Mini Royale | |||
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Release Date | Gameplay & Story | Pre-Order & DLC | Review |
Mini Royale is a fast-paced, toy-themed battle royale where players fight to be the top soldier in the playroom. Read on to know what it did well, what it didn’t do well, and if its early access build is worth trying.
← Return to Mini Royale main article
Mini Royale Story Plot
Mini Royale doesn’t follow a set narrative or feature any named characters; instead, it leans entirely on its gameplay and battle royale format to drive its premise home. At its core, the extent of the game’s lore begins and ends with the players taking on the role of toy soldiers and battling across maps like playrooms and kitchens, with victory going to the last toy standing.
Mini Royale Gameplay
Mini Royale drops players into a battlefield unlike any other—a child’s bedroom, where green army toy soldiers wage all-out war! This fast-paced battle royale challenges players to outmaneuver and outgun their opponents, whether fighting solo or as part of a team, all in a chaotic, oversized environment.
Bringing the classic toy soldier fantasy to life, Mini Royale introduces a range of creative weapons and gadgets. Swing from curtain rods, dodge past towering action figures, and zip across the battlefield using the game’s signature grapple gun, giving players endless ways to strategize and gain the upper hand.
With a mix of action, strategy, and playful mayhem, Mini Royale delivers unforgettable skirmishes and intense showdowns. Only the sharpest soldiers will claim victory in this larger-than-life battleground.
Mini Royale Release Date and Time
Entered Steam Early Access on March 27, 2025
Mini Royale entered Steam Early Access and the Epic Games Store on March 27, 2025.
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Price | Free-to-Play |
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Mini Royale Review [Early Access]
Fun-Sized Fortnite
Much to the dismay of some (and the delight of opportunistic game devs everywhere), I vividly remember that peculiar era in gaming when everyone and their mother—and their game-developing cousin—decided they simply had to make a battle royale. It all started when PUBG seemingly cracked the code to player engagement with its free-to-play model, and, as gaming trends tend to go, the floodgates burst open with hopefuls trying to cash in on the craze.
This rush to cash in on the trend resulted in a bit of a mixed bag. We got juggernauts like Fortnite, which had its own claim to kicking off the genre frenzy, and Apex Legends, which—despite its current ups and downs—was an absolute sensation in its heyday. But, as with any bountiful harvest, there’s always some chaff to sift through. For every success story, there were games like Realm Royale, which flopped on arrival, and H1Z1: Battle Royale, which somehow took a great game and made it worse.
And now, years later, along comes Mini Royale—showing up to the party not just late, but fashionably late. It doesn’t bring much new to the table—mechanically or conceptually—beyond its toy-like aesthetic. But take it for what it is, and you might find that while it’s not rubbing elbows with the genre’s heavyweights, it’s also not something to dismiss outright. So, let’s hop out of the battle bus, deploy our gliders, and dive right into this review, shall we?
Bravery and Honor in the Line of…Playtime?
If you expected Mini Royale to be a scaled-down battle royale, congratulations—you’re spot-on in more ways than one. After all, you’re playing as a tiny plastic soldier waging an opportunistic war against other little green men across macro-sized battlegrounds like kitchen tables, playrooms, and the mundane corners of suburban homes. If that’s not “scaled-down,” then I don’t know what is.
You’d also be right from a gameplay and design standpoint because, at first glance—and even after a closer look—the game is basically every other battle royale, just… smaller and far less developed. Take Fortnite, for example—arguably its closest counterpart. Fortnite throws players into a world brimming with a massive arsenal of guns, grenades, and wild utility items, ranging from realistic to downright ridiculous. Meanwhile, Mini Royale delivers maybe 30% of that variety—and even then, it feels like it’s phoning it in. I mean, sure, copyright and all that, but “Italian Shotgun”? Really?
What about the battle royale format itself, separate from the arsenal? Well, it’s exactly what Fortnite and PUBG do—no more, no less. Players start in a toy blimp floating high above the map, drop in wherever they please, glide down with their little toy parachutes, loot whatever they can find, get into fights (planned or otherwise), and steadily move toward the shrinking play area while trying not to end up on the wrong side of it.
Players inevitably meet in the middle as the storm pushes on, and in the inevitable firefights that ensue from being in close proximity, a single victor emerges to be the last soldier standing for that match.
To its credit, Mini Royale does shake things up a bit with a unique respawn mechanic. Instead of being permanently knocked out after an early demise, you get a limited number of second chances—relaunching from the sky and repositioning yourself for another go. There are even ways to earn extra respawns, which adds a layer of strategy and prevents the classic “one bad landing and straight to the gulag” scenario.
And, of course, what’s a modern battle royale without—wait for it—another battle pass? Mini Royale proudly follows suit, because clearly, the world was clamoring for yet another monetized progression system to grind through. What the game has is more accurately called a Season Pass, but that's all semantics because they function the same. You play, complete missions to earn EXP, which raise your level in the Season Pass, which grants you a lot of cosmetics. Riveting stuff, I tell you.
Now, I realize this all sounds rather damning, but allow me a literary heel turn: for all its half-hearted imitation, this game’s blatant, scaled-down mimicry is exactly what makes it somewhat charming and tolerable.
