The story of Tin Hearts revolves around a toymaker and the love he has for both his toys and his family. I certainly think the storyline was my favorite part of this game. It takes the classic idea of lemmings and adds emotion and investment to it. Whereas lemmings are disposable, blowing up at will, these tin soldiers are like the toymaker’s children. That’s not to say he does not have a child of his own – he clearly works on his passion to the pleasure of his young daughter, who is always excited to see her father’s next creation.
Over the course of the game (or at least what is released so far), we are given access to more and more of the toymaker’s creations to lead the tin soldiers to their home. While there is a very clear overtone of love and compassion, there is also something sinister lurking beneath.
The toymaker receives a letter from a prestigious toymaking organization. After the offer is declined, a new toy appears in the workshop ready to gobble up the tin soldiers we have become so attached to. The feelings this game gave me were overwhelming, with the workshop being so decorated, the tin soldiers subtly reacting to your movements, and the tiny snippets of family being shown. It is important to note, though, that this game has still only released one act out of a planned three, so the story has not yet ramped up. I expect it to be even more emotional as the next two acts are released.
Putting aside the story, I would say the gameplay is satisfactory, but not on its own enough for me to buy this game. It feels as of now like every level is trying very hard to teach you something, which is fine only so long as there is some build up of difficulty in the future. When I finally felt like I had mastered a technique, it would disappear to be replaced by a new skill I had to be taught. I think I would enjoy it more if the teaching went a bit quicker and the puzzle-solving were a bit more intense.
The last couple of levels were satisfying, but I just wish the levels were of that caliber for the entire game. The controls were also somewhat unintuitive. The trackpad was used for both time control and mid-air rotation of objects. I like that both of these are possible, but I’d find myself always trying to change time with the same hand I have an object in, which would cause me to rotate it instead. The mid-air rotation itself was also hard to get accustomed to and I found myself just giving up and grabbing the object the way I wanted it to be initially.
With such big levels, the time control, while absolutely necessary, felt like it didn’t go fast enough. I preoccupied myself by just watching the little soldiers march and marveling at the environment, but for someone solely interested in puzzle-solving, this is probably not your game as it stands. The gameplay in this game certainly feels like a side note. Some levels are even dedicated to story exposition, involving letters from the organization. With a more developed storyline, I can see great things for this game, but if no improvement is done on the difficulty curve, I would say only play this game if you are as enamored of tiny soldiers as I am.
Check Out the Tin Hearts Trailer:
Tin Hearts is available for PC via Steam Early Access. (Requires one of the following virtual reality headsets: HTC Vive or Oculus Rift.)
I am an aspiring game designer looking to explore the philosophy behind game creation. Some of my favorite games include Overwatch, Super Smash Bros, Portal, and Beat Saber.
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