TINY METAL

About

TINY METAL is a turn-based war game with a classic style. Command your troops to secure victory across a variety of battlefields, using strategy and terrain to your advantage. Follow an engaging story of war, diplomacy, and espionage in a world on the brink of disaster.

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+13

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68%

Audience ScoreBased on 314 reviews

story34 positive mentions

stability10 negative mentions

Captures the feel of Advance Wars while introducing new mechanics like Focus Fire and Assault.
Visually appealing with a colorful art style and decent voice acting.
Offers a variety of single-player content, including a campaign and numerous skirmish maps.

Lacks naval units and transport options, which limits strategic depth.
AI is predictable and often fails to provide a challenge, making gameplay feel unbalanced.
Multiplayer mode is not available at launch, and the game feels incomplete in its current state.

story
194 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
18%
74%
8%
The story in the game is generally perceived as simplistic and clichéd, often relying on typical anime tropes, which some players find engaging while others deem it dull and tedious due to excessive dialogue. While the narrative serves to connect the gameplay and introduces various mechanics, it lacks depth and challenge, leading to mixed feelings about its overall execution. Despite its shortcomings, the art style and voice acting are appreciated, contributing to a pleasant, if not particularly memorable, storytelling experience.
- “The story is great, the voice acting is superb (JP voice), soundtrack is excellent, and the graphics are also great.”
- “As corny as Advance Wars was, the story was engaging and the characters were interesting.”
- “Gameplay-wise, that 20+ hour marker for the story is no lie; the story maps work well in introducing units and mechanics to the player without overwhelming them.”
- “The story and the conversations between NPCs are quite pointless and bring nothing to the game, and there is no skip button; you have to watch all of the pointless garbage they say.”
- “The story is trite, but at least they tried - so I appreciate that much.”
- “Tiny Metal has the potential to do this, but falls flat with a cliché plot and flat, boring characters.”
gameplay
133 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
20%
77%
3%
The gameplay of "Tiny Metal" is generally solid, featuring a competent core loop that builds on the mechanics of classic turn-based strategy games like Advance Wars, with the introduction of new features such as the focus fire mechanic. However, players have noted issues with balance, AI behavior, and a lack of diverse units, which can detract from the overall experience. While the game offers a nostalgic feel and engaging mechanics, it suffers from bugs and a need for more strategic depth, making it a mixed bag for both new players and veterans of the genre.
- “It has different features and mechanics that make Tiny Metal unique.”
- “These new mechanics are implemented well and can dramatically change up the strategy you employ to complete the campaign and skirmishes.”
- “The gameplay is extremely addicting once you get past the tutorial stage and have more control over how you want to complete the missions.”
- “Too much text, which confuses the gameplay and annoys.”
- “Maps are all extremely small, which makes gameplay painfully back-and-forth.”
- “Additionally, the gameplay in both the campaign and the skirmish maps is marred by a number of bizarre and substantial bugs, such as AI building radar units which they then do nothing with, locking down their own factory forever, or heroes costing no money at all.”
graphics
79 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
38%
58%
4%
The graphics of the game have received mixed reviews, with many praising the vibrant, cartoony art style and overall aesthetic, which is described as fun and visually appealing. However, some users noted issues with clarity, particularly in distinguishing unit types, suggesting that the graphics could benefit from further polish. While the game runs well on various systems, the lack of advanced graphical options and some dated visual elements were also highlighted as areas for improvement.
- “The story is great, the voice acting is superb (JP voice), the soundtrack is excellent, and the graphics are also great.”
- “The vibrant colors, art style, music, and story also make it a pleasant experience for any player, making it worthwhile for anyone to give it a chance.”
- “We’ve got multiple resolutions, all the way up to 3840x2160p (4k), an unlimited frame rate, the ability to change up the graphics quality, as well as the rendering.”
- “If I have to lean into the screen to make out if a unit is carrying a rocket launcher or a rifle, or if an armored unit has a machine gun or a cannon on top, the graphics aren't doing their job.”
- “Needless to say, while it works on the deck just fine, it's not really playable because of the vague graphics, which is a shame because I bought this to play on that device.”
- “Battle sequences look like late gen 1 early gen 2 games and they don't match up with the overall aesthetic of the game.”
music
50 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
16%
76%
8%
The music in the game is generally well-received, with many players appreciating its ability to enhance the atmosphere and complement the gameplay. While the soundtrack is described as solid and enjoyable, some reviewers noted a lack of variety, particularly during battles, and found it not particularly memorable. Overall, the music contributes positively to the game's experience, though it may not stand out as a highlight.
