Twelve Minutes is a point-and-click thriller in which you end up in a time loop, over and over again, until you figure out the full extent of the story and what it is that you’ll have to do to break out of the cycle.

Ever since seeing the trailer back in 2019, the project has intrigued me, both in concept as well as graphical style, as the top-down camera is immediately noticeable and not something you see that often in games with a narrative focus.

Much like with a movie trailer, it crossed a thin line of already spoiling too much, and I’d like to avoid doing the same here, so consider this a warning if you want to go in fresh: while I’ll keep it light on spoilers, it’s best to skip past the story section.

The story

You play as an unnamed husband, voiced by James McAvoy, who comes home from a day at the office and seems to spend what looks like a normal, quiet night with his wife. There is some small talk, a nice dessert and if you play your cards right, some romantic dancing.

But suddenly a cop knocks on the door. Whether or not you choose to let him in, he’ll eventually get in and will start yelling about a murder, supposedly committed by your wife, and a lost pocket watch that seems to be worth a lot of money.

You can try to resist, but no matter your attempts, he’ll knock you unconscious or even strangle you, which triggers a time loop and starts the last ten to twelve minutes over again. It’s up to you to find out more about the murder, the history behind the pocket watch, and what it will take to break out of the loop.

Each run will inevitably end in failure, but if you play your cards right, you’ll get access to new information which will hopefully result in more success in your next attempt.

I’m not getting too deep into spoiler territory here, but let’s just say that you won’t see some of the twists coming, mostly because they aren’t afraid to raise some topics that most people could find unsettling.

Star-filled cast

If you have a story-heavy game with voice acting, it certainly helps sell the game if you can flaunt a cast full of celebrities. And that’s exactly what Twelve minutes does with its main three characters.

Daisy Ridley, perhaps best known for her recent role as Rey in the new Star Wars trilogy, plays your wife, who’s suspected of killing her own father, though her motives are unknown at first.

James McAvoy is an actor I’ve first been impressed with when he took on the role of young Charles Xavier in the X-Men reboot. He plays the husband and will be the only character you control throughout the game.

Willem Dafoe, known for his gravelly voice and recognizable face, plays the cop and another role, but even telling you about that would ruin the final plot twist of the game somewhat.