Thomas Was Alone tackles heady topics with earnest humor

"Thomas Was Alone" is a puzzle-platformer game that features minimalistic graphics and a unique narrative. Players control different-shaped rectangles, each with their own abilities, as they navigate through various levels. The game explores themes of friendship, self-discovery, and emotional depth, giving each rectangle a distinct personality through clever narration and level design.

  • iPad
  • iPhone
  • Mac OS
  • Nintendo Switch
  • PC
  • Phone
  • Play​station 4
  • Windows
  • Xbox One
  • Android
  • Linux
  • Mobile Platform
  • Play​Station
  • Play​station 3
  • Play​station Vita
  • Tablet
  • Wii
  • Wii U
  • Xbox

Reviews

78%
Audience ScoreBased on 6,930 reviews
story1,893 positive mentions
grinding153 negative mentions
  • Engaging and emotional story that makes players care about the characters, despite them being simple shapes.
  • Excellent narration by Danny Wallace, which adds depth and personality to the characters.
  • Charming minimalist graphics and a beautiful soundtrack that enhance the overall experience.
  • Gameplay can feel tedious and repetitive, especially with character switching and some level designs.
  • Puzzles are generally easy, lacking significant challenge for experienced players.
  • Some technical issues, such as audio glitches and unresponsive controls, can detract from the experience.
  • story3,799 mentions

    The story of "Thomas Was Alone" is widely praised for its emotional depth and engaging narrative, which effectively brings to life a cast of geometric shapes through excellent voice narration by Danny Wallace. Players find themselves invested in the characters' journeys of friendship, self-discovery, and overcoming obstacles, despite the minimalist graphics and simple gameplay mechanics. While some critiques mention pacing issues and a lack of closure, the overall consensus is that the storytelling elevates the game, making it a memorable experience that resonates with players.

    • “The story is wonderful, this is 100% a comfort game of mine, I always come back to it when I'm feeling down.”
    • “An amazing story, one that might make people cry, all over some quadrilaterals - love it.”
    • “The narration is fantastic, and you really feel for these quirky little blocks by the end of the story.”
    • “Characters are rectangles with some personality, didn't find myself very invested in the story.”
    • “Story didn't make that much sense nor end with any sort of closure.”
    • “Unfortunately the story never really develops, there's no really satisfying story beats, and near the end we totally abandon the original cast which was disappointing and left me unsatisfied with the ending.”
  • music1,584 mentions

    The music in "Thomas Was Alone" has received widespread acclaim for its beautiful and emotive soundtrack, which enhances the game's narrative and atmosphere. However, several users reported issues with audio bugs, including overlapping tracks that can disrupt the experience. Overall, while the soundtrack is often described as phenomenal and integral to the game's charm, some players found it repetitive or overly loud compared to other sound elements.

    • “The music, voice acting, writing are all superb.”
    • “The music adds a layer of ambiance to the backdrop to further accentuate the style.”
    • “The soundtrack is by far one of my favourites of any video game, calming yet mystically intriguing.”
    • “The music is repetitive, poorly mixed, and a pain to listen to, especially when the game glitches out and accidentally plays two tracks at the same volume at the same time.”
    • “One of the bigger downsides is that there are a few audio bugs - the music between levels starts overlapping if you play it for too long and you can't fix it until you restart the game, and there's also a weird hiccup at the start of each level.”
    • “Unfortunately, the mid-game music continued to play and overlap all the end-game music, which really ruined both tracks entirely, and it never went away.”
  • gameplay1,438 mentions

    The gameplay of "Thomas Was Alone" is characterized by its minimalist design and simple mechanics, primarily focusing on platforming and puzzle-solving with various character abilities. While many players appreciate the engaging narrative and character development that enhance the gameplay experience, some find the mechanics repetitive and lacking in challenge, leading to mixed feelings about its overall depth. The game effectively intertwines story and gameplay, but opinions vary on whether the gameplay alone is compelling enough to stand out.

    • “The way the characterization connects to the gameplay and mechanics is immensely good.”
    • “The minimalist style combined with the nice gameplay and story make this a memorable game that I’d really recommend.”
    • “The gameplay nicely reflects the themes of individuals having unique strengths and weaknesses, how our own insecurities can get in the way of us accomplishing our goals, and how it's alright to rely on companions to make it to the end.”
    • “The presentation is somewhere between good to excellent, but repetitiveness and tedium are an integral part of the gameplay.”
    • “The core platforming gameplay, in my opinion, was also mediocre and lacked truly sophisticated mechanics or design.”
    • “The gameplay is barebones, repetitive and boring, and no British narration could save it.”
  • emotional792 mentions

    The emotional aspect of "Thomas Was Alone" is overwhelmingly praised, with players expressing surprise at how deeply they became attached to simple geometric shapes. The game's heartfelt narrative, combined with excellent narration and a touching soundtrack, creates a profound emotional experience that resonates with players, often leading them to tears over the fate of these characters. Many reviews highlight the game's ability to evoke genuine feelings, making it a standout example of how storytelling can transcend traditional character design in video games.

