Thomas Was Alone

 PlayStation 3
User Score
6.9

Mixed or average reviews- based on 94 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 57 out of 94
  2. Mixed: 18 out of 94
  3. Negative: 19 out of 94

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  1. imfromimgur
    Jun 17, 2013
    8
    This game offers a nice experience in an immersive yet simplistic World of flat colour. I know it doesn't make sense, but the developer has managed to create engaging characters from simple shapes.

    The gameplay involves puzzles, mainly platforming that evolves during the game. At each stage, the game offers new challenges and new ways to interact between the characters. It's about    This game offers a nice experience in an immersive yet simplistic World of flat colour. I know it doesn't make sense, but the developer has managed to create engaging characters from simple shapes.

    The gameplay involves puzzles, mainly platforming that evolves during the game. At each stage, the game offers new challenges and new ways to interact between the characters. It's about co-operation and puzzles solving between teams. This game would work nicely with multiplayer. Four people each controlling a character would work well.

    Overall, for the price Thomas was alone is a good deal, and definitely worth checking out!    … Expand
  2. Erroneus
    Apr 26, 2013
    9
    Brilliant game, that really shines as you play through it. Yes the graphics are simple, but the gameplay is spot on and driven by a powerful and well told story, this is a true gem. You get a really good platformer, mixed with some good puzzles and beautiful narrating.

    It has true Cross-platform support, meaning cross-save and cross-buy for your PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Vita.
  3. drlowdon
    Nov 25, 2013
    7
    In terms of storytelling telling and atmosphere Thomas Was Alone gets everything pretty much spot on, managing to create a memorable cast of characters from little more than squares and rectangles despite its minimalist approach.

    Unfortunately the gameplay itself, while competent, can't quite live up to the excellent presentation. I expect many will find it to be a little slow paced and    In terms of storytelling telling and atmosphere Thomas Was Alone gets everything pretty much spot on, managing to create a memorable cast of characters from little more than squares and rectangles despite its minimalist approach.

    Unfortunately the gameplay itself, while competent, can't quite live up to the excellent presentation. I expect many will find it to be a little slow paced and its a shame that the puzzles never evolve to be as difficult, or indeed as clever, as the very best in the genre (such as Braid). It may not be a true classic but I'd recommend it to anyone looking for something a bit different.

    *Having played both the PS3 and Vita version I must say it suited the handheld better.    … Expand
  4. angrypants
    Apr 28, 2013
    10
    Thomas Was Alone is a must own for PS Vita and PS3 owners. Its price is small and the 100 levels will keep you engaged for about 4-5 hours. Each character gets their moment in the spotlight and I never felt robbed of anyone’s impact on the story. The in-game narrator and soundtrack help flesh out its perfect presentation and other games in this genre could learn a lot from it. SimpleThomas Was Alone is a must own for PS Vita and PS3 owners. Its price is small and the 100 levels will keep you engaged for about 4-5 hours. Each character gets their moment in the spotlight and I never felt robbed of anyone’s impact on the story. The in-game narrator and soundtrack help flesh out its perfect presentation and other games in this genre could learn a lot from it. Simple platforming and fun puzzles make sure you're never going to rage quit the game and miss something important to the story. This is the type of game that makes me proud to be a gamer. It makes me feel good that I can connect with a red rectangle named Thomas and cringe and cheer as his hopes and fears come true.  Thomas Was Alone is a story about friendship and adversity but I got something much deeper from it about human self-reflection and how people can connect with anything.  I realize now that Thomas was not alone, Thomas was with me.… Expand
  5. nutcase13
    Apr 26, 2013
    10
    This game is a superb game!! Interlocked with its intriguing story line is a phenomenal puzzle game that gets better every second. The game has a great twist and the character's are very interesting. This, tied in with the fantastic narrating makes for a beautiful game.
  6. alex77456
    Aug 24, 2013
    1
    The only point this game gets from me is for narration; everything else is a bit empty.
    Puzzles are trivial and boring. Story is dull.
    As a whole, game made me feel like wasting time.
  7. outlived
    Apr 26, 2014
    8
    Its amazing how much character you could give blocks, I was absorbed in the simple puzzles combined with great narration. I recommend this to anyone bored with the norm in gaming and wants to try something truly unique.
  8. Bearcat
    Apr 16, 2014
    0
    This game tries way too hard to be this cutesy quirky minimalist thing, giving its blocks (read: spoon-fed by the pretentious British narration) forced cutesy quirky personalities while you solve really tedious block puzzles. You have to individually get ALL the blocks to their destinations, meaning you'll retread the same ground over and over. I do not understand why critics seem toThis game tries way too hard to be this cutesy quirky minimalist thing, giving its blocks (read: spoon-fed by the pretentious British narration) forced cutesy quirky personalities while you solve really tedious block puzzles. You have to individually get ALL the blocks to their destinations, meaning you'll retread the same ground over and over. I do not understand why critics seem to universally adore it—I actively hate this game.… Expand
  9. ferrers405
    Sep 5, 2013
    8
    Simple and touch history, pleasant characters, good platformer and hilarious quotes, a well spend time to anyone looking relax, have fun and pass some time.
  10. Greens
    May 20, 2013
    2
    Thomas was alone for many reasons. It may have started from his upbringing. He clearly came from a very poor family. A family that had no artistic ability. A family that was ugly. He grew up in a world that was ugly. Because of this, Thomas never stood a chance.

