Gaming on Android has come into its own in the last couple years and there are now a great many developers out there that bring some really great games to the platform. Herocraft have been publishing premium titles for some time now and their recent addition of the Tiny Bang Story – adapted for Android from Collibri games PC/Mac classic – is another solid offering. They’ve got a number of games available on the Play Store – which you can find here – and now, Android Headlines are proud to present you with a review of The Tiny Bang Story. A unique adventure that will have you using your brain to work your way through the game and conquer puzzles set in front of you.
Description: The Tiny Bang Story is a game set on Tiny Planet, a beautiful planet reminiscent of a Steampunk storyboo that’s been ruined by an asteroid. It’s your job to help rebuild the stunning planet and to do so, you’ll have to solve brain teasers and find the objects required through classic object-hunting gameplay. Herocraft have delivered a captivating hand-drawn world for you to explore – add that to the twist of there being no text and you’ve got a unique game that gives the user the task to figure out just what needs to be done, and how. You can find out more by watching the trailer below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wa3s3kme4Rg
How It Works: It’s easy to get up and running when it comes to playing Tiny Bang, all you have to do is to install the app from the Play Store, wait whilst it downloads roughly 50MB of game data and there you have it. Once you’ve got the data downloaded the game will treat you to a cinematic of the planet being ruined by the asteroid that starts everything off. How Herocraft display the destruction on the planet is genius – it’s a puzzle that slowly falls to its respective pieces before your eyes.
Leaving one last piece of the planet standing – which is where your game starts. Herocraft have done a great job on gameply with Tiny Bang, there’s no text and there’s no voiceovers to tell you what to do, the game does give you hints however, by pointing to places of interest on the level.
As well as this, you can touch the flies that hover near places of interest to collect and fill the question mark bubble in the top right corner. When full, activating it will dispatch a glittery fly to help you on the level. Getting around the levels is intuitive as is how you get about fixing parts of the planet, the game doesn’t exactly leave you in the dark but it’s challenging nonetheless. You’ll have to think of how to get around problems and you’ll have to study the beautiful level designs in order to get to the next level.
Opinion: Tiny Bang Story is an absolutely stunning game. It’s stunning hand-drawn backdrops are the sort of thing I expect on the Xbox Live Arcade, not in my pocket or on my tablet. Gameplay is extremely fresh, with no clear objectives the illusion of freedom is presented and instantly engages the user from the get go. You can’t cheat your way through the game either, which is fantastic because there’s nothing that ruins game as much as cheating. It’s a challenge but it’s a challenge I imagine your kids will be able to help you with.
That’s another thing that Herocraft have gotten right – this is perfect for adults and children alike. The abscense of text and direction might seem like an adult theme but, how to Children succeed? They experiment, which is very much a part of the game – you’ll get nowhere without trying something a little different each time.
Ratings
- Speed (4/5) – Tiny Bang has a wonderful pace that fits its story and setting perfectly. For some players though, it could be a tad slow.
- Features (5/5) – Perhaps its strongest asset is that the game gets out of its own way and let’s the player get on with experiencing the game. That’s a killer feature.
- Theme (5/5) – All you have to do is take one look at any level of the game to see how much effort they put into each level, it truly is a stunning game that looks brilliant on a 720p phone.
- Overall (5/5) – With intuitive gameplay that’s refreshing and fun, it works well with children or as a game for adults. It’s a brilliant game that everyone should play.
Pros
- Tiny Bang Story’s gameplay is absolutely genius, give you a game to play on your own, taking in the stunning visuals.
- The soundtrack that has been lovingly crafted for the game really shines through and delivers a brilliant setting.
- A consistent theme throughout ensures a consistent gameplay experience throughout.
- The use of the puzzle from beginning to end is absolutely genius.
Cons
- At times, the game can get a little too tricky but, you just have to look harder.
- Some puzzles might be too difficult for younger players.
Conclusion: It’s been a long time since I played a game both as different and engaging as Herocraft’s Tiny Bang Story is. Right from when you load the game up you can see that the developer really wanted to deliver a unique looking game with a unique experience. With the absence of text or direction and a wonderful soundtrack they’ve certainly delivered – on the surface it looks like an average object-hunter however, once you dig a little deeper the game becomes an unsung hero for the genre.
It’s hard too, to forget that this once started as a PC game – many won’t notice, which is a testament to the developer the controls are near perfect on Android – whether that be phone or tablet. I recommend you go and install the game right away, you’ll find it here and if you like it you can check Herocraft’s other games here.
