Toby: The Secret Mine

 Switch
Metascore
tbd

No score yet - based on 3 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 0 out of 3
  2. Mixed: 3 out of 3
  3. Negative: 0 out of 3
  1. Switch Player
    Apr 4, 2019
    70
    Toby: The Secret Mine doesn’t do anything we haven’t seen before, but it is a solid if slow-paced puzzle platformer. Pick it up.
  2. Nintenderos
    Aug 10, 2018
    65
    Toby: The Secret Mine is a title inspired by great works such as Limbo, Badland and Nihilumbra, but it maintains its own personality, being a simpler, more entertaining, shorter and colourful proposal. Without a doubt we are facing a very short but intense experience, which leaves us wanting more. It's a shame, because with a little more levels, puzzles, variety of situations and collectibles you could have gone much further.
  3. NintendoWorldReport
    Oct 15, 2018
    55
    Toby: The Secret Mine doesn’t really leave a strong impression either way. It isn't awful, nor is it good, with two halves feeling very different from each other. The presentation and story are fun, but the rest really doesn't stand out much. All in all, there are better offerings out there that give you more consistent quality. The puzzle-platformer genre is deep, but Toby is nowhere close to that.

User Reviews

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User Score
5.7

Mixed or average reviews- based on 10 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 2 out of 10
  2. Mixed: 5 out of 10
  3. Negative: 3 out of 10
  1. AliPMcG
    Jan 9, 2020
    5
    Toby: The Secret Mine is obviously heavily 'inspired' by Limbo (same big-head art style, same puzzles, same lack of narrative), and if it wasToby: The Secret Mine is obviously heavily 'inspired' by Limbo (same big-head art style, same puzzles, same lack of narrative), and if it was simply more of the same with a wider colour palette then that might have been OK, but unfortunately for Toby it doesn't stand up well next to Limbo. The puzzles aren't as intuitive as the ones it's apeing, and the movement feels sluggish in comparison.

    Toby: The Secret Mine has some nice parallax background art, but in the foreground it often doesn't distinguish sufficiently between solid barriers and decoration. Triggers for traps are also often practically invisible, which combined with the unclear terrain turns some levels into slogs of trial and error. Hit detection for arrows is broken in places. At one point an invisible trigger triggers some arrows to fire at me, and they kill me even if I am hiding behind a rock and none of them hit me. I eventually checked a Youtube walkthrough to see what I should do and I was doing the right thing, but this bug is apparently exclusive to the Switch port.

    Although the game looks pretty nice at times, it can't escape having a cartoony feel that doesn't suit the dark tone it's aiming for. The final boss battle attempts to have a heavy moral-choice conclusion, but there has been no characterisation up to this point, and the lack of dialogue just makes the endings appear comical rather than meaningful, like a bunch of adorable little teddy bears re-enacting the Salem witch trials.

    In short, if you've played Limbo then you'll notice all the bits that Toby copied from it, and if you haven't played Limbo then you should play Limbo instead of this.    … Full Review »
  2. azathoth_91
    Apr 23, 2023
    4
    Quick review: Unfortunate likeness Limbo. Game is so boring, the only one positive is a visual style
  3. Oddlennon
    Sep 1, 2022
    5
    A very short game.
    Almost infuriating with how often you’ll get killed, but overall it’s fun and it leaves you laughing more out of that    A very short game.
    Almost infuriating with how often you’ll get killed, but overall it’s fun and it leaves you laughing more out of that frustration.    … Full Review »
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