Thomas Was Alone

The brilliance of the trailer for Thomas Was Alone is that, in addition to showing off the game's stylish graphics and smooth narration, it establishes that there's a real game in here: a competent platformer, with falling floors, spikes, water hazards, switches, and so on. But the brilliance of the game itself, is that it goes much, much deeper than this.

Thomas Was Alone can be best compared, mechanically, to games like the Lost Vikings -- generally, you'll be in control of a team of block-shaped characters, each with unique traits. Some may jump higher or farther, some may be able to fit in narrow spaces, and some may have altogether unique abilities like floating or bouncing. You'll need to switch between these characters and make them cooperate with one another to get them all to the level exit. Although the introductory stages are a bit slow, new mechanics and challenges continue to be introduced right up to the very end, and most levels show a sparkly polish that's right up there with triple-A productions.

At about three hours, Thomas Was Alone isn't exactly a long game, but it feels like a complete and fulfilling journey. It's simple to grab ahold of, but ramps up expertly to truly satisfying levels of challenge. The visual presentation is consistently excellent, the music is energetic and engaging, and the narrative element makes the whole experience feel like a work of art.

The icing on the cake is the story itself, which I won't spoil here. Like the game's mechanics, the story develops from almost nothing into something really satisfying by the final levels. I was really surprised by how attached I became to a bunch of colored rectangles.

My only complaint is that, very rarely, collision doesn't work quite right and can muck up the platforming in unexpected ways. Fortunately the levels are designed in such a way that you'll almost never have to repeat more than a few seconds of effort.

Better than: Limbo
Not as good as: Braid -- but it's pretty close!
I hate to admit it: but this is proof that expert-level polish can come out of Unity.

Progress: Complete