What would you do if you had a minute standing between you and the death of everything you love? That's a tough question to answer, and one that's perfect for a video game.

60 Seconds!, puts you in the shoes of a father facing the same question - but whether the big concept works as a game isn't quite as clear as one might hope.

It's really two games in one

Survival games are a lot of fun, but many of them give you all the time in the world to gather the things you need actually to survive. In a real-life scenario, you'd probably have moments at best - and that's where this game shines.

You get sixty seconds to gather everything you need, including your family.

You get sixty seconds to gather everything you need, including your family, and to get into your survival bunker. From there you, have to do your best to survive as long as possible.

60 Seconds is really two games in one - a frantic gathering game and a longer, more sedate survival sim. The two halves of the game work incredibly well together to make a tough survival game that is far different from what you generally see in the genre.

While the second half of the game isn't quite as exciting as the first, it's still a cool meshing of concepts.

Fun graphics and neutral sounds

The graphical style of the game is fun and cartoony, which works reasonably well for what the game wants to be. The game probably could go hyper-realistic and still be effective, but the animated style helps to make the dark subject matter a little more palatable.

Nothing here is incredibly beautiful or moving, of course, but neither does the look of the game get in the way of the stories that it tries to tell.

The audio is pretty much the same. It does a serviceable job of supporting the game, but that's all it does. When you're looking at this type of game, all you need is some music that doesn't get in the way. Luckily, this game delivers on that front. The sound effects also do their job admirably, but you may as well play this one with the sound off.

Frantic to strategic gameplay

The two halves of this game have two different types of gameplay, and they honestly couldn't be more different. The first part of the game gives you a minute to gather supplies, and it's about as manic as one might expect.

The controls could be a little tighter (especially on mobile), but most players will get the hang of things fairly quickly. It can be a little frustrating to get through this bit, but it can also be a lot of fun.

The second half of the game is more about making use of your supplies and making executive decisions. It's a lot slower and requires some long-term thinking, but it's a lot of fun for people who like management sims.

The only unfortunate part is that it feels like the two halves of the game attract different types of players.

Keep coming back for more

60 Seconds! is a game that's probably better in concept than in execution, but that doesn't mean it is fun. It definitely seems like this game could be iterated on a few more times to make something truly great, but even this first version is worth your time.

If you want to try out a survival sim that starts from a place of pure panic, this game is for you.