Thomas Was Alone

About

"Thomas Was Alone" is a platformer puzzle game that features minimalistic graphics and a unique narrative. Players control various AI characters, each with their own abilities, as they navigate through levels and solve puzzles to progress. The game explores themes of friendship, self-discovery, and emotional depth, giving it a distinctive and memorable identity in the gaming world.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player Play through the game's story or campaign solo

94%

Audience ScoreBased on 7,688 reviews

story2k positive mentions

grinding151 negative mentions

Charming narrative that makes players emotionally invested in the characters, despite them being simple geometric shapes.
Engaging puzzles that gradually increase in complexity, providing a satisfying challenge without being overly frustrating.
Beautiful soundtrack and excellent narration that enhance the overall experience of the game.

Gameplay can feel tedious and repetitive, especially when switching between multiple characters to solve puzzles.
Some levels may require precise timing, which can lead to frustration due to unresponsive controls.
The story can feel disjointed at times, particularly towards the end, leaving players wanting a more satisfying conclusion.

story
4,105 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
49%
2%
The story of "Thomas Was Alone" is a surprisingly deep and engaging narrative that revolves around a group of sentient rectangles, each with distinct personalities and abilities. The game is narrated by Danny Wallace, whose voice brings the characters to life and adds emotional weight to their journey of friendship and self-discovery. While the gameplay is simple and often easy, the storytelling and character development elevate the experience, making players genuinely care about the shapes and their quest.
- “The story was really well put together, and all the characters had super unique personalities that I felt really explored the whole space of possible emotions when one is in that sort of situation.”
- “The narration is fantastic, and you really feel for these quirky little blocks by the end of the story.”
- “The story is wonderful; this is 100% a comfort game of mine. I always come back to it when I'm feeling down.”
- “The story kind of loses its track, I think, and ends a bit abruptly, which is a shame.”
- “The story didn't make that much sense nor end with any sort of closure.”
- “The story is presented surprisingly well despite the simplistic looking style of the game.”
music
1,785 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
64%
34%
2%
The music in "Thomas Was Alone" is widely praised for its beautiful, calming, and emotionally resonant qualities, effectively enhancing the game's narrative and atmosphere. Many reviewers highlight the soundtrack as a standout feature, often describing it as one of the best they've encountered in video games, with a mix of electronic and orchestral elements that complement the minimalist visuals and storytelling. However, some players noted issues with audio bugs, such as overlapping tracks, which can detract from the overall experience.
- “The music is instantly fun and magnetic in the way it invites my attention.”
- “The soundtrack is beautiful and complements the story told.”
- “The music, voice acting, writing are all superb.”
- “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.”
- “The music is just a series of the same sounding mess on a piano with the reverb set at max. It was so annoying to listen to and obtrusive to the gameplay that I had to turn it off immediately.”
- “The music can become irritating to listen to.”
gameplay
1,593 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
38%
57%
5%
The gameplay of "Thomas Was Alone" is characterized by its minimalist design and simple mechanics, primarily focusing on platforming and puzzle-solving elements. Players control various rectangular characters, each with unique abilities, to navigate through levels that gradually introduce new mechanics, keeping the experience fresh and engaging. While the gameplay is generally straightforward and not overly challenging, it effectively complements the game's narrative, creating a compelling emotional connection with the characters.
- “What surprised me most was how the game keeps introducing new mechanics almost to the very end.”
- “The gameplay is solid and not so simple for the game to be sped through, but the focus is more on the story and it perfectly complements the great storytelling and narration.”
- “The gameplay consists of switching between several differently colored and shaped rectangles and using each one's unique abilities to get all of them to their respective goals.”
- “The gameplay is nothing new or overly complicated platforming with puzzle aspects but can be rather challenging at times, with the goal to get to the end portals for each of the AI's at the same time.”
- “The gameplay is simple and based on puzzles; there are different geometric shapes that you control, and they present some resources that basically should be used together to solve the puzzles.”
- “The gameplay is quite weak-mid (you clearly just control boxes while playing with gravity).”
graphics
878 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
44%
53%
3%
