TEST Tinykin: a Pikmin in the 90’s full of humor

Splashteamco-founded by Marie Marquet and Romain Claude (Rayman Origins and Legends), had already stood out in 2017 with Splasher, a very colorful and well-made platform game. The French independent studio is back five years later with Tinykin, a very different title, but still as charming. The game was added to Game Pass as soon as it was released, and inevitably, we looked into it.

Tinykin is gorgeous.

Tinykin is this time an exploration, platform and puzzle game in a 3D world, but with 2D characters. The title depicts Milonative to the planet Aegis, who has just developed a machine to discover the origin world of humans. The experiment works, bringing it into a house from the 90s, invaded by humanoid insects (very cute, phew!) and above all by tinykinsmall colorful balls with amazing abilities. The discovery is crazy, but the combination of Milo is damaged, so he will have to help Ridmia scientist, to create a machine to return home, by finding six objects hidden in the house.

First observation, Tinykin is gorgeous. The graphic style is original and sticks perfectly to the game, with 3D environments and 2D characters, always facing the camera. The animations are ultra smooth and cute, and above all, the decorations are full of fun details. The feeling of living in a real 90s house is palpable, sometimes reminding us Toy Story 2: Buzz Lightyear to the Rescue! on PlayStation, but with a ton of little more or less hidden references. Tinykin makes the zygomatics work throughout the adventure, whether with the ingenuity of the sets, but also with its many colorful characters, decked out with funny names and dropping lines that always hit the mark (with various references, whether mythological, political or from the pop culture). If it is only necessary to speak to two or three NPCs per level, it is better to take your time to listen to everyone at least once, it’s a real treat. Especially since the scenario is built over the discussions, for an ultimately very believable universe and a touching ending. On the music side, we have nice and dynamic themes, specific to each level, it’s varied, but very discreet. This avoids at least going crazy by staying long minutes in a single setting.

Once the exploration is over come the puzzles. The goal of Tinykin is to collect items to complete the ship of Ridmitherefore heading to the different rooms of the house, with a varied atmosphere (kitchen, living room, laboratory, etc.), allowing each time to unlock a new type of tinykinat the heart of gameplay.

The gameplay is perfectly well thought out, no situation is frustrating.

These little creatures hidden in the levels are to be found to move objects, explode some of them, rise in height, create electric currents and build bridgesin order to advance in the level and solve puzzles based on the exploration and the platform, provided you have found enough tinykin to trigger the action. Milo is not very mobile, only able to jump, glide over short distances thanks to a bubble (distance which increases by unlocking new bubbles, necessary for certain secondary puzzles), and to surf on a soap to go faster. The game responds to the finger and the eye, and the use of tinykin is super intuitive. One touch is enough, the game takes care of using the right type of tinykin depending on the situation or the target location, and when objects need to be moved, it’s automatic, which greatly facilitates the puzzles. Besides, Tinykin is not complicated, it is possible to die from a fall (or electrocution), but the game simply takes us back to just before the incident, and as the gameplay is perfectly well thought out, no situation is frustrating or tense. Even players allergic to the platform can find their account there.

In addition to finding the objects needed to “go home”, Milo can also help the various insects by solving secondary puzzles, but which become just as exciting as the main quest thanks to the quality of writing. We said it, the NPCs and dialogues are tasty, and the player wants to explore everything, so it’s time to search every corner of the house and help its new inhabitants, while collecting pollen, to unlock new bubbles. But even there, the adventure quickly comes to an end, it is possible to complete Tinykin in four short hours, but allow two to three hours more to explore every corner of all the levels, complete all the side missions and collect all the pollen.

nintendo don’t want to release Pikmin 4? whatever, Splashteam offers us Tinykin and it’s exactly what indie game enthusiasts wanted, and more. A colorful, cute and fun platform and puzzle game, easy to learn and complete at the same time, full of references and to be devoured without moderation. Finally, the only really negative point remains its lifespan, but when it’s so good, it’s hard to hide your pleasure.

Tinykin is available on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch and in the Game Pass, you can find it at €18.98 on Gamesplanet.

Clint008 Writer – Tester