Ground-breaking Groundhog Day-style Thriller ‘Twelve Minutes’ Set for August 2021 Release

Narrative-driven gamers rejoice! James McAvoy stars in Annapurna’s upcoming release, Twelve Minutes, promising a mixture of suspense akin to Stephen King’s The Shining, mixed with a mind-melting Memento-style storyline.

Sign me all the way up!

The basis of the brain-bending plot sees you taking the role of a husband whose wife is accused of murder by a detective who then proceeds to beat you to death – just your classic Friday night, then.

Where the story really kicks in, however, is in the immediate aftermath that sees you return to twelve minutes earlier: a nod to the game’s title. Forced to relive the traumatic 720 seconds on a loop again and again (and again), you have to work out how to use your repetitive experiences to break the cycle and get to the bottom of this broken timeline.

Boasting a claustrophobic top-down viewpoint, this third-person romp takes a lot of classic point-and-click gameplay mechanics into its oeuvre, offering what looks to be a whole host of possible solutions and playthrough options. Your actions dynamically affect the other characters and your potential outcomes, so expect a lot of trial and error as you look to avoid the endless circle of expiration.

Original announced in 2019’s E3, the game looks to have come a long way since its initial showcase. With its star-strewn cast of McAvoy, Daisy Ridley and Willem Dafoe, the game’s narrative should deliver on an emotional pay-off – there’ll be no Jill sandwiches here, and that can only look to add to the overall heft of the game’s emotional weight.

Annapurna are renowned for their brilliant storytelling – think What Remains of Edith Finch and Outer Wilds (both on Game Pass get it here)– so Twelve Minutes will likely be no exception (which makes me very excited indeed!). In amongst E3’s FPS-heavy announcements, this is certainly a breath of fresh air.

You can add it to your Steam wishlist right now, but let us know if you’re excited for this unusual title’s release down below before you go.

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