Tiny Echo (2017)

I'm currently going through my backlog, which means I have to go through a lotta not-so-good bundle stuff. That's why I'm all the more delighted when I find a nice little gem like this! Tiny Echo is a very small scale adventure game along the lines of Samorost & Machinarium, in which you play a depressed little mail carrier with an eyeball for a head. Just like in those games, there's no dialog. The story or subject matter is abstract and conveyed only through animations. The Artstyle is kind of similar to what you'll find in Amanita Design games, but still unique. Also similar to those games, the sounds and music are a delight. It's all super gentle and soft, which makes this such a relaxing experience. The gameplay also plays into that, it has very light puzzles, but they're kept to a minimum. I really like that, since Adventure puzzles just frustrate me a lot of the time.

There's something to be said for game that is this quiet, slow and easy-going, but is still able to hold my attention. I get bored extremely fast, like 2 minutes into a game I might have already decided I hate it. That definitely didn't happen here, I finished it in one sitting. It's about an hour and a half long, which is the perfect length for this particular game. And while this game wears it's inspirations on it's sleeve, it fills a nice little niche: Meditative, soft, light, short and easy on the eyes, ears, and brain.

There's a bug (a moth?) that will adjust it's tiny hairstyle when you click on it, and it's super cute lol. There's a lot of stuff like that... this game will put a smile on you're face and might make you drowsy, but in a good way!