    Thomas was a square. Both literally and figuratively. In Pulp Fiction, Uma Thurman sat in the car with John Travolta    Thomas was alone for many reasons. It may have started from his upbringing. He clearly came from a very poor family. A family that had no artistic ability. A family that was ugly. He grew up in a world that was ugly. Because of this, Thomas never stood a chance.

    Thomas was a square. Both literally and figuratively. In Pulp Fiction, Uma Thurman sat in the car with John Travolta and said “you can get a steak here daddy-o, don’t be a…” then she proceeded to draw a square with her hands. Thomas was a square.

    Thomas starts all alone. You have a few options for him. You can move left and right and you can jump. He will do nothing more than this. To proceed, you move Thomas to a portal. Simple as that. I truly mean, simple as that. The final level was as easy as the first.

    During Thomas’s journey a voice over explains his feelings and environment. It tries to be funny, but the long breaks in between sentences and the blaring music over his voice really muddle it and make it difficult to hear. There are subtitles to read along with, but get jumbled around as you move your character making it near impossible to read. The voice over for the first few levels are so long compared to the time that it actually takes to reach the portal and advance, that it cuts off and goes to a loading screen. I realized I had to stop just outside of a portal and wait for the narrator to finish before I could move on. This is only for the first levels where you play as Thomas. Once a new character is involved, this no longer becomes a problem, other than the terrible sound quality and horribly structured subtitles.
    More and more squares get involved, each with their own unique color and ability. The big blue one floats, the tall yellow one jumps far, the green one is anti-gravity, etc. This makes for some very fun puzzles time to time. Every chapter introduces new characters. By the end of the chapter, the puzzles are innovative and fun. Once a new chapter begins though, the puzzles are back to square one and become too simple. Which was a shame. I really didn't need an intro to every new ability these squares had. Out of all the levels the game has to offer, only a few of them were worth playing.

    This game could have been slightly better if they took the time to create fun characters and worlds to explore. The world was black squares with a fancy lighting effect. I understand if the creators are terrible artists, but that’s when you find someone to draw for you. Squares are a really terrible idea for characters. If you had a dude with springs on his feet, then you would identify that with the long jumper or a fat guy with a flotation device around his waist to identify the water character. I kept thinking to myself, what does the small square do? Oh, that’s right. Nothing. A square was actually the perfect character for him.

