Tinyfolks’s charm makes it far more than the sum of its parts

Abib the troubadour killed an ancient evil spirit by throwing his knife at it. Tinyfolks is not a “story generator” sort of game, but that fight removed any doubt that it was excellent.

There’s no shortage of dungeon-ish turn based combat games, nor of those made of all the usual fantasy archetypes, nor of pixelly low-fi games with bleepy bloopy music. Nor again are we likely to run short of games that combine some or all of the above. But like a good meal, combining even the most common ingredients in just the right way can make them delicious.

It doesn’t matter that you’re a monarch ousted by evil forces, now set on reclaiming your land within 45 days by fighting tonnes of monsters until your team is tough enough to kill the big nasty. What matters is that you’ll have a great time doing it.