“Pictures are taken with a camera, it is an illusion…they are taken with the eyes, the heart and the mind.” Said French pioneer of photography Henri Cartier-Bresson. Cartier-Bresson had a knack for capturing the most intimate moments – he had a candid eye and a mechanical sense of timing that defined him. He understands that in capturing the moment, you are also capturing the whole story.
It’s hard not to think about Cartier-Bresson when you’re playing Tom. It’s these little moments that make up this game, the first BAFTA-winning title from Swedish indie studio Something We Made. And how, as a young photographer, you drive up a mountain to capture the eponymous Thom phenomenon, how you weave a story through snapshots.
This is a love letter to photography, showing you the world in its own way and from a different perspective. Whether you’re guiding the unnamed protagonist on a walk through the wilderness and meeting all sorts of weird and wonderful animals, or looking over their shoulder at what they see through the lens of a camera, Thom is an excellent exercise in being in the moment and learning to put yourself in someone else’s shoes.
Like the random bustling life it wants you to observe, Tom is full of interesting challenges. The game’s ability to solve various puzzles using only a camera lens is more than you can imagine, and the tactile, diorama-like way you have to interact with the environment means there’s always something hidden there. Just out of the box. However, it’s up to you and your focus of attention to decide what to see – and that’s the beauty of it.
What makes Thom so touching and compelling is that there’s really very little that can be influenced or forced: it’s just the little moments. Lots and lots of little moments, like chain links on a fence, leading you upward—forever upward—towards your goal. It’s not making any big statements or injecting gloomy Scandinavian philosophy straight into your cortex, no. It gives you the space to do it yourself.
Toem is a game that lets you revisit your own camera roll on your phone (or on your digital device, or through old negatives if you’re lucky enough to have one) and lets you put the pieces together in your own mind. It gives you the tools to write a narrative, discerning the storyboard of your life into something larger. more interesting.
Thom loves the mystical, the friendly poking fun at the way you think things should be done before giving way to straight-up “go here and do this puzzle,” and Thom satirizes the genre with ease. It’s a very modern puzzle game; an art studio, monochromatic playground for anyone who likes to take pictures and loves to find answers.
Even if you only boot it up for a moment, it’s clear that the Toem wasn’t made with monitors, keyboards, and software, but with “eyes, hearts, and minds,” as Cartier-Bresson attests.
Toem is out now on Xbox Game Pass, and is also available on Switch, PC, and PS5.