    I’m disappointed in myself for supporting something that cost more money for me to buy than a cell phone app that was clearly less polished. It’s disappointing to own a Vita and have games like this be featured. I hope Thomas is alone forever.    … Expand
  11. owenprosser
    May 28, 2013
    10
    This is one of the best puzzle games that I have ever played, defiantly on a par with Portal. The graphics in the game are so simple but yet so detailed and beautiful as you look closer, squares are good in Minecraft and squares are also very good here. The game play is perfect the controls are brilliant and the levels are really fun and rewarding. The characters are great they almostThis is one of the best puzzle games that I have ever played, defiantly on a par with Portal. The graphics in the game are so simple but yet so detailed and beautiful as you look closer, squares are good in Minecraft and squares are also very good here. The game play is perfect the controls are brilliant and the levels are really fun and rewarding. The characters are great they almost have personalities even though they are squares. It is just great I could go on for a lot longer but you don't want to read it and I don't want to write it. Just buy it now.… Expand
  12. SuperkenGaming
    Mar 22, 2015
    8
    Thomas was Alone
    A roller Coaster of Emotion
    Thomas Was Alone is a puzzle platforming game The first half of the game really tugs on your heart strings as characters are being introduced, As youre getting smacked with real life metaphors, it just punches your right in the gut, but after the initial introductions the narration and story feels stale, leaving you with only the experience    Thomas was Alone
    A roller Coaster of Emotion
    Thomas Was Alone is a puzzle platforming game
    The first half of the game really tugs on your heart strings as characters are being introduced,
    As youre getting smacked with real life metaphors, it just punches your right in the gut, but after the initial introductions the narration and story feels stale, leaving you with only the experience of the games world
    Disappointingly though there isn’t too much to experience.
    The main objective to the game is to get each character to their shaped portal, you do this by simple platforming and team work.
    There are the occasional really neat levels, but for the most part they are bland, colorless, boring, and offer no challenge.
    I was flying through most of the game, it got really boring and tedious fast.
    The only thing that kept me going was my love for the story, I cared about these squares and rectangles,
    You are introduced to 7 initial characters that each have their own mechanic to them such as inversion, doubles jumps, and floating.. All feeling equally important to the overall level progression.
    But as I said earlier the story gets out of hand and feels jumbled by the 6th world out of 10.
    I was hoping it would pick back up again, but they felt the urge to introduce even more characters rather than give a satisfying ending or conclusion for the previous characters.
    There are 100 levels in total in Thomas was alone, 2 collectibles in each of the 10 worlds to find, and a cute story and idea,
    Id recommend a play through only to experience the narrative, who knows you may appreciate the 2nd half of the game, I personally didn’t
    There isn’t much actual game here though, no risk, no reward.
    You can get through most levels on aggressive instinct rather than sitting back and thinking.
    For what it is
    Puzzle Platformer 7/10
    Overall: 7.5/10    … Expand
  13. TheQuietGamer
    Jun 26, 2014
    7
    A rather basic and simple 2D platformer that is made enjoyable thanks to it's fantastic characters and story. The game just has a way of pulling you into it's world thanks to the excellent atmosphere, charming narration, and humorous writing. It did not take me long to find out that the game was making me care for these characters.

    The presentation is minimalistic to a fault. While it's    A rather basic and simple 2D platformer that is made enjoyable thanks to it's fantastic characters and story. The game just has a way of pulling you into it's world thanks to the excellent atmosphere, charming narration, and humorous writing. It did not take me long to find out that the game was making me care for these characters.

    The presentation is minimalistic to a fault. While it's true the game doesn't need fancy graphics to suck you into it's story, the basic presentation combined with the short and simplistic gameplay end up making this feel like it could have been a free flash game on a website like Kongregate or something, and not necessarily one you should be paying for. You can beat the experience in a few hours, and it never offers any real challenge in it's puzzles or platforming. Still, I in no way regretted spending time with the game at all, and it's still an incredibly enjoyable experience.

    Truthfully the strength of this game is not necessarily in it's gameplay or presentation. It is in it's ability to make you care about the characters and their fates, as well as make you laugh. This one is more about the experience. There's nothing wrong with it outside of some issues with the cross-save system, and the gameplay remains fun throughout, but the real depth here is in the story. So while that does hurt it as a game, it doesn't ruin the overall package. There's a great adventure here, and it's one you won't regret spending a penny on. My total score for the game is a 7.5/10=Good.    … Expand
  14. umafeo23
    Jun 25, 2013
    9
    This game is a must-have game for PC. It made me literally cry more than twice. Please support the developers and get this game, I can't wait for the next game. One more thing... Personally, the only thing I didn't like about the game were the controllers.
  15. Ninmatt
    May 1, 2013
    9
    A beautiful, vibrant, and hilariously cute game that has fantastic narration. This is nearly damn perfect if it wasn't for a short amount of game play. Yet, like Journey it is a short game play that is entertaining every single time you play it. The characters (Shapes) have made fall in love with this game. A fantastic edition to you PSN library.
  16. Tobi3440
    Dec 8, 2015
    10
    Thomas Was Alone is beautiful. Plain and simple. Beautiful visuals, beautiful characters, beautiful levels, beautiful music, beautiful narration, beautiful... well... everything!

