Thomas was Alone

Genre: Indie, Platformer

Developer: Mike Bithell

Publisher: Mike Bithell

System: Windows, Mac

 

This game is one of the older ones on the list. But I had not heard of it until yesterday while I was watching Extra Credits. They were all like, “Go play this game.” And I was all like, “Yes, Extra Credits. I obey.” And, quite frankly, I’m glad I did. As a result, I went into this game with a pretty good idea of what to expect in terms of gameplay and style, but I didn’t truly grasp how great this game would be at story telling.

 

Thomas was Alone is a game about hopping blocks. These blocks come in varying sizes and colors, but are all squares or rectangles. Or, if you like that old math logic joke, they’re all rectangles, but some of them are also squares. Thomas – the protagonist of the story – is a small, upright, reddish rectangle with the ability to jump fairly well. Chris is his first compatriot and is a slightly smaller, dark yellow square that can hardly jump at all and is incredibly jealous of Thomas’ ability and kind of thinks Thomas is a jerk. John, who you meet later, is a very tall yellow rectangle with the ability to jump farther than anyone else and feels he doesn’t really need the help of the other shapes, but likes the camaraderie. Yes, this is how the game presents itself.

The game is narrated by a fantastic British voice, somewhere between Steven Fry and John Oliver. This narration fills these otherwise simple blocks with character, explaining their desires, fears, obsessions, and various other emotions. It’s funny in some ways and touching in others. I don’t think I’ve ever felt more emotionally attached to a game or the characters in a game in such a short period of time.

 

Thomas was Alone is a platformer at its core. For those of you who are not regular gamers (I know there are a few of you out there) think of the Mario games. It’s all about jumping from one ledge to another. The mechanics are very simple and the gameplay is not exactly revolutionary, but, personally, that’s not why I play this game. If you want a good story (one that I haven’t even finished yet so for all I know it may fall apart by the end) I highly recommend you pick this game up even if you are not a regular gamer. I do not think you’ll be disappointed. Plus, since Steam is having its summer sale you can grab it for like $2.50. You really have no excuse not to give this one a shot.

Happy Thoughts: I was laughing and crying playing this game. Maybe it’s just me being all emotional and stuff, but I think you’ll enjoy it even if you aren’t teary-eyed five minutes in.

Sad Thoughts: I am sad to think that eventually this game will end and therefore stop allowing me to enter this very pleasant mental space.

The Bottom Line: You need to come at this game from the right angle. If you are looking for a game that is challenging in terms of gameplay then this is not what you are looking for at this time, but if you want a game that at least gives the illusion of depth of story and character (again, I haven’t finished the game) then this should be a great experience.