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Hits ya right in the feels, but the atmosphere of the game changes at the end which is kind of weird. Nothing says indie game quite like AI blocks in relationships.

GeometryFeels/10

Beautiful game. Go for it. An experience you'll never forget. The rectangles are not just rectangles, they really connect with you. You'll get that warm fuzzy feeling inside once you finish the game. Now downloading the amazing soundtrack. 9/10 easily

Thomas Was Alone is a truly indie gem.

In this game you guide a group of rectangles, each one with a unique skill, through dozens of puzzle-platformer levels. There's a beautiful story about friendship and cooperation that will let you hooked on the screen. The music, composed by David Housden, is touching and helps to create an incredible immersive feeling. Thomas Was Alone last just a few hours, but it's very enjoyable if you like this genre.

I've always seen this game on sale but never bought it until I see it in a bundle of my interest. Don't do like I did. If you really love the concept of games as an art, you should play Thomas Was Alone right now. It's fantastic!

Somehow this game makes you genuinely care about rectangles and their feelings.

A game where you cry at Geometry.

☺ Interesting, witty and engaging story.
☺ Lovely, minimalist art style.
☺ Good puzzle platforming.

☹ Not very challenging gameplay.
☹ A little short.

Thomas Was Alone is a lovely and engaging platformer from start to finish that tells the tale of some plucky AI figuring out their place in the minimalist world they see themselves in. It features some good puzzles based around your team of AI working together to overcome the obstacles before them, each with their own unique ability and personality (which really shines through, despite being simple shapes, thanks to the narration work of Danny Wallace and some good writing).

While a little on the short side, it does manage to stay focused without any padding - although I would have liked the game to have continued for a bit longer with escalating difficulty. The game is quite slow paced with a soothing soundtrack which compliments the minimalist style and produces a rather relaxing experience which is topped off with decent controls that never caused frustration.

While easily recommended for fans of slower paced 2D platformers and those people who like a well written story, the length of the game (and lack of replayabilty) means I'd suggest waiting for a sale.

Thomas Was Alone is an indie title that fuses puzzle elements with basic platforming and minimalist visuals. You see, Thomas is a block. Thomas and all of the other characters he will meet along the way in fact are all blocks. All of the blocks are trapped in a construct of sorts. Learning their individual purposes. Along the way, you will not so much be guided, as instead enchanted by the wonderful narration you will hear throughout each level. Reminiscent of the narration you may hear in Stanely's Parable or Bastion. Not so much to hep you as to instead tell a story. And that is exactly what the narrator in TWA does, and does it well indeed.

The game may appear to be a platformer, but honestly the platforming takes a back seat to the puzzle structure of the game. Each block has a different ability. Whether it be how the block moves, what the block can do, or the shape of the block, each block when paired with another can overcome different obstacles. One block may act as a floatation device, while another can be a trampoiline of sorts. You can line up blocks to act as stepping stones for other blocks that can not jump high. And so on and so forth. You are able to seamlessly switch between blocks at ease, so the flow of the game is never broken.

There are quite a few stages, but each seems to be over way too quickly, leaving you wishing they fleshed the game out more, since it really is a fun and unique idea for this genre. Hopefully we get a sequel to this one day, with maybe a little stronger emphasis on the platforming.

Visually, the game is about as simple as you can get in design. Everything is block based. And the colors are simple. The only thing I saw that really stood out was the nice use of lighting and shadows in a 2D world.


Pros
- Fun puzzle elements
- Fantastic narration of the game

Cons
- Short game
- Platforming is easy

Yes this is a game about squares and rectangles, but it's also so much more than that. The heart and soul of Thomas Was Alone is its story of friendship, learning to believe in yourself, and never settling for just OK. Groan worthy as that may sound, developer and writer Mike Bithell deftly avoids the pretentious and heavy handed pitfalls that have proven to be so easy to fall into, and manages to craft a narrative that is touching, funny, and unquestionably charming from start to finish.

Equal if not greater credit for this also has to go to Danny Wallace for his spot on voice acting which includes a liberal amount of British wit, that brought to life these quadrilateral characters in a way that despite being a tired phrase, can only be described as a triumph! When the end came after just over two hours, I was saddened not because I felt unsatisfied or that it was too short, but merely wanted to spend more time with these characters I had so quickly come to love.

Even if forgoing the story, TWA is still a very clever puzzle platformer that near perfectly balances the difficulty to rarely be frustrating but always satisfying. The levels have been thoughtfully planned without any filler to speak of, which made for no obvious stopping points and instead keep the adventure rolling. What I feel is most remarkable though is how ingeniously gameplay is blended with story, building upon each other and proving impossible to separate without sacrificing what makes the various components so great. This to me is what defines a great videogame story; something that couldn't be achieved the same way in any other medium and was built with this understanding in mind.

Unlike the dozens of simplistic flash games that use similarly primitive shapes as placeholders or out of sheer laziness, here much care has been put into each block and area to make them both unique and memorable, result is not the least bit unpleasant to look at. From the subtle jump animations to the impressive lighting, upon further inspection TWA is much more detailed than it first appears, and with the engrossing soundtrack the presentation across the board is simply a treat.

I'm sure if I tried I could find something to nitpick about, but there's no need for me to as that is all it would be. I absolutely loved every moment of Thomas Was Alone, and you would be hard pressed to stop me from recommending to almost everyone. Mike Bithell did a cracking fine job in every regard, and I'm ever so thankful he was able and willing to share it with me. Now I hope to do the same and that this prompts you to take a moment if you haven't to meet Thomas, who as it turns out was most certainly not alone.

You can read more of my writing on Kritiqal[kritiqal.com].

If one had to play only a single Indie game, Thomas Was Alone would be the one, hands down.

A player starts the game as Thomas, a plain, red rectangle that has just gained sentience after being part of an artificial intelligence experiment in the real world. However, in the digital world, Thomas learns to feel and express himself, attempting to learn more about the world and his inner-conflicts and importance. Along his journey, he meets up with other shapes each with a unique ability, such as being able to double jump (Thomas and all the others can only single jump), to be used as a springboard, or to swim (which the others cannot). These shapes are a few of many characters that exist in Thomas Was Alone. Each shape has a unique personality that is conveyed by the narration throughout the game. In addition, each shape Thomas encounters is also controllable by the person playing the game, which creates the need for teamwork and strategy.

At first, the shapes think too highly of themselves to feel the need to cooperate with the others. They soon figure out that they can escape to the real world, become architects, and change the virtual world they inhabit, for the betterment of all shapes. This creates a common goal that they work toward as a team instead of as individuals. To make progress, they need each other's unique abilities.

Thomas Was Alone is a game that teaches fundamental lessons about life. We all are a part of a bigger picture and we must coexist and cooperate to make any sort of advancement. We all need to learn how to overcome obstacles to cooperation. We all need to learn the meaning of true friendship while discovering our true selves and our unique talents. These themes reverberate throughout the game, or should I say, work of art.

*I wrote a review back in 2013 (When I completed the game) but felt Thomas Was Alone could use some more justice so I constructed an updated review.*

Gameplay: 10/10 - Never was bored, played it all in one playthrough, loved the soundtrack and narration.

Storyline: 10/10+ My favorite Indie game of all time. This story speaks more than most games can.

Combat: N/A

Scary? Nope.

Pop-Ups: None.

Graphics: Not even worth rating. The story trumps the graphics in this case.

100% Achievements: Easy.

Singleplayer: 10/10 - It was so superb I played through it all in one sitting.

Replayability: 10/10 - I will definitely revist and play through Thomas Was Alone again.

Multiplayer: N/A - No multiplayer needed to admire this wonderful game.