    The music in particular is downright incredible. David Housden is a f*cking musical genius. The last track of the game, known as "Freedom" is my favourite videogame song of all time. Give it a listen on    Thomas Was Alone is beautiful. Plain and simple. Beautiful visuals, beautiful characters, beautiful levels, beautiful music, beautiful narration, beautiful... well... everything!

    The music in particular is downright incredible. David Housden is a f*cking musical genius. The last track of the game, known as "Freedom" is my favourite videogame song of all time. Give it a listen on Spotify, you'll love it.

    The gameplay is great, the jumping is amazingly fluid, and if you miss a jump, it's your own fault. Never the games fault.

    True, this isn't a game for everyone. If you play games for gameplay, you won't find much here. This is not your typical "game". This is the proof that videogames CAN be art, if you try to make it art.

    Thomas Was Alone is a game I hope that everyone will get to play at least once in their life, just to think about what friendship mean, and what it feels like to be alone.

    (Oh, and that music! Holy god, THAT. MUSIC! David Housden is amazing.)    … Expand
  17. Broyax
    Jan 18, 2017
    0
    Thomas n'est pas vraiment tout seul, lui et sa cervelle 8 bits ont torché vite fait mal fait leur jeu de clodo et tout ce qu'ils ont pu démouler, ce sont des carrés et des rectangles qui sautent. Mon pauvre gars ! ton ciboulot 8 bits n'a pas toutes les lumières allumées là-haut ! Mais le sens de l'arnaque, tu l'as par contre. Oser vendre un truc pareil, il fallait oser. Pari gagné sansThomas n'est pas vraiment tout seul, lui et sa cervelle 8 bits ont torché vite fait mal fait leur jeu de clodo et tout ce qu'ils ont pu démouler, ce sont des carrés et des rectangles qui sautent. Mon pauvre gars ! ton ciboulot 8 bits n'a pas toutes les lumières allumées là-haut ! Mais le sens de l'arnaque, tu l'as par contre. Oser vendre un truc pareil, il fallait oser. Pari gagné sans doute : les bobos et les étudiants crient au génie. Certes, c'est à faire pisser de rire Tetris ce truc mais on ne ne peut leur donner tort sur un point : c'est incroyablement, terriblement, surtout terriblement, "frais". Oh la la, c'est si frais ce "gameplay" et un peu "rebelle" aussi, non ? il y a un message caché là-dedans, si, si. En "bon" jeu triple Z, c'est un minimum !… Expand
  18. Oldman1917
    Oct 25, 2020
    9
    Good timekiller. It was fun.
    It's not grate, but if you need game to have some fun when you watch something on enother screen - Thomas was Alone - it's what you need.
  19. Jaidenbrkl1
    Mar 31, 2023
    9
    Even though buying this game was CLEARLY A MISTAKE, the game itself is really well worth the $10 I spent on this game. The puzzles are very varied with the narration being completely top notch for its time. - Reviewed on PlayStation 3

Awards & Rankings

42
#42 Best PS3 Game of 2013
73
#73 Most Discussed PS3 Game of 2013

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
80

Generally favorable reviews - based on 21 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 16 out of 21
  2. Mixed: 5 out of 21
  3. Negative: 0 out of 21
  1. DarkZero
    Apr 4, 2014
    100
    Thomas Was Alone gives an all-encompassing experience that’s nestled inside a marvelously crafted world of stories, friends, and jumping.
    Read full review
  2. Official PlayStation Magazine Benelux
    Sep 4, 2013
    80
    This puzzle platformer may sport some the most dull looking characters we have ever seen in a videogame. But you just can not help but care for these small little blocks because of the game's very well designed mechanics and great storytelling. [June 2013, p.90]
  3. Playstation Official Magazine Australia
    Jul 12, 2013
    70
    Thomas Was Alone comes together into something more than the sum of its multiple simplistic parts. [July 2013, p79]
See all critic reviews »