Incremental games are all about numbers going up. They aren’t usually about player skill, and that’s because you can make the numbers go up to compensate for any skill issues you might have. Minutescape is the first incremental game I’ve played where player skill truly matters. Yes, you can still upgrade yourself to get yourself to the end goal eventually, but player skill can mean you reach game completion far quicker and in a much more satisfying way.
Minutescape asks you to survive 5 minutes of bullet hell dodge-em-up action. You are a green box to move around, initially inside a bigger box, to avoid different types of bullets. The bullets appear at time intervals if you survive long enough. Red bullets fly across the screen at the start of each run. Then, green collectables appear outside of the box for you to pull in and collect using a magnet at the 30-second mark. Purple arrows join the fun at the one-minute mark and these chase you, requiring last-minute dodges. At the 2-minute 30-second mark, blue zippy laser type objects start flying across the screen too, before the box starts to move around the screen and squeeze you into place at the 4-minute mark. It’ll take hours of reruns to make it to the end, and this is where the upgrade system comes in.
Each bullet type brings its own currency to upgrade your green box or reduce some of the overarching difficulty of he game. Your box can get more health, regen health, move faster, and unlock some additional skills. These skills, like slow-mo, shrinking, or crucially getting a shield, can be equipped to your mouse buttons, and they have upgradable charges and recharge rates. As for the levels themselves, you can reduce the bullet speed and amount flying around as well as making the box arena you are trapped in bigger too before late in the game breaking out of the box and making it a full screen experience. These upgrades are all tied to different currencies and a fifth currency by reflecting bullets on your shield. More upgrades let you increase how much currency you gain for each bullet you dodge, too.
All of this comes together for a visceral experience. It is so simple but well-balanced and thought out, as the player can survive much longer by playing well. I didn’t need to upgrade everything to reach the endgame. I bet better gamers could have finished a good half-hour to an hour quicker than me. It is everything I like about very simplistic arcade score attack dodge-em-ups, but with an addictive upgrade tree to give you progress and more things to see. The CRT filter can be turned off if that annoys you. There is an optional time machine upgrade that lets you speed up the early game for each run so your time isn’t wasted. It is a great quality-of-life feature. For what Minutescape offers, I really have no critiques or notes.
Minimalistic, fast-paced, and straight to the point – Minutescape is probably my favourite incremental game to date. Player skill matters. You feel like you are making a difference even if your green box couldn’t survive the whole run just yet. This is exactly what I felt was missing in other incremental games, and Minutescape confirms it. Getting into a flow state to shrink and dodge last-second attacks or using a well-timed shield to block and convert bullets to currency doesn’t get old. I found myself in a panicked flow state trying to survive, and that’s much more fun than a hands-off incremental game. If you are looking for something cheap, cheerful, and arcadey – consider Minutescape for 4-5 hours of tight dodge-em-up action.
Review copy provided by the developer. Minutescape releases on 15th April 2025 on Steam.
Higher Plain Games is part of the Higher Plain Network. If you like what I do, please consider supporting me via Patreon for as little as $1/£1 a month. There are additional perks for supporting me, such as behind-the-scenes content and downloads. You can also share the website or use the affiliate buy now links on reviews. Buying credit from CD Keys using my affiliate link means I get a couple of pence per sale. All your support will enable me to produce better content, more often. Thank you.
