Minute

About

Minute is a single player action adventure game. It was developed by Arcadia Studios and was released on September 29, 2023. It received positive reviews from players.

A 3D action platformer where you play as a wind-up toy in a Tinkerer's workshop set in the Victorian Age. As a small wind-up toy, you must rely on your wind-up key to embark on an arduous journey. Defeat enemies and uncover a dark secret within the rooms.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player

Skip User Reviews

89%

Audience ScoreBased on 61 reviews

gameplay8 positive mentions

music3 negative mentions

Charming and well-thought-out steampunk/victorian clockwork aesthetic with a cute, whimsical style and a subtly dark narrative.
Fun and engaging combat mechanics with a simple but refreshing risk-reward system, including good platforming elements and rewarding exploration.
Impressive achievement for a student project: stable gameplay for the most part, good graphics for its scope, and completely free without microtransactions.

Very short gameplay experience, typically lasting around 20 to 40 minutes, leaving players wishing for more content and additional mechanics.
Technical issues including occasional crashes, lag, low FPS, lack of resolution and graphical options, plus audio problems like choppy music and poor voice acting.
Camera problems and occasionally awkward movement; combat can be easy or janky due to mechanics allowing exploits like jump attacking and attack spamming.

gameplay
20 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
40%
45%
15%
The gameplay is generally praised for its smooth movement, engaging and fun combat mechanics with a Souls-like feel, and a variety of interesting mechanics that add challenge and charm. However, the game is short, has some rough edges and technical issues, and could benefit from more polish and additional features to enhance depth and replayability. Fans appreciate the core gameplay over the story, with combat being the main highlight.
- “Combat - fighting mechanics were fun, with a God of War/Souls-like feel to it.”
- “This is a short one-level game with really cool gameplay mechanics that make the fighting feel good and engaging.”
- “The movement is smooth and feels nice, and I like the core mechanic of how your health works.”
- “Trying to be too cinematic can get in the way of actual gameplay.”
- “I wish it was longer with more mechanics, this would make this game so much more fun.”
- “The trampoline mechanic isn't even required and you barely get to play around with it.”
story
18 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
56%
27%
17%
The story in the game is generally simple and short, with some players finding it engaging and emotionally impactful, while others describe it as boring or nonsensical. It tends to serve as a basic framework to support gameplay rather than being deeply immersive or complex, with mixed execution in storytelling methods. Overall, the narrative is adequate for maintaining interest but is not the main highlight of the experience.
- “What a masterpiece, a short but rich story that wraps your heart in a bittersweet blanket.”
- “Love that the story was shown more than told.”
- “The story was engaging.”
- “The story is too short and boring to even enjoy.”
- “The story was pretty nonsensical, but honestly, I preferred the actual gameplay over anything else.”
- “Another issue is with the storytelling, which is advertised to have a 'dark secret,' but the story is not left to the imagination and is readily available; in other words, it's telling you the story rather than showing the player.”
graphics
11 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
36%
37%
27%
The game's graphics are generally praised for their charming and striking steampunk/victorian clockwork aesthetic, adding appeal to the environment. However, some users note the lack of customizable resolution and graphical options, and describe the visuals as decent but not exceptional. Overall, the graphics are considered good enough to complement the gameplay despite minor shortcomings.
- “The graphics in this game are really quite good, which at least makes the game look more appealing.”
- “Visuals - striking steampunk/Victorian clockwork aesthetic that immediately makes me curious about the environment.”
- “This is such a great short game I would recommend giving it a try if you like old school games like Spyro, Rayman, or Ratchet and Clank because it is just as good as those were. Graphics are good, story short but good, and combat can be janky but still great.”
- “The game does miss some of the absolute must haves like customizable resolution, unfortunately, but if you can get it to work, this 3D platformer has decent graphics and gameplay.”
- “No graphical options available, which limits customization.”
- “The game is graphically and visually tiring to play.”
music
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
25%
75%
The music is generally considered okay but somewhat repetitive and lacking soul, with some users noting audio issues like choppiness during audio logs that affect the overall experience.
- “Ok sounds and music.”
- “A little bit soulless and it might be a lack of music I just can't 100% tell why.”
- “Audio issues - every time there's an audio log, the music gets choppy.”
- “The music is okay, but to me at least it got pretty repetitive even for just 20 minutes.”
optimization
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
67%
100%
The game's optimization is currently lacking, with frequent crashes, loading screen hang-ups, and occasional frame rate drops causing frustration among players. Users hope for improvements to ensure a smoother and more stable experience.
- “Quite simple, a little bit frustrating at times due to crashes... sometimes wouldn't even go past the loading screen... from other comments I can guess it might be optimization issues?”
- “Performance - occasional frame rate drops”
- “Quite simple, a little bit frustrating at times due to crashes... sometimes wouldn't even go past the loading screen. From other comments, I can guess it might be optimization issues.”
- “Performance - occasional frame rate drops.”
- “I hope the game will be optimized because I really wanted to play this game fully.”
stability
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game demonstrates strong stability with no notable bugs, especially impressive for a free student project. However, camera positioning issues frequently obstruct the player's view, impacting overall gameplay experience.