The Minima Review (Xbox Series X|S & PlayStation 5)

The Minima illuminates the beauty in a child’s eyes—the way in which innocence perceives the world as a colorful dreamscape with creative possibilities that go beyond our wildest imagination. From behind the veil of an adult, it’s fodder for the ordinary—familiarity in motion, even. But for a child, it’s freedom of choice—a sandbox that has more layers, more colors, and more opportunities than your most vulnerable fever dream. And that’s something that The Minima does and does well: it mimics the spirited nature of a young child, if not with dialogue, then with powerful visual effects that reflect the universe in a much, much lighter form. It might not get everything right, but it certainly leans on all of the right bubbles of an imaginative concept that has the capacity to keep you waxing your inquisitive eyes at night. Maybe it doesn’t need to do anything more than that to pique your curiosity.

I suppose, to some extent, The Minima takes me back to the likes of What Remains of Edith Finch. Or, to be more specific, the chapter in which you fill the shoes (or lack thereof) of a young child and interact with the world in a seemingly impossible but brilliantly creative manner. Similar in nature, The Minima puts you in a pair of shoes that’s somewhat familiar, but not to the point where you know who you’re playing, or even what you’re doing. But that’s sort of what makes The Minima all the more compelling: the fact that it’s absurdly nonsensical yet oh-so-intriguing. Is there a point to any of it? Who cares — the world is a plaything and it’s yours to interpret.

For the most part, The Minima is about viewing the world—the minor details and the bigger picture—from the perspective of a child who’s lost in the land of make-believe. From the foot of a vibrant bedroom that crams all sorts of creative embellishments into its picture-perfect world, it falls to you to interact with and, more importantly, explore a dream-like biome through the power of sound, light, and imagination. And if you think this sounds a little too easy, well, that’s because it is. Alas, you don’t fill the shoes of a seasoned warrior on a quest to replenish blood thirst and vengeance; you take control of Ian, an eleven-year-old “dreamer” who prefers to view the world a little differently than most. And you, being at the heart of it all, have the privilege of watching a dream take shape.

To put it out there, if you are looking for a gameplay-heavy experience that wrangles multiple styles, mini-games and challenges, then you ought to consider moving elsewhere to satisfy your needs. As it turns out, The Minima is lot less complex. It’s less complex, in that it primarily involves interacting with a world and experimenting with various set pieces around the room—a telescope, a jigsaw puzzle, or cartridges for an old television set, for example. It’s about yanking on one string, and then seeing how light and sound reflect its motion, its purpose and its effects. Frankly, there isn’t a lot that you need to know to connect these dots and bridge the narrative, as it’s more or less the case of toying with the environment and seeing how certain things change with each fleeting moment. It’s simple, serene, and yet also a lot of fun to experiment with.

While The Minima is a short game with only a handful of tasks to complete, the journey itself does make a good attempt to flesh out a lot of details, including its vibrant locale and its joyful atmosphere, its childish wisps and harmonic audio style. It might not offer a lot of gameplay, much less a weighty plot to counter its lack of twist and turns, but for what it does bring to the table—a glimpse behind the lens of a young and creatively adept individual—it certainly makes for a genuinely interesting interactive tale with a lot to unravel and poke at.

Of course, I wouldn’t say no to a little more meat on the bones, so to speak. I’d like another handful of locations to explore, and I’d like for there to be a reason to step back into Ian’s shoes and interact with new facets in a different world. But that isn’t what you can expect here. Instead, it’s a one-and-done ordeal that pours all of its heart and soul into the single experience and leaves it at that. Still, I can’t complain. The Minima is, for what it’s worth, an interactive tale that has a lot to say, even without the mouthpiece of a battalion.

Verdict

The Minima is as equally sweet as it is imaginative, with thanks to its child-like perspective and visionary dreamscapes that flesh out what should be an regular world a marvelous cinematic adventure with vast interactive and creative possibilities to explore. It might be a relatively small game with bite-sized facets, but where it lacks in mechanical complexity, it makes up for in adolescent world-weaving techniques and audiovisual cinematography. And that’s all that I’m taking away from this: the fact that it isn’t a brilliant game, but a joyful take on childhood and a youngster with the power to see between the blacks and grays of modern life. It won’t appeal to everyone in the room I’ll admit. But, to a select few, it ought to feel like a lovingly crafted piece of art with great interactive elements and palpable depth. You can’t put a price on that. Or can you?

Given that The Minima fills a hole in an area that doesn’t receive a lot of attention (Among the Sleep, perhaps), I’d say that it’s worth slipping into, if only for the audiovisual aspect and graceful storytelling elements that touch on uncharted perspectives. It might not scratch a major itch, but for the few simple pleasures that it does bring to the table, I’d say that it warrants a slither of your attention.