Tinykin has to be one of the best surprises for me this year; I finally decided to give it a go when prompted by a friend, and once I was a level in, I couldn't put it down.
You play as a lil guy who's found himself in the vestiges of an abandoned house teeming with intelligent bug life, and have to traverse the rooms solving everyone's problems while searching for parts to escape. The game was marketed to me as a 3D platformer with Pikmin influences, and it turned out to be even better than that. It's a very chill time, because there's no timer or lives system to put pressure on the player, and unlike the Pikmin games, you don't even have to micromanage your Tinykin via specific pathing or keeping a close eye on them to make sure they don't die; they'll just stick with you, and the targeting system automatically picks the Tinykin you need for each situation. The movement is pretty simple for a 3D platformer, but the controls are very tight and it honestly feels really exhilarating sliding around and scaling all the rooms; there are plenty of back-up ropes and silk lines to slide across to make backtracking much easier, and you can even grind along edges if you feel like optimizing your movement or just want to have a good time.
The only complaint here is that trying to get all the pollen in each room can be a bit annoying when it's very difficult to tell what pollen you've missed out on, and I do wish that there was a radar or some other kind of tracking mechanic to better figure out the locations of any pollen not already collected. Nevertheless, I was thoroughly engaged for a solid six and a half hours and I'm glad I took the time to check this out on Game Pass; I'm always down for a solid 3D platformer with Chibi-Robo vibes, for Tinykin more than delivered with no excess fat to be found.
You play as a lil guy who's found himself in the vestiges of an abandoned house teeming with intelligent bug life, and have to traverse the rooms solving everyone's problems while searching for parts to escape. The game was marketed to me as a 3D platformer with Pikmin influences, and it turned out to be even better than that. It's a very chill time, because there's no timer or lives system to put pressure on the player, and unlike the Pikmin games, you don't even have to micromanage your Tinykin via specific pathing or keeping a close eye on them to make sure they don't die; they'll just stick with you, and the targeting system automatically picks the Tinykin you need for each situation. The movement is pretty simple for a 3D platformer, but the controls are very tight and it honestly feels really exhilarating sliding around and scaling all the rooms; there are plenty of back-up ropes and silk lines to slide across to make backtracking much easier, and you can even grind along edges if you feel like optimizing your movement or just want to have a good time.
The only complaint here is that trying to get all the pollen in each room can be a bit annoying when it's very difficult to tell what pollen you've missed out on, and I do wish that there was a radar or some other kind of tracking mechanic to better figure out the locations of any pollen not already collected. Nevertheless, I was thoroughly engaged for a solid six and a half hours and I'm glad I took the time to check this out on Game Pass; I'm always down for a solid 3D platformer with Chibi-Robo vibes, for Tinykin more than delivered with no excess fat to be found.
4 Comments
Dunno if it's my GOTY yet but it's definitely up there!
I can't but help address one crucial thing people seem to forget about the game. Yeah, it's fun, but there's absolutely no challenge in completing the game. There's nothing at stake and that's when the game becomes mindless. I can't count the number of times I've caught myself barely being awake while playing Tinykin.
You mention Pikmin and Chibi-Robo as most other reviews do, both of which do not suffer from this because they are strategy and time-based.
Mindless = sleeper game
You mention Pikmin and Chibi-Robo as most other reviews do, both of which do not suffer from this because they are strategy and time-based.
Mindless = sleeper game
I think that's a fair point, in that the game lacks any true fail states despite it being possible to "die" or lacking any time limits like Pikmin or Chibi Robo. I personally didn't find this taking away too much from my engagement, since most of my time was spent throwing Tinykin or jumping/hovering/skating around, but I can definitely see this playing as a giant pitfall if you have to meander about aimlessly trying to get the remaining collectibles. Thanks for the comment!
thealexmott
1 year ago