Tinykin feels like it's drawing on a lot of things.
Fundamentally, it's a 3D platformer and collectathon wth big spaces like Banjo Kazooie and the 3D Mario games. You explore for collectibles and simple objectives, and the ways to do things are open-ended. Movement is polished and feels good.
The visual style is 2D characters in a 3D world, so it's hard not to compare it to Paper Mario. It has a world full of intelligent bug characters with their own cultures and stratifications, much like Hollow Knight and Bug Fables. The perspective of an ant or toy in an otherwise normal house is common in fiction, and this might be the best video game for it. There is also a technical competence shown in the graphics that is a relief to see in indie games.
Tinykin is often compared to Pikmin too. All the promotional material shows your character being followed by and throwing small, specialized creatures. You even use the tinykin to carry loads around. What's missing are the points of tension that justify Pikmin's design. The game doesn't have time limits, combat, or any way to lose the tinykin. That is to say the inspiration is shallow; the game could have just had something like a gun with specialized bullets, and it would have been the same.
That lack of tension pervades the whole design. There are no lives, no health points, no combat, and no consequences to dying in the few ways that are possible. The most difficult moments in the game are optional time-trials. That I had a lot of fun is a testament to the quality of the gameplay loop that's there. It's helped by some good, dynamic music and solid sound work. The story and world are subtly dark and cynical, despite appearences. Frankly, they're something out of an episode of Rick and Morty, but a few moments tugged at my heart.
Tinykin uses a lot of things that work, and they happen to be things I like a lot. It even builds on them in original ways. I just wish it were more ambitious. 8