Tiny Brains is a new indie game developed as the first title from Spearhead Games which is made up of industry veterans from major AAA projects such as the Assassin’s Creed franchise and Dead Space. They decided to take on a much smaller title as they, like many others feel that couch co-op is a dying breed of gaming. Their goal is to make Tiny Brains a truly social, next-generation title. Does Tiny Brains live up to Spearhead’s aspirations or has it become a mad scientist’s experiment?
The basic gist of the story is that these test animals are simply going through the motions with their scientist overlord putting them through what he feels are ‘true tests of intelligence’ for the subjects. After a while, a pink chick enters the lab and attempts to help you escape so you can progress through the maze of a lab strewn with traps and puzzles. These simply exist to cease your progress as you will refine your skills and come into contact with evil test chicks that will also attempt to hinder your progress. The story itself is rather cute with a few chuckles here and there.
Tiny Brains has multiple modes but at the start, you are only able to access Tiny Story which is the story mode. Every mode in Tiny Brains allows for drop-in and drop-out co-op be it by couch or online. You can also join others in a public session by choosing the chapter you left off on or have it set so only friends can join you. If you prefer the lone wolf approach, you can also choose offline. Before I go on, it should be noted that Tiny Brains is best played via co-op. The amount of people joining you is not important but if you are playing solo, you will likely become frustrated or just have a hard time with all the different abilities and switching fast enough to get through the puzzles.
The control scheme is rather simple, allowing you to utilize the d-pad or shoulder buttons to switch between the test subjects with each having their own ability. The lab animals have been tested on so much they have developed these psychic powers. The bat can utilize his voice to force-push objects; a rabbit who uses an electric charge generated by his large ears to pull objects towards him. The hamster who can create a solid chunk of ice out of the moisture in the air and a mouse who can teleport himself in place of other objects in the room.
