Teeny Tiny Town Review

Game: Teeny Tiny Town
Genre: Casual, Indie, Simulation, Strategy
System: Steam (Windows, macOS, Linux)
Developer | Publisher: Short Circuit Studios
Controller Support: Yes
Price: US $6.99 | UK £5.89 | EU € 6,89
Release Date: July 3rd 2024

A code was used, with many thanks to Short Circuit Studios.

Proving that all good things come in threes! Welcome to Teeny Tiny Town, where you connect three identical tiles to evolve your city, merge by merge. Watch your metropolis grow from scratch, from ‘aww’ to ‘awesome!’

An image from Teeny Tiny Town showing one of the layouts. A board with a green base and various trees and rocks placed on tiles on the board — We built this city…

Let’s Get Mergical with Teeny Tiny Town

Over recent years, I’ve moved from more heavy games to opting for ones that I feel are quite therapeutic and offer a distraction from the stresses and anxieties of everyday life. One of the mechanics I’ve begun to really enjoy is merging in games—where you take three or more of the same object and then merge them into something bigger and better.

In Teeny Tiny Town, you do just that. Your task is to create a town from the very basic materials that the level starts with and then merge merge merge until you begin to see the fruits of your labour and a new town is born.

An image from Teeny Tiny Town showing a 7x7 grid with a green base and various trees and materials on the tiles laid out. — Size may vary

An image from Teeny Tiny Town showing the different themes that can be purchased by completing milestones on other levels. — Lots of themes

Lots of Sizes and Themes

One thing I love about games is the variety, and Teeny Tiny Town has it in spades. From different grid sizes to different themes, it’s all here. Some of the themes require “buying” with credits that you earn in the game. These can be earned from completing challenges and beating your previous high score on levels.

One criticism I do have is that it can take quite a while to accrue enough credits to unlock new themes, but, for me, at least, the themes that are already unlocked (prairie, water, etc.) are enough to be entertaining.

An image from Teeny Tiny Town showing a blue grid with various buildings on it, with lights on the building which creates a sore of twilight environment. — Twilight zone

Power Up!

Would a game be a game without various power-ups? Teeny Tiny Town has these, too. One is to switch the places of two objects to make for a merge when one seemingly isn’t available. Another is to bulldoze an object and just remove it from the board. Other power-ups can be unlocked by playing the game at different levels.

Word of warning—this game is addictive! I found myself wiling away hours trying to improve my score and unlock various things. However, playing Teeny Tiny Town was a welcome distraction from my anxiety.

Conclusion

Teeny Tiny Town is a beautiful game that is surprisingly addictive. It’s well made, offers lots of different themes, and is the favourite game I have played in the merging genre. You can buy Teeny Tiny Town on Steam here.

Final Verdict: Two Thumbs Up: