The gameplay itself holds up just as well as the story it helped to inspire. To think that it all starts with one red rectangle and a simple press of the “X” is just amazing. It’s really clever stuff and, when combined with witty pop-culture references and David Housden’s BAFTA-nominated score, creates an endearing tale that helps to carry the game along. It’s a mechanic we’ve seen dozens of times but in Thomas Was Alone it is translated as the internal hardship of a downtrodden woman trying to find comfort in helping her friends reach greater heights.

Laura, for instance, is a horizontal rectangle who (yes, I said who) can be jumped on to access higher platforms. What’s more is that the personal development of these characters and their relationships are metaphors used to reflect the game’s mechanics. In giving each shape its own name and personality, the ingenious indie has somehow created a cast of grounded, believable characters, brought to life by the narration of comedian, Danny Wallace. Instead of treating the game’s pool of rudimentary polygons as what they physically are, Mike Bithell has done something small yet amazing.

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