by A pint-sized pickpocket and his doe-eyed ferret pal make charmingly mischievous cohorts in this fresh, funny take on the point-and-click adventure genre. Rather than send you gallivanting along through one seamless quest, Tiny Thief challenges you to navigate through individual puzzle stages set up as clever little animated scenes. By studying your surroundings and tapping the environment to see what you can interact with as you sneak around, figuring out how to grab the goods and get out undetected proves a delightful jaunt.
Each standalone challenge unfolds across a colorful medieval scene populated by cute critters, unfriendly guardsmen, and other goofy characters. Your task is to locate the treasure in each stage and figure out how to swipe it without being spotted. Getting your little thief around is handled with simple taps, and usable hotspots pop up as you approach them. The adorable art direction and animation also really make each stage come to life. Poking and prodding the environment at random is part of the fun too, as it yields surprises and unveils clues to help you solve challenges.
In addition to bonus goodies you can hunt for, your ferret companion also hides in each stage and only pops up at infrequent intervals. Spotting and tapping him earns you an extra star for the level and adds a nice seek-and-find element layered onto each mission. It’s a cool little touch.
While many stages are well designed and intuitively logic-driven, a few real head-scratchers are woven in for good measure. The trial and error of these steeper challenges can get frustrating, though there’s a hint system that unveils all of the level’s secrets if you get super stuck. The bad news is you can only access it once every four hours.
The bottom line. Tiny Thief is a cute, challenging, and inventive offering that sucks you in from the get-go with it’s ample charm. It has its tough moments, but they’re worth muscling through.
Review Synopsis
Product:
