It’s crazy to think that we’ve only had three Pikmin games in the over twenty years it’s been since the first game’s release. And while Tinykin isn’t exactly a new Pikmin like I’m sure many fans were expecting, it’s a phenomenal game in the same vein as Pikmin and N64-era platformers.
Game title
Developer: Splashteam
Price: $24.99
Platform: PC / PS5 / Switch / XSX
MonsterVine was supplied with a PC code for review
Tinykin opens with Milo, a researcher on the planet Aegis in search of humanity’s true origins which leads him to crash landing on Earth. He ends up in an empty home and shrunk to the size of an ant, quickly realizing that the home isn’t empty at all but filled with a society of bugs who worship the former owner of the house. Milo decides to be a friendly neighbor by helping out around the house while recovering parts to fix his ship to return home. It’s a cute little setup, and the fanatically religious sect of bugs, while surprising, was a really interesting nugget to dig into the few times the game did.
To help you on your journey back home are the odd little creatures of the home called tinykin. Similar to pikmin, these little critters are all color coded to do a specific task; the purple tinykin can lift heavy objects and the red ones can explode for example. You’ll find them scattered across the house and use them to complete various platforming or puzzle problems. These are never too complicated either, you can usually immediately guess how a puzzle needs to be completed or pass a platforming section on your first try, and it’s honestly refreshing with how relatively simple Tinykin is.
There’s no combat, and the puzzles/platforming segments are simple. You never have to micromanage your tinykin. If there’s an object that needs to be placed someplace they’ll automatically walk themselves to the destination, freeing you up to keep playing instead of having to babysit them on their journey. This almost carefree attitude to the game’s design allows you to simply drink in the atmosphere and explore to your heart’s content. I don’t really have time to bang my head against a game like I used to, so having a game that lets me kind of vibe through it was very appreciated.
The tinykin themselves are absolutely adorable too, easily on par personality wise with Pikmin as each type has its own sort of temperament. Aided in part by the game’s mix of 2D characters in a 3D environment, the entire affair is a delight to see in motion as literally dozens of tinykin swarm around you as you traverse the house. The house almost feels like a character in the game, as each of the half dozen or so zones just ooze their own personality. The bathroom level isn’t just a standard bathroom for example, as a massive disco party is happening within it; or the toy room has been retrofitted into a massive theme park. Part of the fun of Tinykin is exploring each densely detailed zone, made all the more fun by how good Milo feels to move. His “soapboard” allows him to slide across levels and grind on objects in a really satisfying way. Moving around Tinykin’s worlds reminded me of how much fun it was to do the same in those N64-era platformers.
The only thing I wish Tinykin had more of, was more Tinykin. Besides the main objectives, there’s only a handful of side quests you can do to upgrade Milo’s suit, and a recent update added a series of genuinely challenging time trial races that’ll keep you busy for a time. And it’s also one of the few games to replicate that Crackdown fever of wanting to grab every little orb floating around. While I had a blast in the maybe four hours I spent with the game, it really left me wishing for more.
The Final Word
Bursting with wholesome charm, Tinykin is one of the most delightful games I’ve played in years.
– MonsterVine Rating: 4 out of 5 – Good