    • “An emotional journey with charming characters.”
    • “This game is amazing and surprisingly emotional considering the characters are shapes.”
    • “The story is touching and heart-warming, the graphics and the play style are simplistic but effective and I just love it...”
    • “Without the narration, this would be a horrifically boring story about colored rectangles jumping on unforgiving black platforms.”
  • graphics766 mentions

    The graphics of "Thomas Was Alone" are characterized by a minimalist aesthetic, primarily featuring simple geometric shapes and a limited color palette. While some players find the visuals too basic, many appreciate how this simplicity enhances the storytelling and emotional depth of the game, proving that compelling narratives can thrive without high-end graphics. Overall, the game's art style is seen as charming and effective, complementing its engaging narration and gameplay.

    • “It is very well designed, has beautiful minimalist graphics, and the narration is amazing!”
    • “The graphics while simple fit perfectly.”
    • “This game proves that you can have a fun and emotionally investing game without fancy graphics.”
    • “The discrepancy between visuals and storytelling is ridiculous.”
    • “The graphics are very simple, the color scheme is good so you can identify everything well between the rectangles and obstacles offered.”
    • “I had to set the graphics to the lowest possible setting and then turn off v-sync before I could make it past the snipers without getting lag-killed.”
  • humor341 mentions

    The humor in "Thomas Was Alone" is widely praised for its clever and charming narration, delivered by Danny Wallace, which adds depth and personality to the game's simple geometric characters. Reviewers highlight the balance of light-hearted wit and emotional moments, making the experience both funny and touching. While some find the humor occasionally repetitive or less impactful over time, the overall consensus is that the game's narrative and dialogue create a memorable and engaging atmosphere.

    • “The narration pulls the whole thing together and it's funny, sarcastic, and charming, and you fall in with the characters and want to follow on their journey.”
    • “The story is well-written, funny, and touching, so I can recommend it as engaging entertainment.”
    • “The excellent and often hilarious narration imbues these mere rectangles with more personality than can be found in 90% of games out there.”
    • “Is Chris' anger and cynicism supposed to be funny?”
  • atmosphere158 mentions

    The atmosphere in "Thomas Was Alone" is widely praised for its unique blend of minimalist visuals, calming music, and exceptional narration, which together create an engaging and emotionally resonant experience. Players appreciate how the game's sound design and storytelling elevate the simple character designs, allowing them to connect with the narrative on a deeper level. Overall, the game's atmosphere is described as charming, soothing, and memorable, making it a standout feature that enhances the overall enjoyment of the gameplay.

    • “The music, the voiceover, the simplistic graphics, and the story all come together to create a wonderfully atmospheric game that you won't regret playing!”
    • “The narrator is incredible and helps you become really attached to the characters, and the music is very well done and only improves the atmosphere of the situations.”
    • “Its artwork, narrative, and soundtrack create an atmosphere that draws you in as you make your way through an adventure of friendship and troubles.”
    • “Totally killed the game's atmosphere for me, and this isn't exactly the kind of game you play for its gameplay.”
    • “It has no real movement and relies excessively on droning to give it atmosphere.”
    • “The visuals and audio create a nice, fitting atmosphere, though a lack of visibility was a bit frustrating in a few places.”
  • grinding155 mentions

    The grinding aspect of the game is widely criticized for being tedious and repetitive, with many levels lacking challenge and requiring excessive backtracking or character switching. Players often find the puzzles to be overly simplistic, leading to a monotonous experience rather than engaging gameplay. While some elements are enjoyable, the overall sentiment is that the game becomes a chore rather than a fun challenge as it progresses.

    • “The levels were tedious and repetitive, rather than interesting and challenging.”
    • “I was never challenged and it left the gameplay feeling tedious.”
    • “Once you've solved some of these 'puzzles', the bigger challenge is getting your pieces to the end portals, which becomes tedious rather than fun.”
  • character development112 mentions

    The game features surprisingly deep character development for its simple geometric shapes, often surpassing that of many AAA titles and even some Hollywood narratives. While some players felt the connection between character development and gameplay events was lacking, the overall storytelling and emotional investment in the characters—despite their minimalistic design—were widely praised. Many reviewers highlighted the game's ability to evoke genuine feelings towards these colored rectangles, showcasing exceptional writing and narration.

    • “The fact you can create character development for colored rectangles is amazing and it serves as a wonderful example of how to incorporate storytelling into games, and it keeps it really simple.”
    • “This game has far better character development and a more interesting (if simple) story than most of the books, movies, and TV shows I've consumed in the last few years, and it does that with nothing more than a few blocks and some pretty good writing.”
    • “Despite being simple colored rectangles who don't even have any lines of dialogue, the characters have a lot of personality and character development.”
    • “While to some extent I agree, I feel there was not enough connection between character development and the events occurring in gameplay or otherwise.”
    • “The game was also quite short and easy, which was not just disappointing because I was in fact enjoying the game, but I feel it also didn't allow elaborate enough character development, with a lot of characters receiving only a few words on their core character trait.”
    • “Characters had potential, were absolutely the right idea-- charming characters can look like quadrilaterals-- but with not enough showing, and too-soon or too-abstract character development, characters, very ironically, fell flat.”
  • replayability100 mentions

    Overall, the game has been noted for its engaging storyline and enjoyable gameplay, but it suffers from low replayability, with many players indicating that once completed, there is little incentive to return. While some aspects, like collectibles and challenges, offer minor replay value, the consensus is that the experience is primarily a one-time journey, making it more suitable for casual play rather than extensive replay. Despite its brevity and limited replay options, many still recommend it for its charm and narrative depth.

    • “If you are looking for a game with good narrative, a great aesthetic, puzzles, and replay value, 'Thomas Was Alone' is the game for you.”
    • “In terms of replayability, this is a game I could find myself coming back to every now and then to enjoy.”
    • “For the completionist, there's also additional challenges, mostly involving reaching difficult places, that can squeeze a bit of replayability out of you.”
    • “The only downside is there is little to no replay value.”
    • “The game is simple and short, and after you're done, there isn't much replay value.”
    • “It's only about 4 hours long, and while it is a marvelous story, it's also pretty forgettable, and there's next to no replay value.”
  • stability66 mentions

    The game's stability is frequently criticized, with many users reporting various bugs, including audio glitches, freezing, and unpredictable physics, even on high-end machines. While some players found the gameplay enjoyable despite these issues, others noted that the bugs significantly detracted from the overall experience. Overall, the game appears to be plagued by stability problems that may frustrate players seeking a smoother experience.

    • “Controls - 10/10, bug free and fluid.”
    • “I'm proud and happy to say that there are no glitches, no bugs.”
    • “The game stutters and freezes even on a high-end machine, and none of the fixes I found online helped.”
    • “After enough playtime, the game frequently freezes up in that iconic style that makes me think that memory is paging or being garbage collected inefficiently or something.”
    • “A mildly interesting story marred with buggy and unpredictable physics (ironic noting that it's literally all just rectangles) and bad and unforgiving level design.”
  • optimization24 mentions

    The optimization of the game received mixed reviews, with some players experiencing issues such as slow menu navigation, sluggish jump controls, and stuttering between levels, which were sometimes resolved by adjusting graphic settings. However, others reported a smooth and flawless experience without any crashes, highlighting that the game's performance can vary significantly based on individual setups. Overall, while the narration and story elements were praised, the optimization aspect appears to be inconsistent.

    • “Everything runs smoothly and flawlessly, just like a good completed game should.”
    • “I didn't notice any optimization problems nor had any crashes.”
    • “The narration is well written and the voice actor's excellent performance makes you forget that you're moving solid colored rectangles with simplistic 2D platformer controls.”
    • “The graphics are okay in my eyes, but the performance is not.”
    • “I had high expectations based on reviews, which led to a bit of a bumpy experience at first - slow menu navigation, can't use d-pad (must use analog stick), sluggish jump controls probably due to performance problems (fixed by slightly reducing graphic detail, restarting and killing some 'Xbox' process), music that sounded a little glitchy, especially during loading screens, not much of a challenge...”
    • “My one complaint is some stuttering between levels.”
Positive mentions (%)Positive
Neutral mentions (%)Neutral
Negative mentions (%)Negative

Buy Thomas Was Alone

Play time

4hMedian play time
5hAverage play time
4hMain story
4hCompletionist
3-6hSpent by most gamers
*Based on 48 analyzed playthroughs

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