Thomas Was Alone

[Dan]

Mike Bithell's amazing, interesting shape puzzle platformer. It's great. It's clever and beautiful and intriguingly-written.

Anyway: a couple of months ago, Mike told me about a plan he has for the game. I won't say what it is, except I believe it is disastrous. I think it'll be a PR headache, and I think it'll turn off gamers. It's a stinking whoopsie of a decision.

Can't say more than that until he does but... yeah. He's making a mistake with his game. UH OH.

[Dan]

I only really started this thread so when he announces it I can go "SEE?" and you'll all be like "geez you were right".

[delve]

You tease.

[MashPotato]

Is getting people to make disparaging remarks about his PR some kind of viral marketing technique? ;)

[Dan]

Believe it or not, his plan is even worse than that.

It's not a PR thing, it's a design decision I guess. A bollocksy one.

[Bob Chambers]

Is it a sequel: "Thomas was alone, then Daddy crawled into his bedsheets beside him"?

[covox]

I remember playing the prototype for this! Great little game. Though it's bloody hard to imagine a way to inject controversy into it...

- Gesture or voice-activated controls
- Only one try allowed
- No saving at all allowed
- Invisible obstacles which frequently kill you
- Non-mutable looped soundtrack of people screeching
- Game ignores input completely at timed intervals
- Game follows each player death with a randomly-chosen internet shock site
- Non-mutable looped soundtrack of top-40 R&B

[Bob Chambers]

I would play that game forever.

[Dan]

- Gesture or voice-activated controls
- Only one try allowed
- No saving at all allowed
- Invisible obstacles which frequently kill you
- Non-mutable looped soundtrack of people screeching
- Game ignores input completely at timed intervals
- Game follows each player death with a randomly-chosen internet shock site
- Non-mutable looped soundtrack of top-40 R&B

Ha ha, it's not a gameplay design decision, particularly. It's more of the sort of thing an Exec Producer would suddenly come out with that makes everyone's heart sink.

To be clear: his game, he can do what the hell he likes with it and the game shouldn't suffer too much. I just think it's a single whiffy decision.

[Ben]

Is it micro-payments for the long thin blocks?

[Dan]

Ha ha, no.

[thechicken]

Is he going to pretend to have his laptops stolen then move to Mexico?


I am so sick of indies doing this.

[Theoban]

He's probably going to cancel it and then have some tantalising screenshots posted on RPS about things with balloon heads, man that would be rubbish.

[Dan]

No one would do that, that's such a dick move.

[covox]

Ha ha, it's not a gameplay design decision, particularly. It's more of the sort of thing an Exec Producer would suddenly come out with that makes everyone's heart sink.

So the blocks are now edgy, wisecracking aliens?