Tiny Echo

About

In Tiny Echo, players guide courier Emi through a hand-drawn, mystical world filled with spirits, solving puzzles to uncover new locations and characters. With its soothing soundtrack and focus on exploration, the game offers a serene experience emphasizing the beauty of its environments and characters.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player Play through the game's story or campaign solo

88%

Audience ScoreBased on 432 reviews

music83 positive mentions

replayability4 negative mentions

Beautiful art style and immersive sound design create a captivating atmosphere.
Relaxing gameplay with simple puzzles that encourage exploration and appreciation of the environment.
Unique storytelling approach without dialogue, allowing players to interpret the narrative in their own way.

Very short playtime, typically around 1-2 hours, which may not justify the price for some players.
Slow movement speed can be frustrating, making navigation tedious at times.
Lack of clear direction or guidance can lead to confusion about where to go or what to do next.

music
146 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
57%
41%
2%
The music in "Tiny Echo" is widely praised for its atmospheric and relaxing qualities, enhancing the game's beautiful visuals and immersive experience. Reviewers describe the soundtrack as soothing, haunting, and fitting perfectly with the game's themes, creating a meditative ambiance that complements the art style. Overall, the combination of enchanting music and stunning artwork contributes significantly to the game's charm and emotional depth.
- “The music creates an atmosphere that suits the travel and soothes the player.”
- “The music and visuals will forever be beautiful to me.”
- “The sound design, including the music, is beyond incredible.”
- “Even though Tiny Echo offers quality in some of its parts (soundtrack), I can't recommend it as a game.”
- “While a nuanced approach to the mechanics of gaming is what makes Tiny Echo worthy of mention, the greatest draws from a player's perspective are the art and music of the game, and these are almost as well enjoyed from watching a video as they are from playing the game for yourself.”
- “The music is calm and the character models are interesting.”
graphics
139 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
63%
35%
2%
The graphics of the game are widely praised for their beautiful and unique art style, often described as calming and immersive, reminiscent of works by Studio Ghibli. Players appreciate the detailed visuals and atmospheric sound design, which enhance the overall experience, making it feel more like an interactive art piece than a traditional game. While some note the simplicity of the gameplay, the stunning artwork and relaxing music are highlighted as the game's standout features.
- “Beautiful visuals and a sense of calm and patience that you cannot usually find in games.”
- “The game most definitely's biggest strength is the art style and the atmosphere crafted with it.”
- “The makers of this game managed to achieve a depth and a spirit with their slow storytelling and their incredibly detailed art - graphic and music wise - and worldbuilding I have rarely come across in the gaming world.”
- “While the artwork is pretty, the puzzles are easy, and the game is very short.”
- “Bad graphics.”
- “The visuals made possible paths nigh invisible on several occasions.”
story
129 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
31%
64%
5%
The story of "Tiny Echo" is largely non-verbal, relying on beautiful artwork and atmospheric sound to convey a simple yet intriguing narrative about a courier delivering letters in a whimsical, possibly post-apocalyptic world. While some players appreciate the interpretive nature of the plot and its emotional depth, others find it vague and lacking in substance, with minimal character development and straightforward puzzles. Overall, the game offers a unique storytelling experience that may resonate differently with each player, though many agree it could benefit from a more fleshed-out narrative.
- “The story of Tiny Echo was really enjoyable, and a friend of mine really liked watching me stream it to them.”
- “It is rare to find a narrative game that needs no dialogue to tell a lovely story.”
- “The creators have chosen a really artistic way to tell this story; it was a beautiful story even though it was not clear during the gameplay.”
- “This is a very simple story without any unexpected twists or charismatic characters.”
- “The game has a story, but because there are no words, I don’t really know what the whole story is about.”
- “The storyline is extremely short and unclear; you are a strange creature who needs to deliver several mails and... this is all.”
atmosphere
66 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
77%
18%
5%
The game's atmosphere is widely praised for its unique art style, soothing music, and immersive sound design, creating a calming and dream-like experience. While some players find the gameplay simplistic and the puzzles easy, the focus on exploration and the enchanting environment is seen as the main draw. Overall, it offers a beautiful, atmospheric journey that resonates with those who appreciate relaxing and artistic gaming experiences.
- “The atmosphere and art style are unique and unmatched.”
- “A beautiful, atmospheric game with no text and a gentle flow of exploration.”
- “The environment and character art are some of the most beautiful I've ever seen in a game, and the audio engineering and soundtrack create a really unique atmosphere.”
- “Don't be too disappointed if the puzzles seem too easy to solve; there is more emphasis on the story and atmosphere than the overall gameplay.”
- “I get that this is supposed to have a calm atmosphere to it, but having the player character move at a snail’s pace is anything but calming to me.”
