Tinykin Review
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This is Tinykin, the latest indie game published by tinyBuild, a company dedicated to helping smaller devs with games like Hello Neighbor and Graveyard keeper. Tinykin is nothing like those by the way. Tinykin is a platforming puzzle game that looks fun, but is it worth the time and money needed to enjoy? The game looks really cute, but is it ok for the kids to watch? Do you need to wait until bedtime to play it? These are just a few of the questions I’m going to answer for you today, so grab a drink, relax, and enjoy the video.
You play as Milodane, an archeologist and researcher in the most prestigious university in his world, Aegis. After extensive studies he is positive that humans do not originate from Aegis and sets out to find his true origins. After a long trip he believes he may have found the planet he was looking for. Upon arrival Milo finds himself in a house trapped in the 90s, and he is as small as an ant.
Milo is quickly greeted by a local, Ridmi, a wise moth with a plan. Shortly into the meeting Milo finds a pink tinykin that is immediately attracted to him. After a quick intro it’s evident that the tinykin is strong, capable of lifting many times its own weight. With the help of a few of those tinykin, Ridmi’s plans can finally start to come together.
The game consists of various levels, or rooms rather, that Milo will have to explore, helping residents and solving puzzles with the assistance of the various tinykin strewn about. Though tinykin don’t travel with you from room to room, there are plenty of them to accomplish everything in the room with a lot left over.
Every room will have a main puzzle to complete, that usually expands the entire room, and a few side puzzles rewarding artifacts after completion. Artifacts are needed to complete the museum at Milo’s main hub. Not necessary to beat the game, but they expand on the story after examination.
Tinykin aren’t the only thing Milo has to aid him in his adventures. Shortly into the game he is gifted with a soap-board. A literal bar of soap he can use to “skate” everywhere, much faster than running. He also has a bubble-pack he can use to glide for a short period of time to reach the tough nooks and crannies. The bubble time can be extended after collecting enough pollen in each room and turning it into Sikaru, the local nectar brewer, he will give you another bubble for longer flight times.
As far as puzzle games go it felt like Tinykin didn’t go overboard in making them difficult, which was nice, I liked the sense of accomplishment without the headache of endless searching for solutions. Some puzzles took a little longer to finish, but I was never stuck, my kids even enjoyed helping me find objectives and collectibles along the way.
The playtime for me was about six hours, and I completed the museum and got all my bubbles. There were still plenty of achievements I missed though, so if you’re a completionist your work will be cut out for you. Every inch of every room must be explored, so if that’s the sort of thing you’re into, you will love finding everything.
I’ve never played a game quite like Tinykin. It was fun playing a tiny person exploring a giant house full of bugs and puzzles, but the re-playability of Tinykin isn’t terribly high. After some thought I’m going to have to throw Tinykin onto my midshelf.