Tinyfolks

What if Darkest Dungeon were more adorable and approachable? That's what Tinyfolks' pitch boils down to. The entire design, from the town to the dungeons, is a streamlined take on that 2016 masocore RPG. But while Tinyfolks is certainly less frustrating than Darkest Dungeon, I'm not sure it learned all the right lessons from its bigger brother.

Combat, for one, feels much less strategic. While you can use characters that focus on bleed and poison, they're usually less effective than pure DPS-centric options. Positioning is another area that seems like it's there just because Darkest Dungeon had it. One big difference is that position only affects which enemies can attack you, but not which enemies your character can attack. This means that there's no glass cannons -- weaker characters can always hide in the back. Moreover, many bosses can attack all five of your positions, so hiding characters in the back isn't guaranteed to keep them safe.

Then there's the matter of the 45 day limit. I suppose it's there to keep your run from going on forever, but it feels a bit too arbitrary. What's worse is that the world is static -- nothing changes between Day 1 and Day 45. Why am I so worried about Day 45? On the flip side, the time pressure does make sure you won't sit around grinding easy dungeons too long.

In fact, it was Day 45 when I finished the game. I could've finished it a few days earlier, but I accidentally mis-outfitted my party not once but twice, and had to retreat to the village, which wasted precious days. It's a good thing my final assault on the castle was successful, too, because if I'd failed and had to start from the beginning I'm not sure what I would've done. I suspect I would've tried again and spent the two or three hours it would've taken to grind to the end for another chance, but I'm glad I didn't have to.

Tinyfolks is a very short game. If you turn up the battle speed, I bet you can beat it within two hours. Speedrunners could probably do it in less. And for that reason, I can't be too harsh on it. It's flawed, for sure, but at least it doesn't demand too much time. And it's cheap. So if you're looking for a little RPG to pass a couple hours, especially on mobile where options are limited, it's a decent choice.