The Tiny Bang Story for PC

Our Review:

For the most part we are not great fans of hidden object games. We a have played a bunch over the years but over time the novelty wore off. For us, it just felt like we were playing the same game over and over again. It also did not help that the quality of many of these games was not that great. The artwork in many was poor and many of the hidden objects in the game looked out of place and made them easy to find.

The Tiny Bang Story is the first hidden object game that we have liked in a very long time. Once you start the game the first thing you notice is the artwork. The art is just incredible! The game is set in a bizarre steam punkish world that is brilliantly rendered in the most amazing art. Not only is the art amazing but many of the objects in the scenes are highly interactive. Power lines and cables blow in the breeze and respond to your touch.  Doors open and close, cabinets, boxes and chests open to revel new areas to explore, video screens become interactive, and game characters interact with you. A variety of vehicles also will transport you from one area to another. These vehicles are also beautifully rendered in the games unique style.

One feature we love about this game is the way you progress from area to area. In most hidden object games you find a given number of hidden object found in one static picture and then move one to the next one. In The Tiny Bang Story you move fluidly from one interconnected area to another. Instead of finding a given number of objects in one scene and then advancing to the next, you actually can be finding a number of objects to solve a number of puzzles at one time. Instead of staring at one screen you actually move from one area of the world to another to find items to complete the puzzle. This might be the most compelling aspect of the game that sets it apart from all the rest. You fell that you are playing in one huge area instead of just a series of static pictures.

In some areas you are given blueprints to either repair or build machines. The parts of the machines are found in that area and are seamlessly integrated into the scene. The pieces are not just dropped on top of the scene and camouflaged by many other out of place objects pasted onto the scene, as we have seen in most other hidden object games. Again this is brilliant work by the artist and sets this game apart from the others.

As far as variety goes, this game contains an unbelievable number of brainteasers and puzzles to solve from mini-embeded 8-bit video games, amazing jigsaws, to amusing matching and "connect the pipe" puzzles. 

The game comes with no tutorials, whatsoever. We actually liked this a lot. Many tutorials are just over done in hidden object games. This is a plus for veteran casual gamers, but the lack of a tutorial may be frustrating for new casual gamers. Instructions are given in pictograms instead of words, and this also may be confusing at times for some players.

The game does come with a hint system, but again it may be unclear to new hidden object players on how to activate the hints. In order to activate the hint system and get a hint the player must collect a number of flying insects. It takes a long time to collect enough insects to get a hint. This is one aspect of the game where we prefer the behavior of  the standard hidden object games. In most games hints are given after a set period of time, and can be used by the player as needed. We do understand that the developer wanted to make the game as interactive as possible, but it just takes too long to gather insects to get a hint. If you are stuck the added effort to obtain a hint really hinders the flow of the game.

If you get stuck, there are a number of walkthroughs available online or even in the video section here on slippergames (just hit the video button above). Referring to these sources while playing might be better than relying on the hint system.

All in all this is a great hidden object game. From the art to the interactive gameplay this might well be the best hidden object game we have ever played! Well worth a try!