The building blocks of any character in a game, at least in traditional 2D space, are blocks, or pixels. Artwork and characterisation give them life but how much of that is by the character designer, and how much of that is the player? Object vs Image. Thomas Was Alone, apart from having an exceptional name, is also one of the most thoughtful games I have recently played.
The protagonist, initially, is a curious a.i. that would like to understand the world, and this is narrated as he "thinks" whilst you control him. Those thoughts are voiced by Danny Wallace (link), and very charmingly voiced too. And what you must do is very simple, go to the right and up where possible. Up, and to the right.
Thomas is not the only string of code you meet, or indeed control, as there is a varied cast of characters that you must help along - each with their own personality, skills and motivations. They include, amongst others, a grumpy Chris, an insecure Laura and, my own favourite, a delusional superhero called Claire.
The game itself is short and simple being a mix of platforms and puzzles and that simplicity makes it really accessible - I think even those that do not habitually game can enjoy this. In order to progress, all of the characters need to get to their gates at the same time so you must switch between them as and when required. After a while, you will need to use teamwork to overcome and each character is used a lot to trigger switches, as stepping stones or as carriers.
The concept is all well and good but the coherence of the level design and character design helps it shine. The aesthetic is one that appeals to me as it is both old-fashioned and very smooth - it is basically how I imagine games to have looked (this is my yardstick for HD remakes...) - simple, clear but with a rich texture (essentially noise due to analogue connections or, that lovely CRT scanline). The audio is also lovely - lovely enough for me to purchase separately in fact [from bandcamp]. Musically, the soundscape is quite electronic but also melodic with a weight that matches the faintly epic plot. I'll be honest, the visuals and sound are almost honed to be my kind of thing - simultaneously modern and retro. As a result of the charming story telling and these technical elements, I found it very easy to feel lost in a believable world.
I played this quite close to Shadow of the Colossus [link] and it has a lot of similarities in the theme whilst being almost completely different aesthetically and in gameplay terms. Personally, I think both attract thoughts about what makes a character and whereas Wanda is almost entirely mute and has no friends at all and so is characterised entirely by his visuals, Thomas is a coloured square. A talkative, inquisitive and friendly square.
One thing that I really liked about Thomas Was Alone as I played it was how untaxing I found it. The puzzles are simple but still give you a feeling of achievement and that "eureka" switch. In order to tell the story and achieve its ends, it works but I can see that it could be seen as a little short at just about 3 hours of untaxing gameplay. In some respects, it shows up the tension constant in game design between progression through the game and resistance against that by the game itself - and that can only be resolved by thinking about what you want out of a game. I've played through a few times, and the first time is clearly a great experience but people want different things out of their time. I'd rather have a short thought-provoking experience than a longer, enjoyable retread. In actual fact, I found it so compelling, I missed my stop on the train to work - something I hadn't done since working in Takashimadaira [link] in 2003 playing on the Game Boy Advance. I then also missed my stop home that evening too.
Another thing I really liked was the commentary track (a DVD style extra) that you can choose as you play. It is really interesting and opens your eyes to some of the game design issues and the tensions mentioned above. I wish more games would do this although I have to say I've never listened to a film (obviously I have for "The Thick of It") one in full before - though I find game design much more interesting. In terms of "extras", there is not much to collect other than a few jewels scattered around. It is a very tight game with little to do other than the main tasks, there is barely any extraneous stuff there. Again, something I like but not to everyone's taste.
I would actually recommend this wholeheartedly to almost anyone, whether it is their type of thing or not, as it is short enough to be interesting to anyone even if they don't actually like it.
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