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Thomas Was Alone (PC)

J

jarosh

Member
http://www.thomaswasalone.com/

Anyone playing this?



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Trailer:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Jc0C8H1YgUM


Got some pretty good press. Here's the RPS write-up:

http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2012/06/28/wot-i-think-thomas-was-alone/



NOW ON STEAM: http://store.steampowered.com/app/220780/
 
Saw the GB Quicklook, the game looks nice but mechanically seems like it would get a bit tedious after a while (switching between the different blocks). May pick it up someday on the cheap.

Was also surprised to learn it was the guy from Assassin's Creed narrating, as I could tolerate hearing him for more than a few seconds.
 
Looks like an interesting idea. And I like the narration. Will probably try it out when it's released.

edit: oh, I didn't realized it's already out. Downloading demo now.
 
Played the demo to completion. Really liked it, solid in art, execution, and story, but I could see bits of gameplay getting very annoying.
 
Flip175 said:
Was also surprised to learn it was the guy from Assassin's Creed narrating, as I could tolerate hearing him for more than a few seconds.
Click to expand...

Didn't notice that at first but once I read this I couldn't stop imagining that character talking to me. Not sure how to feel about that. I kinda liked it, too!

Looks like a great concept.
 
Navidson REC said:
Didn't notice that at first but once I read this I couldn't stop imagining that character talking to me. Not sure how to feel about that. I kinda liked it, too!

Looks like a great concept.
Click to expand...

Yeah it was hard wrapping my mind around liking him as a narrator, I think Ubisoft successfully created one of most unlikeable/unfunny characters of all time with Shaun. He desperately needs better writing.
 
I haven't finished it, but I've been enjoying it so far and it's quite wonderful. The game's full of more character than a lot of games that have, you know, people, and I can't get enough of the music and narration.

Fun Fact: Thomas Was Alone was originally called "Thomas Was Alone Today," but then Mr. Bithell (who's reading this right now) realized the acronym might be a bit of a problem, so the "Today" was dropped.

Another Fun Fact: The first "Fun Fact" was a lie.
 
I find the style interesting after watching the GB Quick Look, and the soundtrack. The narration, on the other hand, does nothing for me. Feels like it's trying to hard to be quirky in a Douglas Adams kind of way.
 
Tried the demo yesterday. It's charming but I feel like I've played a lot of platformers like this and it got a little tedious to me. It was a little annoying making the characters climb each other step after step and then try to get around each other, just to move around the level. And getting to the properly shaped doors started to feel like that game 'fit the block in the properly shaped hole' or whatever it's called. These are just brief impressions, but that was my feeling.
 
I bought, played and finished the game yesterday.
It's short, but what's there really is special.
The narration is superb, and actually makes you give a damn about little geometric shapes jumping about.
The music is perfect.
I'm always up for polished, well-done indie games and this fits the bill.
 
Definitely picking this up when I get more funds in my account. I love games like this, with extremely simple mechanics that manage to get you involved and caring through other means, kind of like Journey.

This seems very similar to something I've played or seen recently, but I can't put my finger on it.
 
Narration turns me off in almost every way possible. Just constantly sounds like "Us Gamers eh?" is the very next soundbyte to play. Nice idea though.
 
Kinda bummed this isn't getting more traction here. I was finally able to pick this up today, and while I've not finished it yet, (somewhere in the 50s? The first chapter with James.), it has been a pretty great little game already. The puzzles are just the right amount of "smart", with very little reprimand for trying something that doesn't work. The narration is superb, and really does find a way to endear you to these little geometric shapes. And the music is this neat acoustic/glitch style... very nice and *very* enjoyable.

$10 seems like a pretty fair price as well - especially when you can buy it direct from the guy, and I've already put about 2 hours in and only appear to be a little over half way through. Granted, it does seem pretty much like a single play through title - but hell, I'm just happy to support something that is so obviously a labor of love, that is smart, and seems to have something to say about a topic not often covered in games - friendship.
 
Pylon_Trooper said:
The developer was on the most recent episode of One Life Left. Great guy, hilarious chemistry with the usual hosts.
Click to expand...
Totally agreed; he was really great. I was already ready to buy the game after playing the demo, but after discovering that the developer is a fairly cool guy as well, this'll be my next purchase.
 
