With pixelated charm, emotional storytelling, and a deck full of memories, Italian indie studio PurpleTurtle has officially launched the Kickstarter campaign for Five More Minutes, a roguelite deckbuilder that captures the heart of growing up with video games during the 90s and early 2000s.
More than just a retro-inspired game, Five More Minutes is a deeply personal journey through the lens of childhood escapism, where players explore procedurally generated worlds inspired by the iconic genres and characters that defined a generation of gamers.
“We wanted to create a game we would love to lose ourselves in,” said Matej Dornik, co-creator of the game alongside Claudio Zeni. “The story is in many ways our story — the journey of a kid growing up with video games as a means of escapism.”
A Studio Born from Nostalgia
PurpleTurtle was founded by Dornik and Zeni, two longtime friends united by a shared love for retro gaming. What started as late-night game jam ideas eventually turned into a full-fledged indie studio based in Gorizia, Italy.
The team’s name, PurpleTurtle, is a playful nod to quirky game mascots of the 90s, and their creative approach reflects that same spirit.
Development on Five More Minutes began in early 2023 using the Unity engine, with a small but passionate team dedicated to crafting a blend of emotional narrative and gameplay innovation. The result is a title that feels both familiar and fresh, like blowing into a cartridge, but finding something new inside.
Gameplay: Cards, Controllers, and Coming-of-Age Chaos
At its core, Five More Minutes is a roguelite deckbuilder where each run plunges players into a procedurally generated video game world based on different genres. From horror and RPGs to colorful platformers, every biome draws inspiration from specific gaming eras and tropes.
Players choose from three main archetypes:
- The Hero – a power-scaling RPG protagonist
- The Cop – a gritty survivor with horror-style resource management
- The Mascot – an agile, movement-focused platformer character
Each archetype has its own unique playstyle and card pool. Over time, players can combine elements across characters to create hybrid decks with deeper synergies and strategic flexibility.
The combat system is built around a four-button resource mechanic, mirroring classic controller inputs: attack, special attack, defense, and utility. Every card is mapped to one of these buttons, adding a tactile rhythm to deckbuilding and decision-making.
“We wanted gameplay to feel like flipping through your old collection of game cartridges — each one offering a different kind of fun, but together, part of the same childhood story,” said Zeni.
A World Both Familiar and Unsettling
Guiding the player through their adventure is a mysterious character with a joystick-shaped head, who appears throughout the game in various disguises.
This character — known only as The Demon — embodies the darker side of gaming: obsession, escapism, and addiction. Eventually, players must confront The Demon in an emotional final showdown that challenges more than just their card skills.
Art, Sound, and Storytelling
Visually, Five More Minutes draws from the aesthetics of SNES, early PlayStation, and handheld consoles, blending pixel art with hand-drawn animations. Its environments are littered with Easter eggs, from CRT TVs to boot-up screens and corrupted save files.
The soundtrack, composed in-house, captures the spirit of the era with chiptunes, lo-fi synths, and haunting ambient tracks. Each world is designed to evoke the emotional tone of the games it references, shifting between playful nostalgia and introspective melancholy.
More Than a Game — A Time Capsule
Beyond mechanics and genre references, Five More Minutes tells a deeper story, one that explores how games shaped an entire generation.
It’s about the kid who stayed up late for “just five more minutes,” the teen who escaped into virtual worlds when the real one felt too heavy, and the adult who still carries those memories like treasures in a dusty save folder.
“The game is about love and addiction, play and pressure,” Dornik explains. “It’s a reminder of how games helped us cope, connect, and create — even when we didn’t realize it.”
Kickstarter Campaign Now Live
The Five More Minutes Kickstarter campaign is seeking €10,000 in funding to support continued development, with a PC launch planned for 2026 and console versions to follow.
Early backers can unlock exclusive rewards, including a Steam key, digital soundtrack, behind-the-scenes content, and worldwide shipping of limited-edition merch. Below is the announcement trailer.
