Tiny Echo
- August 31, 2017
- Might and Delight
- 8h median play time
Get on SteamIn 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.
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Reviews
- Visually stunning with beautiful hand-drawn art and an enchanting soundtrack that creates a calming atmosphere.
- Simple and charming gameplay that allows players to relax and enjoy the whimsical world without the pressure of challenging puzzles.
- A unique, wordless storytelling experience that evokes emotional responses and encourages exploration and interpretation.
- Very short gameplay, typically completed in under two hours, which may leave players wanting more content.
- Puzzles are overly simplistic and can feel tedious, with some players experiencing frustration due to slow movement and backtracking.
- The lack of clear navigation and visibility of interactive elements can lead to confusion and a sense of aimlessness.
- music150 mentions
- 57 % positive mentions
- 41 % neutral mentions
- 2 % negative mentions
The music in the game is widely praised for its beauty and atmospheric quality, enhancing the overall experience with a soothing and immersive soundtrack that complements the stunning visuals. Reviewers note that the music creates a dreamlike ambiance, often likening it to a wordless film, and serves as a perfect backdrop for exploration and relaxation. While some mention that the gameplay can be slow-paced, the combination of art and music is consistently highlighted as a standout feature, making it a delightful experience for players seeking a tranquil adventure.
“The music and art come together seamlessly to create a dreamlike experience.”
“The music creates an atmosphere that suits the travel and soothes the player.”
“The sound design, including the music, is beyond incredible.”
“Even Tiny Echo offers quality in some of its parts (soundtrack), I can't recommend it as a game.”
“The music and sound effects boom in your ears with a rumble.”
“The music is haunting and the sound effects atmospheric.”
- graphics138 mentions
- 64 % positive mentions
- 32 % neutral mentions
- 4 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game have been widely praised for their beautiful and unique art style, often described as calming and immersive, reminiscent of watercolor illustrations and storybook aesthetics. Players appreciate the combination of stunning visuals and a soothing soundtrack, which together create a relaxing atmosphere, although some note that the gameplay can feel simplistic. Overall, the artwork and sound design are highlighted as standout features that enhance the gaming experience.
“Beautiful visuals and a sense of calm and patience that you cannot usually find in games.”
“The atmosphere and art style are unique and unmatched.”
“The visuals and soundtrack were great, and overall I fairly enjoyed it and loved the whole art style even if the gameplay as such wasn't especially complex.”
“The artwork style is not for me.”
“Bad graphics”
“This game has a very unique and pretty art style, but the gameplay is sooooo boring.”
- story118 mentions
- 34 % positive mentions
- 64 % neutral mentions
- 3 % negative mentions
The story in "Tiny Echo" is characterized as simple and largely open to interpretation, delivered without dialogue, which allows players to engage with the narrative in a personal way. While some appreciate the artistic presentation and emotional resonance of the nonverbal storytelling, others find the plot vague and lacking depth, with minimal character development and straightforward puzzles. Overall, the game offers a visually stunning experience, but its narrative may leave some players wanting more substance and clarity.
“Impressive that they could make such a beautiful story with such likable characters without any dialogue.”
“A simultaneously sweet and existential story of kinship and relationality, this short, point-and-click puzzle game follows Emi, a courier who has been entrusted with the fate of the above ground through the delivery of letters.”
“The nonverbal storytelling is done well, the art is exquisite, and the animations really had me feeling for the characters.”
“This is a very simple story without any unexpected twists or charismatic characters.”
“Storyline is extremely short and unclear; you are a strange creature who needs to deliver several mails and... this is all.”
“I can not even try to avoid spoilers because there is nothing I could spoil - at least, I did not see a story in this game.”
- atmosphere56 mentions
- 71 % positive mentions
- 23 % neutral mentions
- 5 % negative mentions
The game's atmosphere is widely praised for its unique art style, immersive sound design, and haunting music, creating a calming and enchanting experience. Reviewers highlight the beautiful visuals and the ability to relax and soak in the environment, often comparing it to the works of Studio Ghibli. Overall, the atmosphere is considered the main draw of the game, enhancing its simple gameplay and making it a memorable adventure.
“The atmosphere and art style are unique and unmatched.”
“Beautiful aesthetics, immersive atmosphere, and creative sound design.”
“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.”
“Going by the chill atmosphere and all the smoke floating around, these woodland creatures must be extremely high.”
“The music is also great and feels like a creepy otherworldly jazz soundtrack, which really sells the somber atmosphere.”
“The sound design is also something I give major props to since it really lends well to the overall experience and atmosphere.”
- gameplay44 mentions
- 18 % positive mentions
- 73 % neutral mentions
- 9 % negative mentions
The gameplay is primarily a simple and straightforward point-and-click experience with light puzzles, focusing on delivering letters to spirits, but it lacks depth and complexity. While the atmosphere, art style, and sound design are praised, many players find the mechanics dull and the gameplay experience limited, often reduced to waiting for cutscenes. Overall, the game is seen as more of an artistic experience than a challenging gameplay adventure, with a total playtime of around two hours.
“The gameplay, though short, was wonderfully told.”
“Gameplay-wise, it's very simple, even for a point & click, with absolutely no inventory system, and puzzles are very simple, yet somewhat refreshing at the same time.”
“Gameplay: straight forward, and never frustrating, it is almost guaranteed that you will have a pretty good idea of how to proceed and/or solve a puzzle, and even though a fair amount of back-tracking is required, the maps are so small and the world is so limited in scope that you're never too far away from where you need to go.”
“This game has a very unique and pretty art style, but the gameplay is so boring.”
“But the core game mechanics are lacking, and the characters are not developed enough to be interesting.”
“If you didn't like the first 2 minutes, you're not going to like the rest of the hour of gameplay... if one could even call it that.”
- emotional14 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The game is praised for its emotional depth, delivering a touching and heartwarming experience in a short playtime of under two hours. The combination of haunting music and immersive art creates a surreal and satisfying journey that resonates with players, despite the absence of voice acting or text. Overall, it is described as a delightful and wholesome puzzle game that effectively conveys its emotional narrative.
“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.”
- character development6 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
While the reviews highlight impressive character designs and an immersive sound and art experience, they do not provide specific insights into character development or growth throughout the game. The focus remains on the aesthetic elements rather than the depth or evolution of the characters themselves.
“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.”
“The character designs are very nice.”
- replayability6 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 33 % neutral mentions
- 67 % negative mentions
The game is generally regarded as having no replayability due to its short length and limited content, with many reviewers suggesting it is only worth playing when on sale. While the artwork and music are praised, the consensus is that the lack of replay value diminishes its overall appeal.
“The only thing I might say is get this game on sale because of its lack of content and replayability.”
“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.”
“No replayability.”
- grinding6 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
Players generally find the grinding aspect of the game to be tedious and slow, particularly during backtracking and certain delivery tasks. Despite these frustrations, many still appreciate the overall exploration of the game's world.
“Slow, tedious, uninteresting.”
“Nothing major, but when I was stuck looking for one of the later letter deliveries, it was getting a bit tedious.”
“While the backtracking can turn the experience a little bit tedious here and there, overall I enjoyed exploring this wonderful world a lot.”
- optimization2 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 100 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The reviews indicate that the game's optimization is generally lacking, with many users experiencing performance issues such as frame rate drops and long loading times. Overall, the game's performance does not meet expectations, impacting the overall gameplay experience.
- stability2 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The game features appealing graphics, but players have reported occasional glitches that detract from the overall experience. Despite these issues, the game remains enjoyable.