- “The music is also great and feels like a creepy otherworldly jazz soundtrack, which really sells the somber atmosphere.”
gameplay
64 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
19%
70%
11%
The gameplay in this title is characterized by its simplicity, primarily revolving around point-and-click mechanics with light puzzles that often lack challenge. While some players appreciate the relaxing pace and the atmospheric presentation, many find the gameplay dull and lacking in depth, with a greater emphasis placed on the art and sound design than on engaging mechanics. Overall, it appeals to those who value experience over complexity, but may disappoint players seeking more substantial gameplay.
- “Simple and short point-and-click gameplay with light puzzles, where you deliver letters to mysterious spirits, with no dialogue.”
- “Really enjoyed the relaxing gameplay and stunning locations.”
- “Although the gameplay itself is fairly slow-paced and straightforward, the visuals and audio in this game are lovely and mesmerizing, and arguably the driving force of this game.”
- “The gameplay is so boring.”
- “There is some gameplay but it's few, puzzles are intuitive and not here to challenge, which doesn't seem to be the point of the game anyway.”
- “As a game, there isn't enough gameplay present and the interactions are too shallow.”
emotional
12 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The emotional aspect of the game is characterized by its touching and heartwarming experience, conveyed through beautiful art and haunting music, despite its short duration. While some players found it uplifting and resonant, others felt it lacked depth in gameplay and emotional engagement. Overall, it is described as a wholesome and immersive puzzle game that delivers a poignant story in a brief format.
- “Short yet touching work of art.”
- “Music is touching and I really liked particularly when I got to letter 12, the music changes to this haunting and melancholy song.”
- “It's short but it delivers a touching story, well worth the time spent.”
replayability
9 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
33%
22%
44%
Overall, the game is noted for its lack of replayability, with most players completing it in about 1.5 to 3 hours. While the visual narrative and aesthetic elements are praised, the linear story and short length contribute to a consensus that it offers little incentive for multiple playthroughs. Players recommend purchasing it on sale due to its limited content and replay value.
- “It's a beautiful, soothing but quite short experience that will last about 2-3 hours, and there isn't much replayability as is usual with such games, so pick it up with quite some coins off it or you may be disappointed at the length and the lack of challenge.”
- “Beautiful artwork and music, slightly creepy, another great game by M&D, but it is very short. I would have liked it to be a bit longer; definitely worth a play when it is on sale, as I don't personally see any replay value with this one.”
- “It took me just over an hour to complete. While it doesn't have much replay value, it is certainly worth a go through for its visual narrative style.”
- “It took me just over an hour to complete, while it doesn't have much replay value, it is certainly worth a go through for its visual narrative style.”
- “It's a beautiful, soothing but quite short experience that will last about 2-3 hours and there isn't much replayability as is usual with such games, so pick it up with quite some coins off it or you may be disappointed at the length and the lack of challenge.”
- “The only thing I might say is get this game on sale because of its lack of content and replayability.”
character development
5 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
80%
20%
Reviews highlight the impressive character designs, which are complemented by stunning art and immersive sound design, creating a surreal and intriguing atmosphere. While the character development itself is not explicitly discussed, the overall aesthetic and vibe contribute to a captivating experience.
- “Stunning art, beautiful music and sound design, cool character designs, and overall a very surreal, cryptic, and intriguing vibe.”
- “The sound design is really immersive and relaxing, and I love the character design.”
- “Pleasant music accompanies the nicely drawn (and a little weird at times) backgrounds and character designs.”
grinding
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players generally find the grinding aspect of the game to be excessive and tedious, with some describing it as slow and uninteresting. While the exploration of the world is enjoyable, the backtracking and repetitive tasks can detract from the overall experience.
- “Too much 'grindy'.”
- “Slow, tedious, uninteresting.”
- “Nothing major, but when I was stuck looking for one of the later letter deliveries, it was getting a bit tedious.”
optimization
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The optimization of the game has received mixed reviews, with some users praising its smooth performance and efficient resource management, while others report occasional frame rate drops and stuttering, particularly on lower-end hardware. Overall, the game's optimization appears to be a work in progress, with potential for improvement in future updates.
humor
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The humor in the game is largely criticized for being too abstract and lacking coherence, with many players finding it bland and devoid of any engaging story or comedic elements.
stability
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game features appealing graphics, but users have reported occasional glitches that affect overall stability. Despite these issues, the experience remains enjoyable.
- “The game offers some nice graphics, although there are some ugly glitches here and there; it is pleasant all the same.”