The graphics of "Thomas Was Alone" are characterized by a minimalist aesthetic, featuring simple geometric shapes that effectively convey the game's emotional narrative. While some players appreciate the clean and charming visuals, others note performance issues and a lack of graphical complexity, emphasizing that the game's strength lies in its storytelling and narration rather than its visuals. Overall, the simplistic graphics are seen as a deliberate choice that enhances the game's themes of friendship and individuality, proving that compelling storytelling can thrive without high-end graphics.
- “The graphics are simple yet beautiful, the sound and music are minimal but immersive and the puzzles are interesting but not frustrating.”
- “The minimalist aesthetic may not be for everyone, but I found it just as charming as the characters.”
- “The graphics are simple, but stylistic and nice.”
- “For being a game that's not graphically intensive, the game chugged at about 10fps pretty consistently near the end.”
- “The graphics are, of course, as basic as they come.”
- “The graphics are very minimalistic, even for a 2D platformer.”
emotional
778 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The emotional aspect of "Thomas Was Alone" is overwhelmingly praised, with players expressing surprise at how deeply they connected with the game's simple geometric characters. Many reviews highlight the game's ability to evoke genuine feelings of attachment, empathy, and even tears through its heartfelt narrative, charming narration, and engaging soundtrack. Despite its minimalist design, the game is celebrated for delivering a profound emotional experience that resonates with players, making them care about the fates of its colorful rectangles and squares.
- “I believe this game is a case study on how you can make a fun game, with unique and relevant characters and a great emotional story using only basic shapes!”
- “The storytelling and music, even the level design, is masterfully crafted to emotionally invest you in the well-being of these squares and rectangles as they traverse a world they don't understand.”
- “This game made me feel emotions about rectangles that I never thought possible.”
- “Without the narration, this would be a horrifically boring story about colored rectangles jumping on unforgiving black platforms.”
- “It's a simple game with a far from boring story and puzzles.”
humor
360 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
99%
1%
The humor in "Thomas Was Alone" is widely praised for its clever and engaging narration, delivered by Danny Wallace, which adds depth and personality to the game's simple geometric characters. Players appreciate the blend of light-hearted wit and poignant moments, often finding themselves laughing out loud at the quirky dialogue and the absurdity of caring for rectangles. While some reviews note that the humor can feel dated or overly reliant on British wit, the overall consensus is that it significantly enhances the game's charm and emotional impact.
- “A funny and charming game.”
- “The narration is great with some funny moments and the music is very soothing.”
- “The narration is both amazing and hilarious.”
- “Is Chris' anger and cynicism supposed to be funny?”
- “However, it quickly turned into a bunch of unfunny and outdated references, with no real story whatsoever, and the platforming never got more complex as I thought it would.”
atmosphere
165 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
62%
36%
2%
The atmosphere of "Thomas Was Alone" is widely praised for its unique blend of minimalist visuals, engaging narration, and a soothing soundtrack that together create an emotionally resonant experience. Players appreciate how the game's simple design and charming story allow them to connect with the characters, despite their basic shapes, making the atmosphere a central element of enjoyment. Overall, the game's calming and immersive ambiance enhances the narrative, making it a memorable experience for many.
- “It's amazing how such a simple game brings so much narrative and atmosphere.”
- “The story, atmosphere, music, and narration are great!”
- “The atmosphere blends perfectly with the gameplay, which weaves into the story, which merges back into the atmosphere.”
- “Totally killed the game's atmosphere for me, and this isn't exactly the kind of game you play for its gameplay.”
- “The music is repetitive and does not contribute to the atmosphere.”
- “It has no real movement and relies excessively on droning to give it atmosphere.”
grinding
153 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
1%
1%
99%
The grinding aspect of the game is frequently described as tedious and repetitive, with many players noting that while the puzzles are often easy to solve, the execution becomes a monotonous task of back-and-forth character switching and simple platforming. This leads to a lack of challenge and engagement, as players find themselves performing the same actions repeatedly without significant variation or difficulty. Overall, the gameplay is characterized by a frustrating grind rather than a rewarding challenge, detracting from the overall experience.
- “It's simple, but not tedious.”
- “Many puzzles feel tedious.”
- “The levels were tedious and repetitive, rather than interesting and challenging.”
