14 DAY TRIAL // 
Cooperative puzzle games are few and far between but, with Tiny Brains, developer Spearhead and publisher 505 want to deliver a delightful little experience that challenges not just a single player, but up to four of them, to complete a series of great challenges.
By controlling four different tiny creatures, each equipped with special powers, which must explore a laboratory filled with elaborate challenge rooms, players are certainly in for a wild ride.
Does Tiny Brains manage to deliver on its pretty clever concept or should it leave the thinking to someone else? Let's find out.
Tiny Brains allows players to control one of four different creatures that have been experimented on by a crazy Russian scientist. There's Minsc, the hamster that can summon and destroy platforms, Dax, the bat that can push objects with his sound attack, Stew, the rabbit that can vacuum anything in his vicinity, and Pad, the mouse that can switch places with various objects.
While the premise is certainly intriguing, the character design for the four main creatures is creepy, to say the least. The fact that the plot is trying to aim for comedy and comic relief also fails to explain just why the four little animals have been experimented on and left in such eerie states.
In terms of actual gameplay, Tiny Brains has two very different sides. First, when playing alone, it's a bit annoying, even if the puzzles change so that they can be completed by a single person who just swaps between the different animals.
When playing with others, the puzzles get trickier and require a lot of cooperation and plenty of communication. On the PC you can play locally with one player using the mouse and keyboard, while others use dedicated controllers.
Unfortunately, if you're playing with a mouse and keyboard, you're in for a bad time, as the direction in which the animals move is dictated both by your mouse and the regular movement keys, resulting in a frustrating experience. Throw in the fact that you can't use a mouse during the menu and the game is a pain to interact with.
The actual puzzles deliver a decent challenge but they become repetitive after a while, even if the story campaign can be completed in just 3 hours. There are bonus challenge rooms and modes, but they lose their charm in a very short while.
In order to break the monotony, Tiny Brains also throws in different levels where you have to either move a ball through a sloped course, or protect a defenseless critter against evil tiny chicks. These moments are flawed by shoddy collision detection, in terms of enemies, and by extremely hard moments, when it comes to controlling the ball when playing solo.
In terms of visuals, Tiny Brains looks relatively good and uses a wide and varied color palette. Unfortunately, like I mentioned above, the character models are creepy and the style doesn't always work as intended. Framerate issues are also present, and the fixed camera doesn’t always make it apparent that there are differences in height between your character and other platforms or targets.
The soundtrack is decent but unimpressive. The voice acting for the Russian scientist is pretty good, but besides that, Tiny Brains doesn't stand out at all.
Conclusion
Tiny Brains can be pretty fun when played with others, especially on the same computer. When played alone, it's an annoying affair and its repetitive puzzles do nothing to redeem it. Throw in the clunky sequences where you have to move big balls or protect tiny chicks and you won't have that much fun with it.
