If you love the best platform games and haven’t played Tinykin, you’re missing out. The cutesy indie platformer is one of 2022’s most joyous experiences and a perfect embodiment of a cozy game that’s still packed with action. Tinykin takes the companion-commanding concept of Pikmin and makes a game that, for my money, tops even Nintendo’s original series – and now, thanks to a Steam sale, it can be yours for its lowest price yet.
Tinykin is an adorable adventure that sees your protagonist mysteriously teleported into a house, but at microscopic size compared to their environment. That means it also fulfills one of the other best tropes; the iconic small player, big world format adopted by the best Quake and Halo custom maps. Each room of the house functions as a unique level, and every one is an open-ended exploration that genuinely piques your sense of wonder.
Rather than being funneled down a linear path, Tinykin lets you freely explore the area as you please, unlocking shortcuts as you go to zip around the map quickly to places you’ve already been (by surfing on a bar of soap, of course). The way the levels and their inhabitants, which range from insects to all manner of microscopic miscreants, are built around everyday household objects is both clever and delightful.
Accompanying you on your journey are a gaggle of the eponymous Tinykin. You’ll gather up these Cyclopean creatures in their dozens as you travel around, with each color variant serving a different purpose. The red Tinykin can be tossed at breakable objects to blow them up, the blue Tinykin can be spread across a room to connect electricity between two remote devices, the green Tinykin stack up atop one another to help you reach greater heights, and so on.
I’d heard good things before playing Tinykin myself, but was still impressed by just how much fun I had. It’s short but sweet; presenting you with all manner of puzzles and side quests but not outstaying its welcome. The platforming is challenging enough to satisfy, but it’s very forgiving about checkpointing, meaning you’ll never have to spend ages redoing sections you’ve already cleared because you messed up once. The dialogue is charming and absolutely jam-packed with little references and jokes that put plenty of smiles on my face.
Tinykin is 40% off on Steam until June 2 – expect to pay $14.99 / £12.59. If you want to support the developer even more, the Supporter Edition (including original soundtrack and artbook) is 46% off until June 2 – expect to pay $22.65 / £19.10 if you want to splash out for the full collection.
For those of you with access to Microsoft’s PC Game Pass service, I’ve got even better news, because Tinykin is currently available to subscribers as part of the deal. That means there’s even fewer reasons not to give it a try, so what are you waiting for?
If that’s not enough for you, check out PCGamesN’s other tiny faves with the best indie games, along with our pick of the most relaxing games. If you particularly enjoy the sensation of lording it over many tiny minions, you might also be a fan of the best management games, and we’ve got plenty of great ones to choose from.