tiny tale

Endless runners are obviously not the type of games that keep you playing for hours on end, but they can certainly have you come back day after day to beat your own high scores. Their fast-paced gameplay makes it difficult to figure everything out from the first try, which means that you get better every time you play, and that’s that’s another reason they are so addictive.

tiny tale is a retro endless runner in which your goal is to make it to the end of a level without falling into pits or touching any of the enemies. It may sound fairly simple in theory, but the gameplay is very challenging, not to mention the fact that it requires you to think out of the box. Thus, it’s an exercise in spatial orientation and quick thinking.

To begin with, your character has the power to rotate the level 90 degrees in both directions, which means that the perspective changes in an instant. Naturally, the game forces you do so every few seconds, and that has the nasty effect of disorienting you. On the other hand, there’s no actual route you have to follow, so it’s all about negotiating the obstacle that’s right in front of you.

In order to keep you from getting bored, the game features different seasons you can explore, which also contain different challenges. Autumn and winter are just two examples, and it’s a pleasure to watch the landscape change from one season to the other. You can run forever and never run out of road, thanks to the fact that the levels are randomly generated on the go.

As for the graphics, the retro style goes very well with the general atmosphere, and the environments are quite moody if you do not pay close attention to them. Granted, the low level of detail might make the levels a tad too repetitive, but you’ll usually be too busy navigating the obstacles instead.

In the end, tiny tale is not your typical runner, but it can certainly keep you busy for a while. It also puts your spatial orientation and reflexes to the test.