12 Minutes is an indie game published by Annapurna Interactive and follows a man stuck in a twelve-minute time loop that he must break in order to survive. 12 Minutes has the voice acting talents of James McAvoy, Daisy Ridley, and Willem Dafoe who all work together to craft the narrative of the game. Annapurna Interactive’s game won’t release for another few months, but the Tribeca Games Festival gave players a first look at 12 Minutes, leaving high hopes for what the full game will entail.

Players take on the role of a man coming home to a romantic evening set up by his wife. Things don’t go according to plan, though, as players must quickly figure out what to do when someone who claims to be a cop shows up at the door and proceeds to zip-tie the wife’s hands together. Using the environment and objects around them, players must figure out how to break the time loop and keep the husband and wife safe, otherwise, the husband will “die” and the loop will repeat itself.

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Keeping the characters safe is easier said than done, though, as players will need to convince the wife that something is wrong in the first place. As soon as players start talking about how the day feels familiar and how a cop will show up at the door, the wife is, understandably, skeptical and a bit concerned. From there, players need to prove that they’ve already lived this day and they know certain details that no one else would.

This is where environmental details become crucial. Players who pay attention during the first few minutes of 12 Minutes will have at least one piece of evidence to prove they’ve experienced the day already, but one isn’t enough. To convince the wife something terrible will happen, at least two pieces of evidence will be required to make her start to believe the husband. Situations like this also make the time loops crucial in the game, as each one will hopefully reveal new details about the environment and how it can be used in-game.

The choices players make will also affect how the husband “dies” at the end of each loop. In the preview, we experienced the husband being beaten to death as well as being choked to death. Choices will impact more than just the husband’s death, which is why 12 Minutes could be categorized as an intriguing trial-and-error game. Players will have to try different combinations of moves and items to keep the husband alive and survive the time loop.

For example, players might assume it’s best to hold onto the kitchen knife and use it as a weapon against the intruder. However, it’s also possible that the knife could come in handy for something like breaking apart zip-ties or something else entirely. The trial-and-error aspect of 12 Minutes is intriguing for players who like to explore every possible outcome. The only potentially annoying part about it is having some dialogue being repeatedly triggered, but that comes with the territory of a game about being stuck in a time loop.

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12 Minutes doesn’t have complicated controls, either, as it’s a point-and-click and click-and-drag game. 12 Minutes players will need to scroll to the top of the screen to see their inventory, from which they can drag the items down and see how they impact or interact with the environment. To move around the apartment, players will only need to click where they want the husband to go. Hovering over different items will tell players what they are, and clicking them will either trigger an interaction that puts the item in the inventory or some small dialogue to give players a bit more insight.

Visually, 12 Minutes is intriguing, as players only play from a top-down view, never really seeing the faces of the husband, wife, or cop. This isn’t a bad design decision, especially because the voice acting from McAvoy, Ridley, and Dafoe more than compensates for the lack of recognizable faces. The animations of the husband and wife’s bodies could do with a bit more polish, as some of their movements seemed comically elongated and choppy. However, because this was just a preview, there’s no reason to assume things won’t be fine-tuned by the time 12 Minutes releases in full.

While it was only showcased in the first few moments of 12 Minutes, the soundtrack was impeccable. It was beautifully done, with equal parts of crescendo and softness. Players won’t get to hear the soundtrack throughout the game, as the music goes away once the game is loaded, but it’s a beautiful welcome into the game, its menu, and the first few moments players have with the husband.

Overall, 12 Minutes looks like a promising game that’s not only intriguing but may have tons of replayability depending on what players try and their dedication to finding different solutions. For now, there’s no way to know how many different situational outcomes there are, but it will be fun and exciting for players to trial-and-error their way through 12 Minutes. Though it was only a preview, 12 Minutes may be setting itself up to be a standout game for 2021.

12 Minutes releases August 19, 2021 for PC, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.

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