When this game was nominated for "Most Pretentious Indie Game" at the 2013 Vidya Gaem Awards, the minimalism that matched our award show's theme that year (minimalism) seemed a biting irony.

The truth is that the game isn't nearly as pretentious as its pretense-ious title suggests. Indeed, thomas was alone, but he doesn't end alone. The idea is that the world needs eachother to get along and to play off each other's strengths to make it to the next level. I don't think that's a horrific concept. It's achieved just fine here.

Probably the only corny thing here are the minimalist aesthetics, appropriate for the era in which it was developed. Remember the school of "material design" that was being pushed by Google at the time, flooded with long shadows? This is it. Add Danny Wallace as the narrator and you certainly have the snark that makes people hate this game.

Still, it's a puzzle game, and it does its job pretty well, although of course some levels are more frustrating and difficult than the ones that come after it. The party of Thomas grows with each successive chapter and I think by the end, you'll find that Thomas is no longer alone after all.