Developer: Colibri Games

Publisher: Elida Games

Platform: PC, MAC, Switch

Price: $9.99

Switch Release Date: October 9th, 2019

Resurrected for the Switch this well-received game begins with an introduction showing Tiny Planet, being caught in an asteroid explosion that shatters the world into a collection of jigsaw pieces. At least I think that’s what I saw, I never found a way to replay the intro. The player’s function is to retrieve the scattered pieces to put the planet back together. Bizarrely, none of the areas you visit seem at all affected as its business as usual in these peaceful Tolkenesque locales. The goal in each of five areas is to collect all the well-hidden jigsaw pieces necessary to unlock the next area. Between levels, you’ll return to the main menu, to assemble what you’ve gathered. This is a nice break from the endless “where’s Waldo” hunting for pieces and parts. I am a bit impressed with the design here in that it requires you to rebuild the next area of the world before you can visit.

There was an old lady who swallowed a gnome

Surprisingly for a shattered world, there is a lack of obvious distress, the beautifully drawn houses made from old boots and a teakettle lighthouse, are just fine apart from some missing parts. There is no evidence of the Earth? Shattering kaboom seen in the introduction. Vivid pastels aided by animations as restored machines return to life. This is accompanied by an excellent but misplaced score that ends up adding to the tedium of your endless hunt for more bits of whatever puzzle you are working on. You are not alone in this inexplicably serene world. There is a Gnome calmly smoking while he waits for you to pull his chestnuts out of the fire and a rather generously endowed shopkeeper who await your success or failure occasionally giving a not terribly useful hint or two but otherwise doing nothing. Overall I have the impression the designers’ skipped writing day and simply forgot to include more than the background elements of whatever story was supposed to be included.

Having said that, Tiny Bang Story includes a range of puzzles that vary style and difficulty. Changing from jigsaws to matching and tough tile puzzles but it’s nothing the average gamer hasn’t seen before. There are also simple arcade-style challenges that seem both out of place and more than a bit too easy. It's not all a breeze however one 3D puzzle took nearly forever as getting the darn thing orientated enough to figure it out was frustrating from a control point of view. There is no skip option, so you must solve every puzzle, though there is a rather interesting insect powered hint system. (Yes, I said insect powered.)

In the end, The Tiny Bang Story is a skin-deep beauty. It's pretty to look at, but when the attraction fades all the player is left with is soul-crushing tedium and a lullaby toned score. This combined with the odd shift in puzzle difficulty and lack of all but the merest hint of a story doom the game to mediocrity. I spent five hours of my life hunting unseen objects, which ceased to be interesting long before it ended. And in the end there is no reward, just a one-way trip back to the puzzle replay menu.

The Good

Beautiful Artwork
Good score
Easily uninstalled

The Bad

Trapped on an ice floe level tedium
Story is oddly misplaced
Un-Fun puzzle design

Tiny Bang Story Review