Thomas Was Alone

[James]

Hot on the heels of Volume's release we're going to be chatting about Mike Bithell's previous game, Thomas Was Alone. We're due to record in a couple of weeks' time, and would love to be able to share your thoughts on the podcast, as always.

So, what did you think of Thomas Was Alone? Too much Thomas? Not enough Danny Wallace? Or was it geometric bliss?

[Alex79]

It was around the time this game was released I started getting really interested in the indie scene. Big budget releases had lost their appeal somewhat and there seemed to be a much more diverse and varied load of games coming out from small independent developers. I honestly can't remember whether I bought the game or got it on PS+, but it was either worth every penny or an excellent freebie! I loved the game from the moment I started it, Danny Wallace did an excellent job of narrating Mike Bithells script, giving real personality to an otherwise random collection of shapes. I know a lot of people have a bit of an issue with Danny Wallace, but I am quite a fan of his work, whether it's his voice acting, his television shows or his books. The game had a real sense of deepness and story that betrayed its simple gameplay. Simple, but perfect gameplay. I finished it in a couple of sittings, and have recently replayed it with the directors commentary on. An absolutely fantastic feature, and one I'd really like to see more of in games. Mike gave real insight to the creation process, and seems a thoroughly nice chap. I really enjoyed discovering all the shapes and what their special skills were, and the truly excellent soundtrack served to raise moments of puzzle solving goodness to states of downright euphoria. The soundtrack, incidentally, has remained on my iPod since release day, and along with Braid has to be one of my favourite game soundtracks ever. I rarely buy DLC but I got the Benjamin's Flight pack for Thomas Was Alone, I just wanted Mike to have some more money, and it was another set of fine levels. The game may have been relatively short, but it packed everything it needed in to that time, a really enjoyable experience and I look forward to what the developer comes up with next.

Three word review : Thomas wasn't alone!

[deacon05oc]

I first played Thomas Was Alone when it was a free game on PS Plus. I have no problem when these games are on the monthly list because I probably wouldn't have played it if not given to me to try. I read mostly positive reviews and since I got this on the Vita which can always use games no matter what, decided to give it a go one evening. I honestly have no clue how the creators were able to create such a story and inject so much personality into characters that are simple shapes. The idea of how all these characters come together to accomplish what needs to be done is nothing new, but it feels so fresh. We would see this story in a AAA game 10 out of 10 times, but it's really engaging to me because of need Thomas has during the story for the other characters. And yes, they maybe shapes but they are characters with more dimensions to them than we see in a lot of big budget games nowadays. Thomas has his skills but he can't do it alone. I loved the story, characters, music, and gameplay. I also enjoyed the narrator, as he had a very reassuring voice and tone similar to the narrator of LittleBigPlanet. Here we have another good game based on shapes. Between this and Sound Shapes, perhaps development teams and publishers need to look to geometry a bit more.

[hazeredmist]

I enjoyed this game a lot, played it to completion on Vita. I think it's a little overrated, the puzzles aren't particularly inventive and the difficulty never really gets going but it was a decent romp for what it was. The style is fairly unique if a little on the nose for it's intended theme, but with regards to the narration there's something about Danny Wallace that rubs me up the wrong way, I always remember him as Dave Gorman's less talented mate, and it's hard to get past that. Unfair perhaps, but there it is. Plus they made the Chris character to be a bit of a cunt in the game, so that's never going to sit right with me

[Flabyo]

I've never played it, but one of my developer friends hates it with a passion that I find quite disturbing... hehe...

[Alex79]

I'd be really interested to hear his thoughts if you can convince him to sign up here and post!

[Nekemancer]

Let me first state that I'm absolutely not a platformer fan. It's just not my thing. Prior to playing this one, I can't remember the last platformer I actually played through or even really enjoyed.

That said, I adore Thomas was Alone. The gameplay was very simple, very little challenge to be found in this game. However, I feel that the gameplay was meant to be more of a conduit for the storytelling than anything else. And that was done tremendously well. Love the music, the narration was spot on, and I never felt like I had to push myself to play the game to see the story. I wanted to play the game! And, as I mentioned, that is incredibly unusual for me in this genre. It might be overrated, but it's still a great little game.

I would actually not recommend this game to people who are big platformer game fans. At least, not immediately. A platformer fan may enjoy this game for all the reasons I and others have listed. But they also might not get into Thomas simply because it just doesn't really stand out as a platformer. It's not especially fast or precise or punishing or score-attacky (that's almost a word!) like so many other popular and excellent platformer games are. Someone who is drawn to things like VVVVVVV or Super Meat Boy might not appreciate this game. And that's ok.

Thomas is alone is a story. And a wonderful story, told with gameplay, narration and emotion.

[jbtheskater]

This was one of those games I just sort of happened upon. I hadn't being paying too much attention to games coming out on the Vita as I was playing through CSotN for the umpteenth time. I saw this on the new releases, was intrigued by the title and synopsis so thought I'd give it a go.

I have to say I found it a really enjoyable and relaxing game. It's unapologetically a game, which adds to its charm. It never stressed me out or frustrated me. I played it through to absolute completion and pretty much enjoyed every moment. I wouldn't say it was a particularly challenging game, but then that doesn't appear to have been the intention.

It is well designed, easy on the eye and the sound track/voice over work is unobtrusive. A light hearted easy-going game.

It is just a nice game. I think that word succinctly sums up all my feelings on it.

[Electric Crocosaurus]

I'm afraid I have to be the person that rags on Danny Wallace. I've had an irrational (or maybe rational) dislike of him since his voiceover work on the Assassin's Creed series. I don't think he's a bad voice actor, but his character in AC was so irritatingly arch it's soiled his voice for me forever.

That being said, Thomas Was Alone is a game that I enjoyed for a while but never made it all the way through. The gameplay did not hold my attention sufficiently, even with the well written dialogue that evokes Douglas Adams and Spike Milligan.

[gallo_pinto]

I first played Thomas Was Alone on my old Macbook because it looked like a game my laptop would finally be able to run. I played through it in one night and like most people, I was blown away by how effective the writing, narration and music were in helping me relate to the different colored shapes. My favorite part of the game was how with only a few lines of dialogue for each shape, there was still character development for everyone.

Spoiler: show

Chris starts as a grumpy cynic and is transformed by love; Claire feels terrible about herself, discovers she can swim and gets a welcome self-esteem boost; James starts as a bullied loner and gradually integrates into the group.

Again, all of this happens in less than ten sentences per character, but it works flawlessly.

I replayed the game again recently on Vita and while I still love the game, I don't think it really warrants a second play through. I think other 2-4 hour games like Journey, Brothers or Gone Home have more to say on their second (or third or fourth) play through than Thomas Was Alone. I think it's great at what it does, but you fully enjoy the writing and music the first time you play it and the actual gameplay is pretty simple. Not really a knock at the game, but I would recommend that you play it the one time and let that memory stay pure.

[hazeredmist]

I'm afraid I have to be the person that rags on Danny Wallace.

You're the second

[Chopper]

Whimsy's not enough