Every month, the Epic Games Store gives its users something free to add to their collection. Sometimes it’s a AAA first-person shooter and other times it’s an indie puzzle platformer. Either way, if you own a PC, the Epic Games Store is a platform you should visit frequently for free games on the regular. Sure, they may not have the most streamlined experienced like Steam does, but they’re getting there.
For the month of October, visitors will be able to download Minit for no charge. If you like retro games with black and white colors, you’re going to love this game by Jan Willem Nijman. It checks off all of the right boxes for that retro gaming vibe that’s fun to experience every so often.
There are several things unique about Minit. Let’s start off with the gameplay. You have sixty seconds to complete various tasks, and once that time expires, you die. The cycle repeats itself over and over until you’re able to progress far enough into the game to find a solution. It’s like the movie Groundhog Day, only instead of Bill Murray, you’re a cute animal-like creature.
The character almost looks like those figures that appeared back in the 90s for the Tamagotchi devices, which were big around that time. There are a lot of puzzles to solve, foes to defeat, and mysteries to be understood. The difficulty comes into play with the 60-second lifespan. That’s not a lot of time to accomplish goals in this game. You’ll have to think quick and learn from your deaths. At first, it can be a little frustrating. This is particularly true if you don’t have a lot of experience with these retro action-adventure games.
Still, if you keep at it, you’ll eventually find what you need and have a lot of success. When you do, it’s pretty gratifying. The game has a simple nature about it — especially regarding its graphics. That’s a huge part of this game’s appeal, though. You’re brought in by its unique nature. The black and white colors do enough to give Minit a distinct personality that is hardly replicated in this space.
Even if you don’t finish the game, it’s worth messing around with. Minutes will fly right by and you’ll want to see what can be done about this vicious time cycle. Epic Games certainly is doing a solid for PC gamers with this one.
