Tin Hearts review – Eat your heart out, Mouse Trap

Every action has consequences, with each decision we make leading to the next, altering the course of our life and everyone around us. You’ve been handed the cards you have because of decisions made by people hundreds of years ago. This is one of the themes in Tin Hearts, set across decades of history as a man’s essence works to understand how he got where he is.

The narrative is a secondary concern to the gameplay though, and a lot of it can be described as a Rube Goldberg machine puzzle, especially after you finish Act I. It’s a lot of fun to see things slide into place, both metaphorically and literally. However, be warned it’s one of those games that’s deceptively easy until it decides it doesn’t want to be, fully expecting players to use their powers.

There is a lot of interesting stuff in Tin Hearts, and you can really tell that Rogue Son put their soul into creating this title. The puzzles are fun and, while repetitive at times, solving an especially tricky scenario gives you that same rush you get from the best puzzle games.

It’s an evolving experience, for better or worse

What’s really important for a game on Steam nowadays is that it is able to capture the players’ attention and interest within the first two hours. That’s the cutoff for most digital refunds, including Valve’s, so players will sometimes play a game they’re unsure about for an hour and a half before deciding whether to keep the title or not. This works against Tin Hearts’ favor, unfortunately.

If Tin Hearts didn’t wait until the second Act to open up and sort of evolve into something really impressive, this would be less of a concern. There is something really cool about when the game opens into the Study, showing players a 3D main menu where they can view their progress, collectibles, and achievements.

The story starts out fairly simple and the narrative style is very reminiscent of What Remains of Edith Finch in that everything feels distant. The characters, both the player and NPCs, are ethereal, so from the start, the game has a magical feel that lends itself to the gameplay. In this world, toys are much more advanced and you play as a man who’s regarded as one of the best in the industry.

The characters all seem nice and rounded, but you can see some of their rougher edges after several hours of playing. It’s actually really interesting to see how the story unfolds, even if it’s a little cliche in places, it’s nice and quaint enough. As previously mentioned, it’s on the back burner compared to the puzzle gameplay, which is the best part.

The setup for this is that the soldiers working as mascots need to be led across different rooms of the toy maker’s house, forcing him to see old memories of his family. These puzzles often evolve key items that activate a secondary memory or mechanic that varies based on each level.

The soldiers go marching one by one

From the beginning, you’ll need to understand how the game’s movement works, with the main goal on every level being that you’re able to direct your soldiers to a magic door. At first, players are asked to do this with blocks that have specific shapes before moving on to blocks that can be placed everywhere. After you finish more levels, you’ll begin to use both, which makes for some interesting possibilities.

Seeing how the world evolves the further you get into the game also applies to mechanics, like the ability to aim a cannon or to move across the room freely. Something worth noting is that Tin Hearts was able to continuously surprise me as more depth became available. I do worry that there will be issues with players not wanting to get to that point due to a slow start, but they’d be missing out on a great puzzle game.

There weren’t any noticeable bugs in our playtime, either visual or performance. Tin Hearts was able to recognize my PC’s hardware and applied settings automatically. It did kick up the fans a little more than I expected, but nothing as bad as some of the more intense games that are out. It’s not an overly demanding game, but players should get it on a console if they have doubts.

It’s amazing how much this game reminds me of my favorite board game when I was a little kid, Mouse Trap, which invited players to slowly build a machine to trap the enemy players’ mice. As I slid each new piece into place and saw the path of my soldiers laid out before me, I felt that same type of enjoyment I got when I successfully trapped one of the other players in that classic board game.

While I might speak highly of Tin Hearts, it won’t be enjoyed by all audiences equally. It’s slow in both its cutscenes and getting your soldiers to move across some of the larger maps. If you’re not a patient person, this puzzle game might be best skipped in favor of something that can be achieved faster. You need to take your time and sometimes coming back with a fresh perspective is all you need.

Conclusion

Try Hard Guides was provided with a PC review copy of this game. Find more detailed looks at popular and upcoming titles in the Game Reviews section of our website!