System: Change
Launch date: October 4, 2023
Developer: Ogre Pixel
Writer: Ogre Pixel
Certainly one of my principal hobbies after I was a child was accumulating stickers. They had been considerably cheaper than buying and selling playing cards, and getting duplicates was barely much less irritating as a result of I may normally discover a use for them, whether or not that was plastering them onto something that had an inch of area, or swapping them with my buddies. A Tiny Sticker Story, the second sport from Ogre Pixel to make its method to the Change after a profitable Kickstarter marketing campaign, takes the concept of accumulating stickers and runs wild with it, letting you alter the world round you by putting and eradicating them with some inventive environmental puzzles. Though it’s over far too rapidly, generally probably the most nice expertise you possibly can have is the one which doesn’t overstay its welcome.
A Tiny Sticker Story has the participant take management of Flynn as they journey to Figori Island, trying to find their father. Upon reaching the island, Flynn discovers that the sticker guide from their childhood holds a magical energy, permitting them to take objects from the setting and switch them into stickers. Utilizing this unusual energy, Flynn should journey throughout the island, serving to out the residents they discover there, in order that they may ultimately meet with their father.
After introducing the fundamental ideas to you, the story takes a again seat, with solely the occasional cutscene of one among Flynn’s childhood recollections breaking apart the gameplay stream. There isn’t a central battle or character growth to talk of; outdoors of a difficult raccoon named Rocky who will often present as much as impede your progress, any interplay with the sport’s NPCs will should be initiated by you, and regardless of all of them having quests, they’ve little or no to say for themselves. These hoping for an in-depth story received’t discover it in A Tiny Sticker Story, which places a larger emphasis on its gameplay and exploration than it does on its narrative.
A Tiny Sticker Story performs rather a lot like a standard 2D Zelda overworld, simply with out the fight: you’ll journey between map squares, fixing easy environmental puzzles as you go. Your common goal is to seek out 5 medallions, which you get from serving to the assorted townspeople scattered throughout the land, however the sport by no means outright tells you what to do or who will give them to you, which inspires you to speak to and assist out everybody you come throughout. At occasions you’ll come throughout letters out of your dad, who will identify a specific NPC that he needs you to assist, however these are the one hints that you just’ll get.
The NPCs are equally cryptic about what they need you to do for them a variety of the time, however the resolution is normally apparent, and is commonly one thing that you just’ve stumbled throughout alongside the best way earlier than encountering them, or will discover just a few map squares later. You resolve puzzles and requests in A Tiny Sticker Story with stickers, as you could have guessed. Urgent the Y button brings up Sticker Mode, which lets you work together with varied objects within the setting, choosing them up and transferring them round, or storing them safely inside your stock for later use. Your stock area is kind of restricted and there’s a lot you possibly can work together with within the setting, so the possibilities are you received’t have the ability to carry all the pieces. For me this prompted an attention-grabbing minigame of stock administration as I struggled to discover a method to squeeze in all the pieces that I assumed I would want within the close to future, placing all the pieces else in a spot I’d hopefully have the ability to bear in mind. Every sq. of the map is uniquely designed, nevertheless it’s simple to get rotated firstly of the sport, as there are few locations that you just received’t have the ability to go and most areas join in 4 instructions.
Most stickers have a number of makes use of, which makes all the pieces you do within the sport really feel linked, slightly than a sequence of remoted fetch quests. There may be additionally a shocking quantity of selection to requests, too: some NPCs will need you to seek out another person, others will need you to take them to a specific sq. on the map, and there are even a few minigames so that you can participate in, together with a rudimentary model of tennis and goal apply with a crossbow and arrow – the arrow you’ll want to seek out first, and also you’ll use the crossbow once more later in one other space to meet one other request. A number of occasions I assumed I used to be performed with a sticker, solely to have to return and fetch it to be used in one other puzzle, and fairly just a few of the NPCs needed me to run multiple errand earlier than they had been glad. Though dialogue is proscribed and there isn’t a lot in the best way of character to the NPCs, I discovered that it builds an actual sense of neighborhood after they begin to work together with each other by means of their requests.
To my shock, A Tiny Sticker Story anticipated the potential fatigue and frustration sure elements of its design may have induced in the long term and addressed them in a short time. After taking part in for about half an hour I discovered a map which laid out the complete space for me, and let me seek for stickers in my assortment, exhibiting the precise space that I’d left them in. Later I discovered a tent with considerably extra space inside it, which I may then choose up in Sticker Mode and carry round with me. This made the sport way more stress-free to play, with out compromising on any of the liberty to discover or the extra intuitive puzzle design.
A Tiny Sticker Story is offered in the identical trend as Ogre Pixel’s earlier title, Lonesome Village, with vibrant block colours and daring outlines which might be harking back to youngsters’s storybooks and cartoons. It’s a easy design that works particularly effectively for it, and makes environmental objects stand out and straightforward to determine so you recognize what you possibly can work together with. There are some good environmental results between areas as effectively, because of the power to vary the time of day and the climate when you’ve acquired the stickers essential to take action; there isn’t a lot of a variation between day and evening or sunshine and rain moreover from the final atmosphere of the placement, nevertheless it’s a pleasant contact that makes the world really feel a bit extra alive.
The largest disappointment available from A Tiny Sticker Story is that it’s a particularly quick sport, even for the asking worth. You possibly can simply end this in a few hours, even in the event you’re aiming to finish the Assortment and fulfill each request. Though what’s right here is very fulfilling, there isn’t very a lot right here in any respect, which is price protecting in thoughts in the event you anticipate to get greater than a few hours of time from a primary playthrough. You possibly can create furnishings to customise your tent, so there may be some potential for experimentation right here, and this may be a superb sport to replay in future, however for a first-time playthrough it sadly received’t give you very a lot.
The Verdict
Very similar to my childhood, A Tiny Sticker Story was over far too rapidly, however left me with a heat feeling of contentment that I’ll carry with me after I look again on it. In case you’re after a quick and stress-free expertise between longer and extra demanding titles, it is a title that will be price wanting into.