- “The gameplay is as tedious as it gets: a basic platformer with little visual flair where you must place several different player characters in a goal position.”
replayability
108 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
17%
57%
26%
Overall, the game has low replayability, with many players noting that once the story is completed and achievements are unlocked, there is little incentive to replay. While some enjoy revisiting the narrative and characters, the short playtime and lack of additional content or challenges limit the game's replay value. Despite this, many still find the experience enjoyable enough to recommend, especially at a lower price point.
- “Interesting storyline and cool gameplay which is nice for replayability.”
- “Along with the gameplay, the achievements in the game are quite nice; they provide more replayability and revisiting of levels, and are not too hard to achieve, but not stupidly easy.”
- “The game takes around 4-5 hours to complete, but since the game wasn't particularly hard, it has a high replayability value, since you can always come back a year later and have the exact same experience.”
- “The only downside is there is little to no replay value.”
- “Not much replay value, though—it's a narrative-driven experience.”
- “The game is simple and short, and after you're done, there isn't much replay value.”
character development
101 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
40%
57%
3%
The character development in "Thomas Was Alone" is widely praised for its depth and emotional resonance, despite the minimalist design of its geometric characters. Reviewers highlight the effective narration and storytelling that imbue simple shapes with distinct personalities, making players genuinely care about their journeys. While some critiques mention a lack of connection between gameplay and character arcs, the overall consensus is that the game achieves remarkable character development that surpasses many AAA titles.
- “The character development is really good in this game, as each individual character has thought processes, and each character has their own little insecurities, hopes, dreams, and interests.”
- “It's amazing how the music, the simple visuals, and the remarkably in-depth character development came together to make this one of the most enjoyable games I've played in recent history.”
- “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 and maybe a charming British voice.”
- “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.”
- “The character development is boring and makes no sense.”
stability
56 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
4%
96%
The game's stability is frequently criticized, with numerous users reporting a variety of bugs, including audio glitches, frame rate issues, and problematic physics. Many players experienced frustrating control issues, particularly with jumping and platform interactions, leading to a generally unstable gameplay experience. While some users noted a lack of bugs in their playthroughs, the consensus leans towards the game being plagued by significant stability problems that detract from the overall enjoyment.
- “Controls - 10/10, bug-free and fluid.”
- “I'm proud and happy to say that there are no glitches, no bugs.”
- “For something so simple, I find it hard to excuse the plethora of clipping, FPS issues, and audio glitches.”
- “The game stutters and freezes even on a high-end machine, and none of the fixes I found online helped.”
- “Seriously, this game has terrible lag and frame rate issues to the point it's practically unplayable; also, the physics are flawed from time to time.”
optimization
29 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
31%
55%
14%
Overall, the game's optimization has received mixed reviews, with many players experiencing significant performance issues such as stuttering, input lag, and audio glitches, particularly at lower resolutions. While some users reported that restarting the game or adjusting graphic settings could alleviate these problems, others found the performance disappointing given the game's simple visuals. However, a few players noted a smooth experience without any optimization issues, suggesting that performance may vary depending on the system used.
- “Though some serious optimization issues might arise, this game is still a platformer worth checking out.”
- “Some optimization issues may dampen the experience a bit, but they alone can't stop Thomas and his quirky quintet of quadrilaterals.”
- “Everything runs smoothly and flawlessly, just like a good completed game should.”
- “Likely due to the game not being optimized to be run at 720p if I had to guess.”
- “The biggest hurdle when playing this game were some major optimization issues.”
- “About a quarter of a second of input lag, screen tearing, music plays even when muted, audio stuttering, windowed mode barely works, and I can't adjust the resolution.”
monetization
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The monetization of the game relies heavily on ad placements, which detracts from the overall experience, making it feel more like a browser or mobile game rather than a premium title. While the diverse character abilities add some gameplay depth, the excessive ads overshadow the enjoyment.
- “It's a flash game that got undeserved attention, something that you should get in a browser or mobile with tons of ads around.”