PC Critic Reviews

Thick as Thieves delivers a fun stealth experience that rewards creativity and tests your thieving skills through environmental interaction and multiple approaches. Sneaking and core gameplay mechanics work well, though the current progression systems still feel somewhat limited and could benefit from further expansion over time.

A tight, yet creative stealth game builds a fun whole on top of the genre's conventions.

Thick as Thieves is a good game if you are OK with a more simplified stealth experience. It is a title that's easy to get into for stealth novices but provides some challenge for genre veterans if you do some real grinding to unlock higher difficulty levels. It would be nice to see a timetable for when new scenarios and levels would arrive, but what's available is good enough for those who want a quick stealth experience before moving on to bigger titles and returning once a big update drops.

Thick as Thieves is an odd game that suffers from its barebones campaign and questionable launch content, but its incredible stealth gameplay and low price tag at five dollars easily carry the experience. Between its immersive atmosphere and layered heist levels that reward patience and experimentation, there’s still something to appreciate in its moment-to-moment gameplay. Still, it feels like a game that needed more time to properly reveal its grander vision, showing its cards too sparsely, without the kind of prep-time you’d expect from a master thief’s plan.

I wish Thick as Thieves had more to do overall, but it’s hard to find much fault with what’s here. Its thieves come with cool toys, its two levels are gorgeous and expansive, and there’s a particular joy in playing co-operatively. Even the story is pretty cool, if you can get past the fact that it’s almost all told through text. There are some irritations here – I’ll see you in hell, Hauntstables – but Thick as Thieves was a game I wanted to play, and not just for this review. And when it all comes together and you pull off the perfect heist at the last second? It’s pretty rad. Now if you’ll excuse me, my partner and I need to get back to Elway Manor. Those rich people aren’t going to rob themselves.

Thick as Thieves is a solid stealth steal-em-up that will probably be elevated by finding a few sticky-fingered friends to play with.

Thick as Thieves raises an interesting question about the worth of games. Because simply measured by the hours you can play and the craftsmanship that’s on display, Thick as Thieves is worth its small asking price. Yet it does not feel like a good deal, because after the first two hours you’ll have seen most of what the game has to offer. The few additional ideas the game hermetically seals behind grinding away at repetitive missions. It’s got the potential to bloom into something interesting, but right now it’s a proof of concept that’s unfortunately marketed to a very saturated co-op gaming market.

While Thick as Thieves is a short game lacking in many basic features like rebindable controls, it's an easy game to recommend thanks to its compelling gameplay loop, emphasis on replayability, and a co-op mode.

I remember seeing a preview of Thick as Thieves when it was a PvPvE-focused game. It feels like the shift to single player/co-op stripped away some intangible but important elements. What remains is a fun but limited stealth action game, with lots of potential and room to grow but disappointingly stingy at launch. There’s an old joke about how a restaurant’s food sucked, and also, there wasn’t enough of it. Thick as Thieves is a reasonably-priced $5 game with a solid foundation, but needs more playable characters, maps, depth, and encouragement for creativity. I look forward to checking in from time to time.

As the content here feels more akin to a very generous demo than a complete package. I really like the idea of Thick as Thieves, but in its current iteration it has found it self stuck between its PvP past and its Co-Op future and try as it might, to me, Thick as Thieves is trying to cater to both audiences and in the end satisfying neither.