At the Media Indie Exchange showcase, we got a brand-new look at the upcoming indie platformer Tinykin. Mixing 3D environments with paper-thin (literally) character models and collecting and throwing small creatures that have overtaken your former home planet? Sounds like a few little Nintendo titles might've had a hand in inspiring Splashteam's game. It'll be right at home on the Switch, then!
Tinykin wears its heart on its minuscule sleeves, with Paper Mario-like visuals, and Pikmin-like pet throwing. The game sees Milo, a young boy from another planet, land on Earth. There, he has to team up with some tiny creatures called 'tinykin' to create paths and explore planet Earth. Yes, "our Earth", except Milo is tiny, and the planet has been stuck in the '90s for over 200 years! So we can expect giant Tamagotchi and Game Boys everywhere then, yeah?
There are different colours of tinykin, and each colour specialises in something different. For example, pink tinykin are the strongest - shh, don't tell the Purple Pikmin - so they're able to push or carry large objects.
Here's what you can expect to find when you start exploring Earth as a miniature person::
- Explore cities of ants, beetles and other insects built inside of a giant house
- Meet characters everywhere you go and learn their stories and history
- Catch over a hundred tinykin in each city, and use their special abilities to climb higher, break down doors and solve the city's problems!
- Skateboard around on Milo's tiny soap-board! Jump, grind and hover around the house
- Collect upgrades to improve Milo's bubble-pack, build out the Ardwin Museum and complete Ridmi's mysterious machine!"
There's currently a demo available to download on Steam, so if you can't wait for Pikmin 4, then this should scratch that itch.
You won't have to wait too long, as Tinykin is coming to Switch this summer. Why not check out the game's official site for even more details, or marvel at how weirdly cute those little alien creatures are below:
Let us know what you think of Tinykin in the comments!
[source twitch.tv]
Comments 11
Well I can’t speak to this game, but I do love a good adventure about being miniature..
Looks interesting. I don't play a lot of indies, but I might keep an eye on this one. What ever happened to that other game where you're tiny? I think it was also a 3D platformer. I remember Jon Cartwright talking positively about it. I want to say it was maybe Chibi-Robo inspired, and you're in a backyard. I'm not talking about that Xbox-exclusive game with a similar concept--this one was headed to Switch. Can someone help me out here?
I've been anticipating this one for quite some time. Looks really promising.
Played the demo of this last month and its pretty great.
It looks interesting, more like cross of Pikmin and Tokobot than just a blatant pikmin clone.
@Not_Soos You should play more indies! There are dozens and dozens of amazing ones out there, quite often much better than most AAA releases
@ItsATM
I probably do need to expand my horizons, but my backlog is large enough as it is, lol. Most of the indie games I play either come from a studio who got funding from a major publisher (i.e., Cuphead--one of my favorite games ever), or was made by a team with an already impressive pedigree (Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair). There's the occasional exception where I buy an indie game that was crowdfunded, like A Hat in Time and Shovel Knight, both of which I really like.
I just don't care for many games that use pixel art, nor am I a very big fan of metroidvanias, roguelikes, walking sims, procedurally generated games, etc. I understand those are easier to make on a budget, but I feel like they dominate the indie space, and it just isn't for me.
A lot of indies are also hand-drawn, but most of it just kinda looks like flash animation to me. I can only think of a handful of hand-drawn games that genuinely impressed me with their visuals--Cuphead, Rayman Legends, Wario Land, maybe bits of Shantae here and there. Hollow Knight looks quite good, and given your pfp, I should say that u have at least played it. I liked it, but again, metroidvanias just aren't for me. I get lost and incredibly frustrated and usually drop them once I get stuck. Maybe I'll return to it someday, though.
Also, not every game has to be 100+ hours, but I like at least 10-20 hours worth of content for 100% completion. Most indies seem really short, but this is another area where I understand Holloe Knight succeeds. Being a huge 3D platforming fan, I'm looking forward to trying Kao the Kangaroo when it comes out in June. I'll try any 3D platformer, indie or no. I'm on the fence about Demon Turf and Bug Fables--I've heard nothing but great things, and while I love Paper Mario, the presentation puts me off a little bit as they look sort of cheap. (Again, I understand they can't help having a small budget, but still.)
If you know of any indies you think fit my interests, I'm welcome to hear some recommendations! 😀 Honestly, sometimes the line between indie and third-party is so blurred to me nowadays, I can't always distinguish between the two. Like, why does Platinum need to do a Kickstarter to port The Wonderful 101, yet they make AAA-looking games? And why is WayForward considered indie when they published their first physical game almost 2 decades ago? It's weird to me, lol.
@Not_Soos Dude you need to try indies, there are so many good ones, you are bound to find one for your favorite type of game.
@Snatcher You'll be pleased to know I adore A Hat in Time, but ones that strongly appeal to me are few and far between. I'm open to suggestions, though!
@Not_Soos Just to many to list my friend, I will get back to you when I get a nice list.
Wasn't this on xbox seriesx? Great to see that it's also coming to Switch!
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