4.5/5 ★ – BigSliceGaming's review of Tinykin.

WARNING: MAY CONTAIN LIGHT SPOILERS This is a bit different than what I normally write on here. I haven't had much time to write the actual review this time so instead I'm posting my realtime notes that I took while playing the game: Play Session 1 -Animated cutscenes are adorable -It feels like a copy of Pikmin -Cool sense of discovery. Example being finding the letters randomly in Sanctor and then discovering the mailbox -Good communication to the player on where the tinykin can be used without being too handholdy. But might be difficult for players with low vision. -The writing is great. Super punny. Loved the Karen reference to the dad joke with the comedian in that bar in Sanctor -I find the theming very charming and concise so far. I’m really enjoying it. Play Session 2 -Game’s design is very much about discovery over linear design. Something I always liked about older collectathon type games. Go where the collectibles are and see what’s there sort of deal. -The game has no combat and still so far it doesn’t really need it. It’s fun without having traditional challenges. It’s just exploring the area and finding stuff. You’ll come across what you need eventually, but in the meantime, just go where the honey(?) is. Play Session 3 -I love that it’s very clearly communicated when you don’t have the ability to do something. For example the game tells you when you don’t have enough bubbles to reach a certain jump distance. -Once again, the writing consistently gets chuckles out of me. -I’m enjoying the verticality of each of the levels so far. I’ve just completed the Foliana, the mantis race’s area -The draw distance of the pollen makes it really easy to know where to go where I haven’t been yet. Play Session 4 -The bathroom world’s music layers as you progress through the main puzzle, adding a layer of music each time you fix or move a main party prop. I enjoyed this. -I like the added layer of the level design of the bathroom being two rooms join as one level -The Titanic reference made me chuckle. -I still think the pikmin aspects are still fun as the game introduced the blue tinykin and the electricity mechanic, though it’s beginning to feel like the disposable tinykin are just different versions of a key to lock mechanic with a quirky spin to it rather than something unique. I do appreciate the more puzzle aspect of using the blue tinykin though. -Really liking the completion feedback popping when opening the pause menu and seeing the checkmarks for the completed items. 10/4/2022 -Still enjoying the game overall -Soundtrack is still enjoyable -Having trouble at this point finding new things to like about the game. -The Yellow tinykin just feel like another version of “lock and key” design that the rest do. I’m becoming more aware of the lack of player agency with the tinykin. Not that that is necessarily a bad thing, but it does lack a sense of creativity in terms of the player’s relationship with the environment. -The writing continues to entertain me. It just has a consistent sense of goofy charm. 10/5/2022 -Love the self-awareness of the writing. Off hand comment from one of the mantises freaking out about how they’ve never seen anyone’s back and the realization they’re in 2D made me chuckle. -I’m adoring the way the music changes depending on what area you’re in on any given level. The sort of Kirkhopian evolution of orchestration and arrangement to fit the theme of the section. -I found this hidden room behind the casino in the toy room level that seems to allude to some kind of meta story that I’m not making a connection to yet. It was relatively unsettling but intriguing. The music, especially, did a 180 and made the game go from fun and goofy to feeling really dark and mysterious. 10/6/2022 -I started to grow a little impatient and frustrated after getting lost and confused on what to do in the Cerelian Park or whatever the name of the amusement park in the toyroom is. Finally figured it out and finished that level though. -Went back and got all the collectibles which felt nice. -Not really that much more feedback on it from what I did in this play session. -One note I will make is that I think I hit a bug at one point today when doing the Break the Asteroids mini game in the ceiling of the play room. I kept trying to glide across to get to the start of the game thinking I had enough bubbles to glide there but I didn’t. The tutorial bot by the jump tells you how many you need and usually highlights that number in red if you don’t have enough. It didn’t this time and kept trying until realizing I didn’t have enough. 10/7/2022 -Rolled credits. The ending was not what I expected. The story was pretty good. Everything kinda connected in a way that was subtle throughout the entire game and all connected in the end. There really wasn’t much else to this play session, just the ending sequence. There was no challenge in the end. Just a story sequence to wrap up and it was actually quite nice. -Throughout the entire game, there was potential for some kind of combat or conflict, but the game never did it. Honestly, I think it’s all the better for it. This game did not need combat of any kind. It was lovely.