Sure, there are tropes so old they could be antiques (we’re still doing the damsel in distress thing, I guess?), but they’re handled with a playful personality favorably comparable to The Princess Bride. There are dozens of characters, and every level is vastly different from the last, although clearly set in the same light-hearted universe. Because why wouldn’t there be? I could go on, but it’d spoil the surprises, and the main pleasure of this game is the surprise.

And in that same level, for some reason there’s a guy on a platform with a playable Three Card Monte. You’ve got to switch a pitcher of water with a sleepy potion, get the waiter to think the pirate is asking for water via a pulley attached to a parrot that squawks to alert the waiter. You set off chain reactions to get guards and obstacles out of the picture, and take what’s wrongfully yours.Ĭonsider one of the pirate-themed stages. The gameplay is similar to Samarost, but way less weird and obtuse (nothing against weird or obtuse). You can’t get caught, and have to avoid, distract and defeat guards.

Players navigate the thief and interact with the environment using touch controls. In Tiny Thief, you guide the titular burglar as you purloin a wide variety of objects. It’s good to see Rovio using their powers for good. Well, 5 Ants has developed one amazing package in Tiny Thief (Free), published by Rovio, the second in their Rovio Stars initiative. The look, sounds, mood, story and characters all matter more when a game consists of interacting with a static environment. I’d rather be jumping, shooting, slashing or racing. Who plays point-and-click adventure games for the gameplay? I don’t.

Tiny thief gameplay