Can you finish Baldur's Gate 3 in 10 minutes?

Baldur's Gate 3 reportedly has 17,000 endings if you believe the developers and this game's community. That said, less than 500 gamers have been able to reach a conclusion in this title's opening week. It's pretty natural, as an entire campaign can take a substantial amount of time to complete. However, some players have reported that there's a way to get an ending at the very beginning of the game.

While this conclusion — which can be achieved in 10 minutes — might not be the one you're looking for, it does force you to return to the main screen or go back to an earlier save. Whether this ending has been put deliberately into the game is a mystery.

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Exploring Baldur's Gate 3's 10-minute ending

No matter which ending you get for in Baldur's Gate 3, the adventure always begins in the same fashion. You have been captured by a Mind Flayer who has taken you onboard his Nautiloid Ship.

As you progress through the prologue, you end up crashing the vessel into an island. This title's early tasks involve you escaping the ship by finding a suitable path; you can also add Astarion and Shadowheart to your traveling party at this point in the game.

You'll encounter a dying Mind Flayer as you're about to head out of the crashed vessel. Interacting with them will result in different dialogue options popping up, and one of them allows this entity to manipulate your mind.

It will attempt to take over your body to save itself. If you choose to opt for this option, there'll be an intelligence check. If you're successful in it, the narrator says:

"Warm, wet tentacles wrap themselves around your head, and for the first time in your life, you're perfectly happy."

At this stage, the Mind Flayer has entirely consumed your character's mind. Your teammates will be alive at this point, but that no longer matters. An in-game message will pop up, stating that the current game is over (although the credits aren't shown).

You have two options from this point: start a new save in Baldur's Gate 3 — which again restarts the prologue — or reload an earlier save point to restore your progress. If your manual save isn't updated, you could try to use one of the automatic saves.

While this one is technically an ending in Baldur's Gate 3, only some people will consider it good. Hence, it's best not to let the Mind Flayer consume your mind if you want your save to last longer. Moreover, this is unlikely a proper conclusion to this game.