Daravath Saathvik
All games

Game / 2025

Tinku

Help a little robot find his way home across floating space ruins. A calm tap-to-move puzzle game with 100 levels.

Play on itch.io
Role
Solo project. Game designer and developer (I directed the code with AI coding tools)
When
Dec 2025
Built in
1 month
Tools
Unity 6, C#, URP, Fredoka font, Claude Code, Codex
Cover image of Tinku
  • 100levels

01The goal

A calm puzzle game where players feel clever, with a small "aha" when the switches click together. For that to last across 100 levels, every switch had to mean one thing and every level had to be solvable.

02Tap a tile, Tinku walks

I started from a puzzle structure: navigate, discover, solve, complete. You walk the island, find out what each switch does, work out the path and reach the exit. You tap a tile and Tinku walks there by himself.

Level 20 solved: tap-to-move, the crane and all three shards.

03Grey blocks first

The first prototype was grey blocks in Unity: a yellow character, red and green switches, a crane and stairs. It tested one thing: does pressing a switch to open a path feel like a puzzle, and not just a door? The idea held up; everything around it was rebuilt.

04A solver that plays every level

Levels 1 to 20 are hand-made, and each brings in one new idea. Levels 21 to 100 mix those ideas on bigger islands, and a generator makes them, so I needed proof that every one of them works.

  • The game and a solver share one puzzle rules engine. The solver plays every level and proves it can be finished with all three star shards.
  • The generator strips out anything the route doesn't use, and the solver checks each result.
  • Each level is a small text map plus pieces, and the island is built from that data.
Hand-madeGenerated, then checked by the solverWalking moves020406080100120140Level 1: 20 (Walking moves)Level 2: 18 (Walking moves)Level 3: 22 (Walking moves)Level 4: 19 (Walking moves)Level 5: 21 (Walking moves)Level 6: 13 (Walking moves)Level 7: 16 (Walking moves)Level 8: 24 (Walking moves)Level 9: 20 (Walking moves)Level 10: 20 (Walking moves)Level 11: 17 (Walking moves)Level 12: 15 (Walking moves)Level 13: 26 (Walking moves)Level 14: 21 (Walking moves)Level 15: 32 (Walking moves)Level 16: 16 (Walking moves)Level 17: 11 (Walking moves)Level 18: 26 (Walking moves)Level 19: 21 (Walking moves)Level 20: 29 (Walking moves)Level 21: 18 (Walking moves)Level 22: 30 (Walking moves)Level 23: 26 (Walking moves)Level 24: 46 (Walking moves)Level 25: 20 (Walking moves)Level 26: 26 (Walking moves)Level 27: 29 (Walking moves)Level 28: 29 (Walking moves)Level 29: 24 (Walking moves)Level 30: 27 (Walking moves)Level 31: 33 (Walking moves)Level 32: 17 (Walking moves)Level 33: 32 (Walking moves)Level 34: 31 (Walking moves)Level 35: 22 (Walking moves)Level 36: 63 (Walking moves)Level 37: 23 (Walking moves)Level 38: 32 (Walking moves)Level 39: 46 (Walking moves)Level 40: 46 (Walking moves)Level 41: 58 (Walking moves)Level 42: 18 (Walking moves)Level 43: 67 (Walking moves)Level 44: 46 (Walking moves)Level 45: 66 (Walking moves)Level 46: 44 (Walking moves)Level 47: 24 (Walking moves)Level 48: 40 (Walking moves)Level 49: 52 (Walking moves)Level 50: 42 (Walking moves)Level 51: 64 (Walking moves)Level 52: 53 (Walking moves)Level 53: 23 (Walking moves)Level 54: 58 (Walking moves)Level 55: 51 (Walking moves)Level 56: 65 (Walking moves)Level 57: 63 (Walking moves)Level 58: 54 (Walking moves)Level 59: 23 (Walking moves)Level 60: 55 (Walking moves)Level 61: 42 (Walking moves)Level 62: 46 (Walking moves)Level 63: 50 (Walking moves)Level 64: 101 (Walking moves)Level 65: 79 (Walking moves)Level 66: 44 (Walking moves)Level 67: 49 (Walking moves)Level 68: 71 (Walking moves)Level 69: 82 (Walking moves)Level 70: 52 (Walking moves)Level 71: 54 (Walking moves)Level 72: 44 (Walking moves)Level 73: 55 (Walking moves)Level 74: 70 (Walking moves)Level 75: 48 (Walking moves)Level 76: 76 (Walking moves)Level 77: 42 (Walking moves)Level 78: 54 (Walking moves)Level 79: 45 (Walking moves)Level 80: 84 (Walking moves)Level 81: 87 (Walking moves)Level 82: 70 (Walking moves)Level 83: 73 (Walking moves)Level 84: 60 (Walking moves)Level 85: 92 (Walking moves)Level 86: 45 (Walking moves)Level 87: 59 (Walking moves)Level 88: 62 (Walking moves)Level 89: 56 (Walking moves)Level 90: 69 (Walking moves)Level 91: 74 (Walking moves)Level 92: 67 (Walking moves)Level 93: 104 (Walking moves)Level 94: 57 (Walking moves)Level 95: 59 (Walking moves)Level 96: 62 (Walking moves)Level 97: 53 (Walking moves)Level 98: 75 (Walking moves)Level 99: 124 (Walking moves)Level 100: 60 (Walking moves)Switch, crane, lift and pad actions05101520120406080100Level
  • Walking moves
  • Switch, crane, lift and pad actions
All 100 levels solved by my solver: moves and actions on the three-star route.

Tuning in the Inspector

One step every 0.24 s keeps Tinku snappy but easy to follow, and a high bloom threshold means only the exit, the shards and the lights glow.

Art direction

Soft matte clay in cream, orange, mint and lavender: rounded shapes and no shine. The logo, icon, poster and UI kit (the buttons and HUD in these shots) were made with an AI image tool.

05What playtests changed

Playtest

Who
Classmates and friends

The biggest problem was that the levels felt the same. Classmates and friends played it and told me:

  • The switches acted alike, so I gave each switch colour one job.
  • The teleport bounced Tinku back, so pads now keep you on the far side, and you tap the pad to return.
  • In level 9 a flying rock hid a star shard, so every shard is now visible.
  • The levels were too easy, so I rebuilt them as harder island puzzles.

06100 levels, all proven

Tinku now has 100 levels, and the solver has proven every one of them.

What I learned

  • Each mechanic should do one clear thing, or players can't learn the rules.
  • Too many hints take away the fun. Players enjoy finding the answer themselves.
  • Playtesting shows problems you can't see yourself, like levels that all feel the same.
  • A solver and a level generator let me make 100 levels and trust that they all work.

Next

Release it on Android.

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