Time loops are quite the hot gaming topic in 2021, with PlayStation 5 exclusive titles like Returnal and Deathloop making headlines year-round. Microsoft has its own exclusive time loop game: the interactive thriller 12 Minutes. 12 Minutes follows the mind-bending journey of a man, voiced by James McAvoy, as he tries to break out of the 12-minute loop that he seems perpetually stuck in. It’s up to the player to uncover the mystery surrounding his wife, the violent intruder, and a mysterious pocket watch.
Because 12 Minutes sees the player stuck reliving the same few minutes over and over again, the game can get a little bit tedious, especially when it’s not entirely clear what’s supposed to happen next. After the player learns about the existence of his wife’s secret, ultra-valuable pocket watch in one loop, he states at the beginning of each subsequent loop that he needs to figure out a way to find out where it’s hidden. The only problem is that his wife doesn’t seem willing to tell him about it when he asks her directly and when being interrogated by the intruder, the man passes out right before she reveals its location.
How to Find the Pocket Watch in 12 Minutes
Fortunately, finding and getting the pocket watch is pretty simple and can be grabbed quickly at the start of each loop to progress 12 Minute's story right off the bat. To learn of its existence, run into the closet immediately on the left-hand side of the apartment before the man’s wife leaves the bathroom at the start of a new loop.
After closing the door when inside, the camera angle should shift from the top-down view of the rest of the game to a first-person view looking through the blinds. The man will say, “and now, we wait,” and then time will pass much faster than before. Everything slows down again when the intruder starts knocking on the door.
Stay inside the closet for the rest of the loop no matter what because the wife will tell the intruder that the pocket watch is in the vent underneath the bathroom medicine cabinet. With this information, start a new loop in 12 Minutes and grab a knife or spoon from either the table or the counter and one of the fake candles.
Get inside the bathroom as soon as possible after the wife leaves and close the door. After opening the medicine cabinet, drag the cursor to the bottom of the screen, and the prompt to investigate the hidden “ventilation grid” should appear. Use either the knife or the spoon to pry the gate open and then drag the candle to the open gate to illuminate the area. Tucked away on the right side of the grid should be a circular object: the pocket watch.
From there, the player has plenty of different options in terms of how to proceed, but finding the watch is one of the first major steps in uncovering the mystery of 12 Minutes.
12 Minutes is available now on PC, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and Game Pass.