Hardly Original, But Mimicry Has Its Upsides
Having played Fortnite myself, I have to say—this scaled-down selection of guns (legally distinct names included) is a blessing in disguise. With fewer wildly different weapons in play, there’s less reliance on RNG and more on actual skill. No more getting obliterated just because your opponent happened to find a god-tier weapon while you’re stuck with a glorified peashooter. Plus, unlike Fortnite—but very much like PUBG—Mini Royale introduces gun attachments, striking a nice balance between simplicity and depth. It’s easy to pick up but offers just enough complexity to reward mastery.
As for its battle royale format? Sure, it’s pure mimicry, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. If anything, it makes the game incredibly approachable. You could probably predict every major feature before even booting it up—and that works in its favor. It builds on the solid foundation its predecessors established instead of trying to reinvent the wheel. After all, most failed battle royales didn’t flop because they followed the genre’s core formula; they crashed and burned because of the extra ideas they threw in. Realm Royale had its awkward forging system, H1Z1 alienated its fanbase, and Mini Royale? Well, it has air respawns, not much else, and that’s great.
And that battle pass? Well, I doubt even Matt Murdock could defend its existence as a monetization scheme, but honestly, Mini Royale somehow makes it feel like a complete non-issue. The game’s simple color palettes, plain-looking designs, and completely impersonal toy soldiers work together in a way that makes the whole thing feel… harmless. That might sound like a backhanded compliment, but I mean it—this battle pass isn’t predatory, it’s just there. More of a “buy it if you want” situation rather than the usual FOMO-fueled pressure cooker live service games are doing these days.
But surely, something about Mini Royale stands out beyond cleverly reworded insults, right? Well… yeah. Kind of. It’s not so much a saving grace as it is a slight leg up over complete mediocrity.
High Mobility, Great Queues, Bots, and The Tiniest Bit of Gambling
One of the things that really stood out to me about Mini Royale is just how mobile the players are. Sure, Fortnite lets you hitch rides on player-launched rockets, commandeer vehicles, and construct towers that would put Minecraft’s build limit to shame—but you have to find all of that first. Mini Royale? It just hands you a grappling hook and gives you the innate ability to climb and roll through most obstacles.
Good thing, too, because even at army man scale, these maps have insane verticality—where a simple chair might as well be a skyscraper. This mobility, combined with the sheer height difference across the battlefield, completely changes the dynamic of firefights. Less camping, less rangefinding, less holding angles for eternity. Instead, you’re trying to track an opponent parkouring up an upright bologna at Mach 5, and it’s actually kinda fun.
The game also does a solid job supporting squads of all sizes, with dedicated queues for solos, duos, and squads. Not exactly groundbreaking (PUBG has been doing it for years), but hey, when a game doesn’t have that much else to boast about, it’s nice to see the basics covered.
There's also the feature that I'm seeing more and more off in recent FPS titles, but players can skirmish while on queue to kill time and boredom, and, coming from a person who gets antsy in 5 seconds or less, it's an absolute godsend.
While on the topic of matchmaking, there’s always that lingering concern about bots. In recent games like Marvel Rivals, players have been wary of devs sneaking AI opponents into public matches for one reason or another. But Mini Royale takes a refreshingly honest approach—it just asks you.
If a match is taking too long to fill up, the game throws up a vote, letting players decide whether they want bots to round out the roster or hold out for real opponents. It’s a small touch, but a surprisingly cool one. Transparency like this isn’t just appreciated—it’s rare.
Speaking of rarity, we now reach the perfect point to acknowledge that there’s gambling in this game—oddly enough, completely unrelated to the battle pass. Instead, Mini Royale lets you gamble by spending dog tags (the game’s in-match currency) to reroll your weapon’s rarity. It’s a small but interesting dose of RNG that adds a little spice without tipping over into unfair territory.
Sure, it rarely works in your favor, and more often than not, you’re left with the same weapon you started with—but that tiny, tiny chance to god-roll a legendary rarity? It’s always there, just tempting enough to keep things interesting. And honestly? I’m all for it.
Nothing To Write Home About … For Now
Mini Royale is tough to either genuinely praise or completely rip apart because it sits in that weird, hellish middle ground—somewhere between painful mediocrity and the faint spark of creativity that could lead to something brilliant. I don’t hate it. In fact, I actually like it. The mobility in my base kit means I won’t get instantly dog-walked the moment I’m spotted, and the fast-paced, high-flying nature of its gunfights keeps things engaging. The cosmetics and monetization? Surprisingly inoffensive. The game’s simplicity? A boon for accessibility.
And yet, even with all of that, the strongest reaction it gets from me is a casual “Huh, that’s pretty cool.” But that’s the beauty of early access—starting in the middle isn’t bad, so long as the only way forward is up. It’s certainly better than starting in the gutter. For now, though, much like its pint-sized soldiers, Mini Royale’s appeal is… well, fun-sized.
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Mini Royale Product Information
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Title | MINI ROYALE |
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Release Date | March 27, 2025 |
Developer | IndigoBlue |
Publisher | IndigoBlue |
Supported Platforms | PC (Steam, Epic Games) |
Genre | Action, Shooter |
Number of Players | 1-50 (Massive Online Multiplayer) |
ESRB Rating | IARC 7+ |
Official Website | Mini Royale Website |