Game Review: Tiny Thief - the Funny Alter Ego of Robin Hood

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by Chrisanna Lazaridou on 29 May 2015 · 4906 views

Our reviews are mostly about all-new, or recently updated games that stand out among the rest. There are however, games that were released at an earlier time, years ago even, and deserve to be brought up again due to their success and unique elements. Such is the case of Tiny Thief, a point-and-click adventure game by Rovio Stars Ltd, which was released back in 2013 but I only discovered it recently. It is such a gorgeous little gem that, despite being two years old, is still among the players’ favorites and thanks to that I was able to find it and get instantly addicted. Funnily enough, a while ago we reviewed another point-and click-game which was also about a thief, Robbery Bob (you can read the review here), a fun game which I suggest you try out!

Plot

Tiny thief tells the story of a little boy in a medieval setting who represents Robin Hood, only in a sweeter and more comical way. He tries to punish the bad guys and give to the citizens what is rightfully theirs, while keeping a few things for himself too (what is wrongfully his). In his quest he has a small ferret pet and also borrows help from other animal and human characters.

Gameplay

In Tiny Thief the player navigates the little boy and must make sure to avoid making contact with all enemies. You tap on a spot to make the character walk there, and you tap on the bubbles that appear to interact. Interacting can be many things, with the most common being grabbing things that can range from burgers to golden coins and pirate treasures.

There are 6 chapters (episodes) in Tiny Thief, 3 of which are free to play. Each new chapter is unlocked when you successfully complete the previous one. All of the chapters consist of 5 levels with increasing difficulty, since they require more thinking and interactivity as you progress.

To get a perfect score, which translates to 3 stars, you must find all items that are hidden or well-guarded and tap on tiny thief’s pet ferret that hides in various places in each level. To help you with your goals you have the hint book at the top right corner of your screen. By opening it you will see a tutorial of how to collect all items and make it out unnoticed by the enemies. After using it a few times, you’ll have to wait 20 hours for it to be accessible again or pay through IAP to cancel the timer. So, use it wisely if you plan on progressing far in one sitting.

In each level there is a main object you need to get your hands on and as you can expect, it’s not a piece of cake. To achieve your goal you’ll have to think very cleverly and make use of your surroundings in order to get to it, while at the same time being careful not to be seen by guards, or any other hostile figure. To avoid contact you’ll have to hide in barrels, climb on trees or roofs or even dress up and pretend you’re someone else. If you are noticed by any enemy then it’s game over. The way tiny thief reacts to being noticed is hilarious, because he finds the weirdest ways to attempt (unsuccessfully) to save himself. The result makes the frustration from losing much more bearable!

What fascinated me was that apart from each episode being unique and totally different from the rest, each level also took place in a different environment despite all being connected to an episode. The addition of hidden items also adds to the experience because the main goal is fairly easy to achieve. I still find myself going back to previous levels to get a perfect score because I haven’t found everything the first time.

The enemies range from greedy lords, to pirates and even cooks! Other times you’ll act to steal a cake and others to help citizens, to save the kingdom and even free a princess! Honestly, variety is something this game has no shortage of and feeling bored is not an option. To give you an example of what happens in the game, in one episode your target is a corrupt sheriff who steal money (and candy) from kids. Your job is to outsmart him and find a way to chase him out from the screen and steal back what he stole. You have various items at your disposal for achieving that purpose such as, an axe and a giant lollipop but you have to use them right to have a result.

Everything has a reason for being there and although the levels are not hard, yet they require thinking and for you to reach logical deductions to be cleared.

In-App Purchases

As mentioned earlier, in Tiny Thief there are a total of 6 episodes, 3 of which are free and 3 can be purchased either separately for $1.99 each, or as a bundle for $4.99. Considering how addicting the game is, you will find it really hard to say no but there have been quite a few complaints about the price.

You can also use IAP to activate the hint book, if you don’t want to wait a whole day for it to be accessible again. In my case I didn’t care much about it because finding all hidden items and the way to clear a level by myself was far more exciting than having the solutions ready in my plate.

Graphics & Sounds

I love the way the game is designed and taking into consideration that the game is 2 years old, I can’t help but feel impressed by the fluidity of the visuals. The worlds are very detailed and you can tell that a lot of care and work has been put into designing them, and the characters are adorable and funny.

The music is delightful and light-hearted, plus the sound effects, including the “voices” of the characters are hilarious.

Conlusion

Tiny Thief is a great, intelligent and humorous game will keep you entertained and satisfied whether you play it from start to finish or only the free episodes. it's not too hard but can be challenging at times, and in my opinion it keeps the difficulty balance perfect. Give it a try and let us know what you think about it in the comments below!