12 Minutes Reviews
There's quality within this intriguing time loop, though by the end you're left wondering whether the core idea is a good one after all.
A clever time loop setup devolves into frustrating repetition.
Twelve Minutes injects a compelling time-loop mystery into a traditional point-and-click adventure game to create original gameplay that complements its story's curiosity factor.
A clever and idiosyncratic time loop detective thriller with top notch voice acting, which suffers from circular gameplay that quickly descends into monotony.
A miniature time loop thriller that will burrow into your frontal lobe and stay there long after you've solved the mystery.
Twelve Minutes sinks its claws in from the get-go and doesn't let go until the final, brutal revelation
12 Minutes is a point-and-click adventure in a clockwork world that's as expertly crafted as a Swiss watch.
Twelve Minutes is an uncomfortable journey — maybe too uncomfortable
So with every repeated loop, and every new piece of info that leads to more narrative threads to pull on, Twelve Minutes is certainly fascinating to unravel. Some of it might start to feel a bit clunky, when dialogue starts mashing up against itself and characters move in awkward ways, but on the whole, it’s a puzzle I kept wanting to piece together, both fascinated and afraid of the answers I might find. It keeps the story driving forward, and if some deep, dark character drama set in a time loop sounds appealing, you’ll find what you’re looking for here.
A unique graphic adventure, sometimes thrilling and sometimes frustrating, that makes the most out of three characters and a time loop. Not a game for every kind of player, but definitely worth a try.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Twelve Minutes has an intoxicating premise about a man stuck in a time loop, backed by a Hollywood cast of voice actors that immediately presents the game with a veneer of cinematic prestige. But just as it quickly captivates the player with the tantalising promise to unravel all its mysteries, it also loses all that steam just as rapidly with its unbelievable twists and unspeakable violence, resulting in a conclusion that's as mind-boggling as it's nauseating. In the end, Twelve Minutes can't seem to rise above its film influences, as it grinds to an unsatisfying, disconcerting halt.
Twelve Minutes isn’t perfect, but it’s one of the very few games I’d recommend everyone should play. While it’ll offer an experience many won’t enjoy, understand, or figure out, it’ll stays with you for a long, long time–even if its repetition results in Pavlovian conditioning. I now can’t hear my doorbell without thinking I’ll be choked to death within 60 seconds.
Twelve Minutes tells a gripping story through a unique, time-jumping point-and-click adventure experience.
12 Minutes is a statement of intent on the part of Luis Antonio, a video game that elevates him as a designer, and places him on the map after having gone through Rockstar Games and having participated in projects as disparate as The Witness or What Remains of Edith Finch. Now, he puts on the table his particular vision of graphic adventure, with a video game that exudes a love for textual enigma, cinema and mystery. A title that, at most, can take you a couple of afternoons, but that will leave a great taste in your mouth and, quite possibly, the brains smoky.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Twelve Minutes ultimately presents a compelling, thrilling experience that feels more than worth the price of entry. It has interesting things to say through its looping core conceit, and it’ll tease your brain more than a few times - sometimes genuinely, sometimes through slightly cheap requirements to progress. I also admit I was less of a fan of where the story went in its later stages - but that doesn’t mean I wasn’t hooked. The journey matters more than the destination, after all - and a gripping journey this is.
I would not call Twelve Minutes just an experiment, because the result is convincing in every aspect and the perfectible parts are absolutely minor. The experience packaged by Luis Antonio and Annapurna is another excellent example of the possibilities that videogames can offer, both in narrative and interactive terms.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Despite taking place solely in a tiny apartment, 12 Minutes delivers hours of captivating mysteries.
There are, of course, multiple endings, and the minutes leading up to each resolution can be flavoured with violence and revelation, or laced with deceit. The question is: Do we care?
Twelve Minutes is a celebrity-led adventure title, but its time looping mechanic and riveting narrative are the real stars.
Twelve Minutes' time loop puzzle is layered and weird, but its short time limit doesn't find the sweet spot between tense and frustrating.