Management games typically fly under the radar compared to its combat and action-focused siblings. However before adulting and other responsibilities took over, I played various management games because it offered me a table of absorbing escapism. Now, Tiny Colony – The first-ever construction and management simulation is here with the nostalgia of pixel art. So get your shovels ready as we excavate underground in this colony management game!
DEVELOPMENT HISTORY
Tiny Colony is a pixelated ecosystem of games, events, and experiences built on Solana Blockchain. This game was founded by Arshia Navabi and Zack Gurganus. The both of them have been working together for the past 2 years on the Tiny Scientist game, and now they decided to integrate it into the blockchain. This project is backed by the game studio iLogos, the prominent developers of Angry Birds 2, and regular partners of Disney, Ubisoft, EA, Rovio, and DreamWorks. Tiny Colony has also signed strategic partnerships with Cardinal, Merit Circle, GBV, and Unity. Currently, the project is in full swing after striking partnerships with Fractal Marketplace.
GAMEPLAY SUMMARY
The Tiny Colony universe or Tinyverse is a fictional world of pixelated, highly intelligent ants containing a rich history dating back a thousand years. In the Tiny Colony Base Game, players can start building a colony without NFTs. However, to fully engage in the rich lore, play multiple game modes, and be rewarded, the player is encouraged to own an NFT.
This game is like Oxygen Not Included and Fallout Shelter where the task is to dig away the dirt or whatever mineral stands in the way of a shovel as the player starts to develop snaking tunnels throughout the ground and turning rocks into rooms. Players of the game can build and grow advanced Humanoid Ant Colonies while also defending their base against the dark forces that roam underground.
You can also challenge other colonies to battle or form alliances to participate in large community events. Other than that, the game also offers various game modes such as:
- Gladiator Arena (PvP): Players engage in combat with another player as their character NFT. The winner gets a substantial number of rewards and rare NFTs. The loser will lose experience points.
- Battle Arena (PvE and PvP): Players can form a party of up to 5 and battle against dark creatures or another 5-man squad. Winner gets rewards and experience points. While the loser’s character will be unplayable until the cooldown ends.
- Tiny Wars (PvE and PvP): Players can create clans and alliances in this game mode to engage in commerce and combat.
- Tiny Slots: a variety of mini games where players may get additional rewards.
- Tiny Theater: Players can visit other users in their in-game theaters, where they can watch animated short films depicting the Tinyverse history.
TOKENOMICS
The Tiny Colony have 2 tokens:
- $TINY or TinyBits is the native token of the game that will allow governance, staking and rewards. This token can be used to buy and sell Tiny Colony NFTs.
- $TEENY or TennyBits is the in-game currency and is earned by playing the game. This token can be used to meet mission requirements, repairing the colony, and upgrading NFTs.
OVERALL IMPRESSION
The sideways view of this building and resource management game really does remind me of Fallout Shelter and even more so when tunneling begins in order to create more rooms and yield resources. Like other clicker and idle games, I don’t see any explicit difficulty in this game. I think the biggest challenge is the slope of the progression ramp. Sure, you can upgrade rooms and facilities but in the end, everyone is going to make progress over time no matter the skill level.
Even though this game reminds me of Fallout Shelter, Tiny Colony has taken their own stab at this genre, injecting it with their own brand of creativity. The pixel art of the game provides a unique visual style and distinct art direction. Yes, pixel art is small and simple but do not let that fool you. It takes a special talent to create tiny images with a limited number of pixels and colors.
With the pixel art and ant characters, Tiny Colony looks like it’s not much of anything but beneath its playful crust, it offers other game modes that add some level of depth to the game. Yes, it’s not as elaborate as a full-on strategy game but the game having a decent swell of community support and the developers just as keen to keep improving leaves Tiny Colony in a good place. I believe Tiny Colony is worth checking out. Besides, it's free to play!