Thomas Was Alone

Format: PC

Reviewer: Remy77077

Approximate Time Spent playing at time of writing: 5 hours

Modes of play: Single Player

This is another puzzle-platformer style single player game.

It’s immediately comparable to lots of it’s contempories – VVVVVV and Apple Jack were the two games it reminded me most of, except Thomas Was Alone is far easier & shorter than either of those. I completed everything in Thomas Was Alone, including getting every Achievement in under 5 hours & none of it was especially challenging; even the puzzliest puzzle or the trickiest platforming sections only had me stumped or repeating to get it right for a few minutes at most. In fact the biggest challenge I faced was adjusting my inputs for the significant controller lag I experienced playing Thomas Was Alone. My set up was as I play many PC games: Steam “Big Screen mode”, running on Windows 7, full-screen onto a 1080p HD-TV and using a 360 wired controller. I am not sure I can lay the blame at the game code but this setup has always been fine for me before. It maybe after playing so many platform games recently I have just become extremely sensitive to noticing this.

In any case, it was still a really easy challenge for me and so whilst I found it engaging while it lasted, I can’t fully recommend it in that regard. It will of course be pitched perfectly for some levels of player skill & it’s those players who are most likely to get a lot out of Thomas.

That’s also because Thomas excels in other non-game areas such as music & characterisation. The story itself is also a lot of fun, but like the challenge level of the title, I felt a little let down by it in the end as the deepening plot twists I anticipated did not really occur.

Still, taken for what it is; recommended overall.

Challenge Review: