Developed by MeNic Games and published by Mastiff, TInytopia is described as a city building strategy game, in which the player acts as the mayor to build towns in various real-world and fantastical settings. With 21 different levels and a sandbox mode, TInytopia has no shortage of content for players.
Some levels include “Paris,” where the player is tasked with building three Parisian landmarks to complete the stage, and “Tower of Booktopia,” where the player must stack buildings to a certain height on what seems to be a child’s bookcase. These levels are perfect examples of the different strategy elements of the game. In the level “Paris,” players must focus on the typical aspects of city building games, like providing power, jobs, and emergency services to grow the population. Once the population has reached a certain number, new landmarks are unlocked, thereby allowing the player to advance in the level.
However, all of those elements are relatively irrelevant in the level “Tower of Booktopia.” In this level, the game’s physics play a large role. In stacking the buildings, the player must be careful to build a stable tower, otherwise risking their progress as the entire stack will fall over and the buildings will be destroyed.
Another key component of Tinytopia is combining buildings. The more a player builds, the more blueprints will be unlocked, and higher tier buildings can be constructed. These new buildings do not just show up in the build bar, however. Instead, players must click on each tier 1 building to find out what other building and placement is needed to create the next tier. Once placed, the building automatically combines and creates an upgraded version of whatever it was previously. Within the game’s menu, there is an entire page that displays blueprints unlocked and gives the player an idea of just how many potential blueprints exist within the game.
Going into this game, I wasn’t sure how I was going to like it. I’ve admittedly steered clear of city building games like this in the past because those I’ve played tend to be too monotonous or close to the real world for my taste. I was very pleasantly surprised by Tinytopia, especially as I got farther along in the levels. The tutorial information is presented in a sarcastic and humorous manner, and the goals are straightforward. Gameplay was easy to get the hang of, and things that used to scare me (like continual disasters occurring) are thankfully very occasional. I especially enjoyed the building combinations, as I could tell I was already beginning to remember the patterns needed for certain common buildings. This was a fun and unique twist that made gameplay a bit more challenging, but also kept things feeling fresh.
The game tells players almost immediately that the name, Tinytopia, refers to the pocket-sized area in which the buildings inhabit. I forgot this quickly while playing through the tutorial and “Fledgling Fields” levels, as they were typical city building settings. However, once I reached “Tower of Booktopia,” I was delighted by the stack of books next to my buildings, and the giant scissors off to one side. Looking at further levels, I can tell that this game will have levels for those who do want to strategically develop their infrastructure, and for players who want to see how many buildings they can balance along a clothesline rope. The fact that the monsters that can attack the town are wind-up toys seals the deal for me. For the sheer amount of content available for players, its humor, its creativity, and its ability to make someone not traditionally interested in this genre want to keep playing, I am giving Tinytopia a 9/10.
Check Out the Tinytopia Trailer:
Tinytopia releases today for Windows PC and Mac via Steam.
For more information, visit https://mastiff-games.com/tinytopia/
Steam Review
I have been playing video games since I got my first pink Gameboy Advance SP when I was six years old. From that point on, video games have held a special place in my heart and I have been fascinated by the way games involve the player in the narrative and how their mechanics interact with that narrative. As an aspiring video game narrative writer, I jump at the opportunity to play any and all games at my disposal.
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