This is a fantastic commentary on what makes a game fun. I'm always intrigued by titles that require nearly no art skills. "Thomas Was Alone" kind of surprised me in that way too because it was successful side by side with other titles on Steam while using an art style that was so simplistic almost anyone could have done it.
It's funny because mechanically it's not too terribly different from many other games of its type. That story and narration are a huge part of its success, and well-deserved I think.
Hmm. I don't think that saying "Thomas Was Alone" required nearly no art skills is fair at all. If your only definition of "art" is static, visual art that comes across in a screenshot, then sure, but that's not all that there is to art, and it's not even the hardest part of a video game.
Just writing off the polish given to the jump physics, the water, the narration, the small touches like dynamic lighting and rain, and everything else as "not art" doesn't sit right.
I meant drawing skills. I agree with you it's not a fair characterization of art at all, but probably a mistake on my part due to years of "art" class in school which was typically resigned to painting/drawing/crafts none of which I was any good at.
