Thomas Was Alone is finally out on PS3 and Vita today, designer Mike Bithell has excitedly announced on the PlayStation blog. Even better, the game is part of the Cross-Buy initiative that Sony has going, whereby if you buy the game for one platform you automatically get a free code for the game on the other platform too. Buy it on PS3, get a free download code for the Vita version, and vice versa.
For those who don't know, Thomas Was Alone is a platformer “about friendship and jumping”. You start off with one character – Thomas – but gradually collect others. The characters are all rectangles of varying sizes and colours, but each has a unique ability (or weakness) and personality. Playing the game involves making these rectangles work together to reach the goal, for example using the one that can float on liquid toxic to the others to carry its friends across, or using the smallest one to access nooks and crannies that hold switches to open doors.
It never gets very complicated, but the levels are different enough to keep you going, and it's the story that really makes it worth a play. Narrated by Danny Wallace (a.k.a. the sarcastic British guy from the Assassin's Creed series), the tale does something pretty amazing in getting you to care about the fates and feelings of those coloured rectangles.
If you live in the US and you're a PS Plus member, you can even get the game for 20% off because of the Spring Fever sale. In the UK, PS Plus members can download it for free. Will you give it a try?