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(Image credit: Ogre Pixel)
My daughter and I are playingA Tiny Sticker Tale, a lighthearted endeavor that indie developer Ogre Pixel bills as a “cozy adventure about changing the world, using the power of stickers!” In practice, this sees you filling the teeny tiny boots of Flynn the donkey, exploring a tile-based map chock-full of friendly anthropomorphic townsfolk, and carrying out a steady string of fetch quests and favors, completing puzzles and meeting specific criteria to progress its light-touch narrative.
It looks lovely, it’s easy to understand, and it’s full of choices and basic puzzles that occasionally leave you scratching your head but never for too long. But more than any of this, above all else and most importantly for me, A Tiny Sticker Tale makes my daughter laugh.
Stick ‘em up
(Image credit: Ogre Pixel)
STAR OF THE SHOW(Image credit: Armor Game Studios)This time-looping adventure with Undertale vibes is one of the best RPGs I’ve played this year
STAR OF THE SHOW
(Image credit: Armor Game Studios)This time-looping adventure with Undertale vibes is one of the best RPGs I’ve played this year
(Image credit: Armor Game Studios)
This time-looping adventure with Undertale vibes is one of the best RPGs I’ve played this year
Early doors in the game’s story, for example, one friendly critter is too hot under the summer sun. They’ll give you a key item for a different villager if you help them out, and so you’re required to backtrack to a different map screen, uproot a few shady trees, pop them into your sticker book, and then replant them around the chap who’s baking in the heat. They offer thanks, hand over the key item, and then you’re on your way to the next conundrum.
From there, A Tiny Sticker Tale follows that prescribed formula pretty rigorously as you uncover narrative vignettes, learning more about the wider world and the idiosyncrasies of the folk who call it home as you go. I won’t spoil the specifics, but part of Flynn’s tale relates to his relationship with his father – and while the importance of family and friendships is a constant theme throughout A Tiny Sticker Tale, this particular story thread caught me off-guard. It’s heartfelt, poignant, and genuinely moving, almost at odds with the rest of the game’s whimsical framing and yet so perfectly fitting at the same time. It’s an emotionally-charged string of conversations that are so unexpectedly powerful that I was almost brought to tears.
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(Image credit: Ogre Pixel)
“I’d pretend I wasn’t getting emotional at every turn, and my daughter, bless her, spent much of our time together asking if I was okay.”
“I’d pretend I wasn’t getting emotional at every turn, and my daughter, bless her, spent much of our time together asking if I was okay.”
I was okay, and all the better for playing A Tiny Sticker Tale – an inadvertent pantomime, a bonding experience, an emotional rollercoaster, a bloody good cozy adventure game and an unexpected late entry into my personal Game of the Year list for last year.
For more exciting indie releases check out our roundup ofupcoming indie games, or see what else we’ve been enjoying with ourIndie Spotlightseries.
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GAME REVIEWSMOVIE REVIEWSTV REVIEWS
1Nemesis review: “A magical sense of tension”
1Nemesis review: “A magical sense of tension”
1
Nemesis review: “A magical sense of tension”
2Arcs review: “A whole lot of game in a small package”
2Arcs review: “A whole lot of game in a small package”
2
Arcs review: “A whole lot of game in a small package”
3Path of Exile 2 review: “A stellar start to a thrilling and brutal dark adventure”
3Path of Exile 2 review: “A stellar start to a thrilling and brutal dark adventure”
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Path of Exile 2 review: “A stellar start to a thrilling and brutal dark adventure”
4Indiana Jones and the Great Circle review: “The best adventure Indy has embarked on in over 30 years”
4Indiana Jones and the Great Circle review: “The best adventure Indy has embarked on in over 30 years”
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Indiana Jones and the Great Circle review: “The best adventure Indy has embarked on in over 30 years”
5Marvel Rivals review: “So preoccupied with trying to be like Overwatch that it forgets to play to its own strengths”
5Marvel Rivals review: “So preoccupied with trying to be like Overwatch that it forgets to play to its own strengths”
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Marvel Rivals review: “So preoccupied with trying to be like Overwatch that it forgets to play to its own strengths”
1Sonic the Hedgehog 3 review: “Keanu Reeves as Shadow is wasted whilst Jim Carrey steals the show”
1Sonic the Hedgehog 3 review: “Keanu Reeves as Shadow is wasted whilst Jim Carrey steals the show”
1
Sonic the Hedgehog 3 review: “Keanu Reeves as Shadow is wasted whilst Jim Carrey steals the show”
2Mufasa: The Lion King review – “It’s no Hakuna Matata but this Disney origin story is a class above the 2019 movie”
2Mufasa: The Lion King review – “It’s no Hakuna Matata but this Disney origin story is a class above the 2019 movie”
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Mufasa: The Lion King review – “It’s no Hakuna Matata but this Disney origin story is a class above the 2019 movie”
3Kraven the Hunter review: “The insistence on an R-rating helps save this, with a decent helping of bloodthirsty action”
3Kraven the Hunter review: “The insistence on an R-rating helps save this, with a decent helping of bloodthirsty action”
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Kraven the Hunter review: “The insistence on an R-rating helps save this, with a decent helping of bloodthirsty action”
4The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim review – “An uninspired expansion of the most iconic screen take on Tolkien”
4The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim review – “An uninspired expansion of the most iconic screen take on Tolkien”
4
The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim review – “An uninspired expansion of the most iconic screen take on Tolkien”
5Nightbitch review: “Amy Adams' disappointing dark comedy is all bark and no bite”
5Nightbitch review: “Amy Adams' disappointing dark comedy is all bark and no bite”
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Nightbitch review: “Amy Adams' disappointing dark comedy is all bark and no bite”
1Doctor Who 2024 Christmas special review: “Ncuti Gatwa is as magnetic as ever in this delightful festive treat”
1Doctor Who 2024 Christmas special review: “Ncuti Gatwa is as magnetic as ever in this delightful festive treat”
1
Doctor Who 2024 Christmas special review: “Ncuti Gatwa is as magnetic as ever in this delightful festive treat”
2Secret Level review: “An uneven experience with serious highlights that ultimately make up for the misses”
2Secret Level review: “An uneven experience with serious highlights that ultimately make up for the misses”
2
Secret Level review: “An uneven experience with serious highlights that ultimately make up for the misses”
3Skeleton Crew review: “Perfectly captures the vibes of classic Star Wars with a swashbuckling twist”
3Skeleton Crew review: “Perfectly captures the vibes of classic Star Wars with a swashbuckling twist”
3
Skeleton Crew review: “Perfectly captures the vibes of classic Star Wars with a swashbuckling twist”
4Creature Commandos review: “James Gunn’s heartwarming, R-rated tale about super-monsters proves that the DCU is in good hands”
4Creature Commandos review: “James Gunn’s heartwarming, R-rated tale about super-monsters proves that the DCU is in good hands”
4
Creature Commandos review: “James Gunn’s heartwarming, R-rated tale about super-monsters proves that the DCU is in good hands”
5Cobra Kai season 6, part 2 review: “Returns to the sort of hard-hitting form that made it such a fan favorite in the first place”
5Cobra Kai season 6, part 2 review: “Returns to the sort of hard-hitting form that made it such a fan favorite in the first place”
5
Cobra Kai season 6, part 2 review: “Returns to the sort of hard-hitting form that made it such a fan favorite in the first place”