The game uses the trope with intention, framing it as if it’s a story you’re being told, the keyboard clicks shifting the narrative like the rustling of a book’s pages.
Mo explores these places through light 2D platforming studded by simple movement puzzles — placing objects to obscure a path, turning wheels to unlock a gate.
Throughout her journey, Mo collects memories of these places, of the time before the fungus took over the world.
Through the game’s narration, the player gets a peek into Mo’s internal dialogue — and as the game goes on, we see the effects of her “destiny,†being the only one who can save the islands.The darkness of Minute of Islands is punctuated by its light and airy art style; it’s a colorful, cartoon world that, from afar, looks like a place I’d love to live in.You can complete the game without collecting these, but they’re essential in creating the light to Mo’s darkness, and it’s these memories that ultimately become her lifeline over the six-or-so hours it takes to complete the game.
In her constant rush to save the island, she can spend only a minute this day, taking in her surroundings with her grandmother.
This is the aspect of the hero’s journey that Minute of Islands pushes back against.
Is she really the only person who can save this world, and does she need to.