Twelve Minutes, a new narrative-heavy top-down thriller from publisher Annapurna Interactive, has officially stepped out of its proverbial time loop and announced a hard release date of August 19, 2021 via the E3 Xbox Games Showcase. Director Luis Antonio, who has previously worked with both Ubisoft and Rockstar, is heading the game. Hollywood talent such as James McAvoy, Daisy Ridley, and Willem Dafoe will also be a part of the project. The game is described as having the dream-like tension of The Shining, the claustrophobia of Rear Window, and the fragmented structure of Memento. I don’t know about you, but I’m certainly excited to try and navigate a twisted time-based mystery with that kind of Hollywood star power attached.
In Twelve Minutes, players will be tasked with using a click and drag interface to solve the puzzle behind a hellish 12 minute time loop where the main character goes from a romantic evening with his wife to being beat to death by a detective. You will need to use your knowledge of what’s to come and what has happened in order to escape your untimely demise and figure out what is really going on.
In addition to the E3 release date announcement, Twelve Minutes has also already been selected by the Tribeca Film Festival as one of their eight featured games in the Tribeca Games Spotlight. Perhaps a somewhat unorthodox award for most games, but certainly a strong testament to the storyline and narrative features we will likely be seeing in the final product.
The game will be available via Steam and Xbox later this year and we are more than ready to get caught in a loop (or perhaps break it) figuring out the mystery behind the murder of the main character’s father. You can keep an eye on the official Twitter page for the game as more details emerge.
