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In MINImax Tinyverse by O’olBlue Inc. you take on the role of a kid in a toy store, a magical toy store where the toys have come to life. You must use your godlike powers to assist the human centric Aillai or the monster packed Creaea in the quest for domination of the Tinyverse.
An introduction to MOBA and Tower Rush games
MINImax Tinyverse will be instantly familiar to anyone who has played DOTA or League of Legends. The gameplay and controls are simple and straightforward, with clear, concise tutorials for those not already familiar with the genre.
Before each battle you will choose a champion or hero character to lead your army, as well as which troops participate. You will then assign a build order for those troops that repeats of the course of the matches. You will also choose from a selection of miracles that you may use during the battle to turn the tide in your favor.
Each match lasts a total of six minutes, broken down into two minute phases. As you progress through each phase your champion becomes stronger. You also experience a decrease in the build time for your troops and an increase in mana generation, allowing you to cast more miracles. Each match also features multiple day and night phases, giving advantages to the two factions. During matches you also have the option to pick up and move your champion, drop a ramp to bypass obstacles, or drop a crayon wall to funnel or stop enemy forces.
Once the match begins all of your forces will march inexorably towards the enemy base using the shortest path possible, or until engaged or diverted by the enemy. The objective in each match is to destroy the enemy’s headquarters, or cause the most damage to the enemy’s buildings. In the event of a tie, the game will go into a sudden death mode, where the next player to destroy an enemy building wins.
One minor frustration was having no actual control over the movement of my champion. I would often find my champion halfway between enemy troops and the enemy headquarters, only to have them turn back to engage the troops.
Champion and troop selection is varied, allowing for many different strategies to be utilized. Additional troops, champions, and miracles become available as your account gains experience and levels.
The artwork is charming and reminiscent of characters you would see in saturday morning cartoons. The story is minimal and takes a backseat to the actual gameplay beyond the opening cinematic. The soundtrack features one track, which led to me muting my game and turning on Youtube Music in the background.
Matchmaking was very limited at the time of this article, I found myself playing the same handful of players over and over. Which led to boring, repetitive matches requiring little improvisation. There is a leaderboard as well as a direct link to a Discord server for the community to communicate with each other as well as developers.
The Final Score
MINImax Tinyverse is a simple and charming introduction to the MOBA/Tower Rush genre. With its simple controls and easy to learn, difficult to master strategies, it would be a great place for players to learn about the genre, or have a casual place to play without needing a team. It also has a great price point, being free to play on Steam with the option to purchase an expansion pack with new troops, miracles, and champions.
While it has a few great selling points, it also has some downfalls. Only one arena is in game at this point. The soundtrack quickly becomes repetitive and irritating. With a small player base at the moment, opponents quickly become known quantities. There is great potential in the game if the developers put for the effort. Overall I give MINImax Tinyverse a three out of five.