Looks pretty cool, but the trailer didn't give me the vibe of anything like Manic Miner (in reference to that quote in the OP image). Will check it out, though.
 
There's too much character switching, which makes the pacing a bit slow. Other than that, it's pretty damn good!

And why does it not have Gamepad support? It's a Unity game, it takes 5 minutes to set it up!
 
thomasmahler said:
There's too much character switching, which makes the pacing a bit slow. Other than that, it's pretty damn good!

And why does it not have Gamepad support? It's a Unity game, it takes 5 minutes to set it up!
Click to expand...

I still have yet to get back into the back half of the game, so maybe it becomes a problem later on, but so far I've found the switching to actually help the pace. It seems like there is a new character introduced every handful of levels which works in two ways: it provides for some new game play twists just as the established mechanics have been mastered, and it gives adds a new personality into the mix of friends. For me, it also makes those reunions all the more enjoyable when you meet back up with the "original" group.

As for gamepad support, maybe someone else can test this out - but I thought there was an option to configure a gamepad from the launch window?
 
Destructoid give Thomas Was Alone 9/10

http://www.destructoid.com/review-thomas-was-alone-230948.phtml

Thomas Was Alone tells a story that's more complex than games orders of magnitude more expensive and difficult to develop. It's also a triumph of narrative's ability to convincingly superimpose human qualities onto nonhuman objects, telling the audience what's what (who's what?) and letting the imagination take over. It proves that you don't need tens of millions of dollars and hundreds of staff to make a game story worth telling, just a good hook, an engaging vision, and a whole lot of heart.
Click to expand...
 
Kush said:
I haven't finished it, but I've been enjoying it so far and it's quite wonderful. The game's full of more character than a lot of games that have, you know, people, and I can't get enough of the music and narration.

Fun Fact: Thomas Was Alone was originally called "Thomas Was Alone Today," but then Mr. Bithell (who's reading this right now) realized the acronym might be a bit of a problem, so the "Today" was dropped.

Another Fun Fact: The first "Fun Fact" was a lie.
Click to expand...

I lol'ed hard.

Danny (Gamespot)'s thoughts on it sold me on how it's not just another "quirky, but substance-less" minimalist indie platformer.

I'll try it soon once I have Resonance, Quantum Conundrum, and Resonance out of the way.
 
Currently riding high at 80/100 on Metacritic after another cracking review from IGN:

http://www.metacritic.com/game/pc/thomas-was-alone

The understated aesthetic design and unusual co-op puzzles will absorb you for the game's duration – the wit and personality of the writing, though, will stay with you for much longer.
Click to expand...

It seems like Thomas is mainly feeling the love this side of the Atlantic so far, after a tweet from the developer, "Interestingly Thomas Was Alone is still played by less Americans than British. Not sure it's been picked up by indie fans over there yet..."

America, time jump on the band wagon!
 
gdt said:
America will jump on as soon as it hits Steam. Any info on when that'll happen?
Click to expand...

Pestering Mike now to see if he has any idea.

Update: All he can say is, "fingers crossed soon"

Another glowing review, this time from Sixth Axis:

I know I go on about indie gaming here on TSA, but there’s merit in that – despite the huge amount of games available in all kinds of genres, there are a few gems in amongst the rest that are well and truly deserved of your time. Thomas Was Alone is definitely one of those games: it grows into something approaching majestic, and you can’t help but go along for the ride.
Click to expand...

http://www.thesixthaxis.com/2012/07/25/why-you-need-to-play-thomas-was-alone/

And now Kotaku has noticed!

This smart platformer strips gameplay down to one single mechanic—jumping—and comes up with a challenging and poignant experience.
Click to expand...

http://kotaku.com/5929049/thomas-was-alone-the-kotaku-review?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter
 
Thomas Was Alone was reviewed by Svenska Dagbladet today (one of the bigger swedish newspapers) and it recieved a perfect score of 6/6.
 
Any news on a Steam release? I have a huge backlog at the moment, so I'm planning waiting for a steam release if that's not too far ahead.
 
allansm said:
Any news on a Steam release? I have a huge backlog at the moment, so I'm planning waiting for a steam release if that's not too far ahead.
Click to expand...

Sent him a mail today and he'd like to have it on Steam as well, but he didn't say more than that and 'we'll see...'.

Hope I get to play this one day.
 
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