13, 2019.
  10. ↑ "Black-and-white adventure 'Minit' lands on iOS and Android". engadget. June 27, 2019. Archived from the original on July 26, 2020. Retrieved June 16, 2023.
  11. ↑ "World Exclusive: Minit is getting an official Commodore 64 release!". Commodore Format. June 10, 2019. Archived from the original on June 2, 2020. Retrieved June 20, 2023.
  12. ↑ Esc-Toy Ltd. [@ESCtoy] (March 28, 2018). "Minit by @Devolverdigital is releasing April 3rd! Official plush now available on the Devolver Digital Shop- http://bit.ly/2GScwwG. Plush includes a full game Steam Code for PC, downloadable on release! Get yours now!" (Tweet). Retrieved June 20, 2023 – via Twitter.
  13. ↑ "Minit OST". Bandcamp. Archived from the original on June 13, 2018. Retrieved June 20, 2023.
  14. ↑ "Jukio Kallio - Minit (Official Soundtrack) - New Vinyl Lp 2019 Ghost Ramp Pressing". Shuga Records. Archived from the original on June 20, 2023. Retrieved June 20, 2023.
  15. ↑ Ghost Ramp [@ghostramp] (August 10, 2018). "The Minit vinyl pressing is very limited - 500 units - pressed on color in color black and white vinyl - http://store.ghostramp.com" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  16. ↑ "Minit Fun Racer". Devolver Digital Games. Retrieved September 24, 2022.
  17. ↑ Carpenter, Nicole (February 18, 2021). "Minit Fun Racer is a speedy racer, with proceeds going to charity". Polygon. Retrieved November 14, 2022.
  18. 1 2 "Minit for PC Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved May 12, 2020.
  19. 1 2 "Minit for PlayStation 4 Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved May 12, 2020.
  20. 1 2 "Minit for Xbox One Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved May 12, 2020.
  21. 1 2 "Minit for Switch Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved May 12, 2020.
  22. ↑ Makedonski, Brett (April 3, 2018). "Review: Minit". Destructoid. Archived from the original on July 27, 2021. Retrieved August 26, 2021.
  23. ↑ Blake, Vikki (April 9, 2018). "Minit review - a bite-sized marvel". Eurogamer. Archived from the original on May 26, 2022. Retrieved November 11, 2022.
  24. ↑ Favis, Elise (April 3, 2018). "Minit Review: A Bite-Sized Delight". Game Informer. Archived from the original on April 4, 2018. Retrieved August 26, 2021.
  25. ↑ Barbosa, Alessandro (April 3, 2018). "Minit Review: Gone in 60 Seconds". GameSpot. Archived from the original on February 9, 2019. Retrieved August 26, 2021.
  26. ↑ Vogel, Mitch (August 9, 2018). "Minit Review (Switch eShop)". Nintendo Life. Archived from the original on August 9, 2018. Retrieved August 26, 2021.
  27. ↑ Ronaghan, Neal (August 9, 2021). "Minit (Switch) Review". Nintendo World Report. Archived from the original on October 19, 2018. Retrieved August 26, 2021.
  28. ↑ Kelly, Andy (April 3, 2018). "Minit review". PC Gamer. Archived from the original on April 3, 2018. Retrieved August 26, 2021.
  29. ↑ Tailby, Stephen (April 3, 2018). "Minit Review (PS4)". Push Square. Archived from the original on September 16, 2019. Retrieved August 26, 2021.
  30. ↑ Cunningham, Michael A (April 16, 2018). "Minit Review". RPGamer. Archived from the original on May 2, 2018. Retrieved August 26, 2021.
  31. ↑ Madnani, Mikhail (June 27, 2019). "'MINIT' Review – Minute To Win It". TouchArcade. Retrieved May 12, 2020.
  32. ↑ MCV staff (May 21, 2018). "Announcing the Develop Awards 2018 nominations shortlist". MCV. Future plc. Retrieved September 4, 2018.
  33. ↑ Hoggins, Tom (September 24, 2018). "Golden Joysticks 2018 nominees announced, voting open now". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved October 7, 2018.
  34. ↑ Sheridan, Connor (November 16, 2018). "Golden Joystick Awards 2018 winners: God of War wins big but Fortnite gets Victory Royale". GamesRadar+. Future plc. Retrieved November 17, 2018.
  35. ↑ "Titanium Awards 2018". Fun & Serious Game Festival. December 10, 2018. Archived from the original on July 7, 2019. Retrieved November 7, 2019.
  36. ↑ Keyes, Rob (January 3, 2019). "2018 New York Game Awards Nominees Revealed". Screen Rant. Valnet, Inc. Retrieved January 7, 2019.
  37. ↑ Makuch, Eddie (January 10, 2019). "God Of War, Spider-Man Lead DICE Awards; Here's All The Nominees". GameSpot. CBS Interactive. Retrieved January 14, 2019.
  38. ↑ "Nominee List for 2018". National Academy of Video Game Trade Reviewers. February 11, 2019. Archived from the original on February 13, 2019. Retrieved February 15, 2019.
  39. ↑ Fogel, Stephanie (January 3, 2019). "'Return of the Obra Dinn' Leads IGF Awards Nominees". Variety. Penske Media Corporation. Retrieved January 7, 2019.
  40. ↑ Fogel, Stefanie (March 21, 2019). "'God of War' Wins Six G.A.N.G. Awards, Including Audio of the Year". Variety. Penske Media Corporation. Retrieved March 22, 2019.
  41. ↑ Fogel, Stefanie (March 14, 2019). "'God of War,' 'Red Dead 2' Lead BAFTA Game Awards Nominations". Variety. Penske Media Corporation. Retrieved March 15, 2019.
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