Today, ID@Xbox and Twitch teamed up together to premiere their first-ever indie gaming showcase collab. The show included various announcements, trailers, and interviews with game developers. This included an update on the long-awaited, cinematic thriller title, 12 Minutes.
Since the game's reveal trailer during the 2019 E3 event, the game has grown to include a star-studded voice cast featuring the works of actress Daisy Ridley and actors James McAvoy and Willem Dafoe. The game is currently being developed by Luis Antonio and will be published by Annapurna Interactive.
For those unfamiliar with the project, 12 Minutes is described as a real-time, top-down, interactive thriller about a husband desperately trying to escape a time loop. Hoping to enjoy a romantic evening with his wife after work, his life is suddenly thrown into chaos when a police detective barges in, accuses his wife of murder, and beats the husband to death. However, he soon awakens and finds himself back in his apartment, twelve minutes earlier.
During his ID@Xbox interview, Antonio mentions that the game will function similarly to an old-style point-and-click game, just more polished. While the game itself will not give any direction as to how to move forward, players can expect a wide range of interactable objects within the apartment. Explore the various rooms, the characters, dishes, and furniture and combine them with one another or with other characters to see what happens. It's up to the player alone to find the secret to breaking the loop cycle.
Antonio also mentioned that while the game was being playtested, although he estimated it to last roughly eight hours, they found that the playthrough time was as high as nearly 20 hours. The player can look forward to an extensive amount of story options and unique experiences. Players will need to learn from their past mistakes or be doomed to remain trapped in a never-ending time loop.
As can be seen in similar titles, such as Life is Strange and Detroit: Becoming Human, 12 Minutes is a branching story with multiple different paths to choose from. This concept encourages replayability, as players can go back and discover the various other possible outcomes depending on their choices. Each loop lasts 12 minutes, and every second counts.
Although players may be excited to get their hands on it, 12 Minutes does not have an official launch date as of yet. However, according to the game's official website blog, Antonio and his team are aiming to be able to release the game later on this year. The post describes, in great detail, the game's current status as well as the final tweaks needed to be made in order to ensure a smooth and enjoyable product for players.
12 Minutes is coming soon and will launch on PC, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S,