Thomas Was Alone

Thomas Was Alone by Mike Blithell (Self Published) Available for download on Steam.com for $9.99

Plot Summary

The game doesn't have much story to speak of.  You control a series of square and rectangular blocks that jump or have other special skills (the ability to float in water, defy gravity, double jump, or act as a trampoline for other blocks).  What little story there is details Thomas' existence as a programming anomaly: he is able to think and act.  He sets out to find friends and makes a number.  The game consists most of simple puzzles, you must navigate the quadrilateral to the exits (white outlines the size and shape of each quadrilateral).

Critical Evaluation

The mechanics are simple to master and the game's ambient music soundtrack is relaxing.  The sounds of jumping compliment the music.  The color and flatness are extremely appealing.  Tying all of this together is the narration by Danny Wallace -- a British comedian.  The individual elements are rather simple, especially for a game coming out in the early 2010s.  But when combined the overall effect is charming and absorbing.  Ultimately, the game is a little too simple.  One can play through in a number of hours and never really face a puzzle that requires much mulling.  But hearing Wallace's musings keeps the game from getting old.

Note:  The game is available on a variety of formats including Playstation 3.  It must be purchased but is only distributed via downloading.  There is no disc or cartridge (this is the new direction for most indie-level video game developers as the costs for producing a disc game would negatively affect profitability).

Reader’s Annotation

Thomas is searching for friends and a purpose.  Lead him to through this flat maze like world, so he can find purpose.

Information about the author 

From an interview on Cipher Prime: 

Q: Wasn’t Thomas Was Alone your first project with Unity?

A: That’s right. The game was a training project for teaching myself how to use Unity, so the end result was surprising. To this day, its file name is “teachingmyselfunity.proj”. I think it was a good first effort. [Laughing] I am that charming idiot who’s accidentally made something successful.

Q: Did you have any goals in mind while making the game?

A: Two. The big one was that I wanted to make a good jump. And I think there are things that work and don’t work with that jump. It frustrates me that there are still things I want to tweak with it. Second, I wanted to make good characters. So many games have characters that don’t make sense—it really bothers me. I wanted to see if I could make a game where I didn’t ever break character. I chose to set my game in an abstract world, which helped me work out a way to get around that problem. The reviews say I didn’t break character, and I guess that’s the important thing. (Cipherprime, 2013).

Genre

Puzzle Game

Curriculum Ties

None to speak of.  The game's focus is solving puzzles, so it requires some analytical thinking skills, but it doesn't have a clear application to specific classes.

Booktalking Ideas

1) Playing Wallace's narrations may catch the interest of fans of Portal.
2) The game doesn't fall into cliche anti-feminist video game themes and includes blocks with male and female names.  Because of this and the fact that the blocks haven't got any sex characteristics anyway, the game may have equal appeal for all teens.

Reading Level/Interest Age

7 years old and up.

Challenge Issues

It's a video game and to be made available would have to be purchased and downloaded onto a library computer; some parents may not feel that this is appropriate use of library resources.

I would openly greet any patron who presented a challenge to the work, giving them ample time to detail their complaint.  I would listen attentively.  To respond to these challenges I would have some reviews of the work on hand.   I would be prepared to explain that as a public institution libraries "cannot limit access on the basis of age or other characteristics" (ALA, 1999).  I would have copies of the library's collection policy on hand.  I would be prepared to politely discuss that parents can control what their children are exposed to by coming to the library with them and examining books they check out.  If the Teen Advisory Group had written reviews of the work I'd have them handy.  While it may be of little comfort to certain parents, I would also be prepared to discuss my staunch support of intellectual freedom and abhorrence of censorship.  As a last resort, I would be sure to keep copies or a reconsideration form on hand.

Why did you include this game in the titles you selected?

The game was part of Indie Bundle 8 and the simplistic style was appealing.

References

American Library Association. (1999). Strategies and tips for dealing with challenges to library materials. Retrieved from http://www.ala.org/advocacy/banned/challengeslibrarymaterials/copingwithchallenges/strategiestips


Cipherprime.com. (2013). Mike Blithell talks Thomas was alone at dev night. Retrieved from http://blog.cipherprime.com/featured/2013/05/mike-bithell-talks-thomas-was-alone-at-dev-night/