Splitkick: It’s getting easier to pin the tail on the indie game donkey. Between Kickstarter and hugely successful pay-what-you-want bundle schemes, the indie game scene has arguably never been busier or more profitable. I’m used to the days when people still used the term shareware; a time when providing free downloads was the only way to get your project out there. Having lived through that, having put games out myself (albeit, not necessarily ones worthy of much attention), I’m happy that indie developers can make some cash these days.
A number of new deals are up and running on the North American Switch eShop. These include 80’s Overdrive, Assassin’s Creed III: Remastered, Spice and Wolf VR, Thomas Was Alone, and more.
As it’s a package from 2013 of a game that reportedly sold a million copies, you probably already know if you need to get Thomas Was Alone. If you haven’t played it and you have a Switch then you absolutely must get the demo – right away, no excuses. Its playful elucidation of how games work shouldn't be missed by anyone interested in the medium. The full game gives you a few hours of good platforming with great presentation and a well-told story. And as an artefact of its era of indie games, Thomas Was Alone is a delight. The game can be experienced start-to-finish in a few short sessions and Bithell’s commentary provides a sort of meta-narration to motivate another playthrough if you haven’t heard it before. In short, Thomas Was Alone was pretty great when it came out, it’s held up well and now it’s on your Switch.
WTMG's Leo Faria: "I thought Thomas Was Alone was just going to be yet another pretentious indie darling, but I’m glad to know I was dead wrong. It’s not only a well-designed puzzle platformer with good controls, but also a story-driven treat for the eyes and ears, a game that will make you care about a bunch of moving rectangles, somehow. It might not be very replayable (actually, let’s double down on this: it’s devoid of replayability), but it’s still pretty fun while it lasts. No matter where you decide to play it – and believe me, there are tons of platforms to choose – this game is worth experiencing at least once."
Any game that can make you care about basic shapes is doing something right IMHO.