- “The story is great, the voice acting is superb (JP voice), the soundtrack is excellent, and the graphics are also great.”
- “I didn’t mind the background music, and it matched the atmosphere of the game perfectly.”
- “The music is also different from many games that have 8-bit music, and instead has enjoyable music which lets you concentrate more on your strategy and tactics.”
- “The only downside is that there are no naval units, no commander units or abilities to turn the tide of the battle, no custom map editor to make your own maps, no music jukebox to view your music, and no art galleries to look at units and commanders.”
- “It might just be me, but I felt the music during the battles needed a bit more variety.”
- “Also, the soundtrack is very serviceable but not memorable.”
stability
12 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
17%
83%
The stability of the game has received mixed feedback, with several users reporting frequent freezing issues that hinder gameplay, despite successful file validation. While some players appreciate the game's overall performance and its homage to the Advance Wars series, the persistent bugs and control problems on PC have led to hesitance in recommending it at this time.
- “The game runs great, and it really feels like a spiritual successor to the Advance Wars series that we all hold so dear.”
- “I only get the wheel turning in the lower right corner and then everything freezes up.”
- “It instantly freezes.”
- “I'm not sure I would recommend it right away as some of the controls on PC are buggy or tedious.”
character development
12 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
25%
25%
While the character designs are praised for their visual appeal, the overall character development is lacking, with most characters, aside from Nathan and Wolfram, receiving minimal attention and depth throughout the game. This results in a disconnect between the engaging designs and the characters' significance to the gameplay.
- “The character design is fun.”
- “Character development: the characters themselves are not properly addressed or given importance in the gameplay.”
- “You don't see very much of most characters except for Nathan and Wolfram for the majority of the game, and there isn't a whole lot of character development from really anyone.”
- “Character development: the characters themselves are not properly addressed or considered important to the gameplay.”
- “Character design is lacking, which negatively impacts the overall character development.”
optimization
10 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
30%
30%
40%
The game's optimization is highly inconsistent; while it runs well on low-end PCs, users with high-performance machines report significant frame drops during battle animations. Additionally, the mouse and keyboard controls are noted to be poorly optimized, leading to a frustrating experience for some players.
- “I didn't really have any performance issues with the game.”
- “Let's talk about the performance.”
- “- well optimized for low-end PCs”
- “So poorly optimized that my massive machine that has no trouble running Total War: Warhammer 2 is dropping frames during the battle animations.”
- “Poorly optimized for mouse and keyboard.”
- “Let’s talk about the performance.”
grinding
6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
33%
67%
Players have expressed frustration with the grinding mechanics, noting that the game rewards prolonged battles over speed, which detracts from the overall experience. While the grinding isn't excessively tedious, it has led some to reconsider their enjoyment of the game, especially in light of buggy controls on PC.
- “It is not too tedious to annoy.”
- “As I was going through the first few missions, I was trying to get the high score on them, and found out that instead of rewarding you for speed, it rewards you for grinding and dragging out the battle as long as possible, which was such a huge turn-off I don't know if I want to touch the game again.”
humor
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The humor in the game is highlighted by its amusing screen movements and witty voice acting, which together create a lighthearted and entertaining experience.
- “The screen moves in a funny way during the action, and the text conveys a thousand words.”
- “The voice acting is genuinely funny.”
replayability
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
75%
While the campaign is noted to be fairly short, it offers a high level of replayability, allowing players to enjoy the experience multiple times despite its brevity.
- “The campaign is fairly short, but very replayable.”
- “The game offers very little in terms of replayability.”
- “I found the replayability to be quite lacking.”
- “There isn't much incentive to play through the game again.”
atmosphere
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The atmosphere of the game is highly immersive, with background music that complements the overall experience effectively, enhancing player engagement.
- “The atmosphere is immersive.”
- “I didn’t mind the background music; it matched the atmosphere of the game perfectly.”

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63%Critics’ scoreBased on 19 critic reviews

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45h Median play time

45h Average play time

45-45h Spent by most gamers

*Based on 2 analyzed playthroughs

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