Tinykin is, in my humble opinion, a perfect little treat.
When considering how I would write about Tinykin, I thought about writing a fully-fledged review. However, the game is relatively short, so writing too many words about it could potentially spoil the experience. Therefore, this bad boy is as spoiler free as possible while also begging you to consider giving it a go.
So let’s consider this a mini-review. A micro-review of sorts. A tiny review, even. Heh.
Tinykin is a 3D platformer and certified little guy game developed by Splashteam. In the game, you play as archaeologist and researcher Milodane, who ventures away from his home planet and finds himself in a 90’s household. The thing is, he’s just a little guy surrounded by funny bugs. And then there’s the Tinykin themselves.
As Milodane, your purpose is to venture through the house’s different rooms, using the Tinykin you collect in each room to complete tasks. You must do this as Milodane needs to help a sweet little moth, Ridmi, create a contraption using regular-sized everyday objects like goggles to get him home. The tasks at hand are incredibly silly, and a lot of fun (like taking a disc to a CD player to play music to hyper-religious bugs) and every one of them requires the acquisition of many, many Tinykin.
With each Tinykin you discover, a lovingly-crafted animation plays that simply explains the purpose of that Tinykin, which I found endeared me to them more than I already was. Every Tinykin has a purpose, from the strong pink Tinykin to carry stuff around to the green ladder Tinykin that help you get up to high places. They’re very cute (which I love), but don’t get too attached to the explosion ones. You collect a lot of them, but once they’re exploded, they’re gone.
Through the game, you meet all sorts of bugs, from shield bugs to mantises to humble ants, who have taken over areas of the house. While as regular humans, we see these rooms and understand their purposes as kitchens, bathrooms, and so on, the size you are and the additions of little matchbox beds and tiny objects turned into structures transform them into their own special worlds. It rocks.
The bugs themselves are also great characters in their own right. I went around talking to every single bug, even ones that didn’t have little side quests for me, just because they always had something silly to say. The story goes absolutely everywhere, too, from the base of these bugs, considering the inventor that used to own the house was considered a deity, to the class divide between the bugs that dwell within the house. It’s wild, and I love it.
If you’re a Pikmin fan, you will love this game. If you’re a Paper Mario fan, you will love this game. If you’re a fan of collect-em-ups, you will love this game. But most of all, if you’re a fan of games with a great sense of humour and a clean convergence of art styles, you will love this game.
Tinykin, as I’ve mentioned in my demo playthrough, is an indie dev’s take on the concepts introduced in Nintendo games like Paper Mario and Pikmin. Both concepts are executed in the game so freakin’ smoothly that it makes me excited for what indie developers can do with the unique gameplay concepts that Nintendo created. It’s not a carbon copy, but an entirely unique and creative take on existing concepts. Big love.
Like I said before, it’s not a super long game. I finished it in about 6-7 hours. That said, I stand by my statement that it’s a perfect little treat. If you’re looking for a well-executed ode to some of Nintendo’s more niche offerings filled to the brim with personality that doesn’t overstay its welcome, I can’t recommend Tinykin enough.
Tinykin will be released on PC, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, and Nintendo Switch on August 31st (that’s tomorrow!), and you can try the demo out now on Steam. For you Xbox folks, it’ll be released on Game Pass on day one too, which gives you all the more reason to give it a go.
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