The Swindle’s a 2D steampunk sneak-o-stealing game about pulling heists in procedurally-generated levels, dodging guards and security to hack systems and swipe loot.
As your naughty thief starts accruing a small fortune, you can get abilities and skills that’ll help you break into stronger, better-protected places to steal more cash and then get better gear to… it’s a vicious circle that I imagine leads to you stealing the moon. You need to get back out of these places alive, of course.
Developer Dan Marshall had actually announced and then cancelled The Swindle in 2013, but decided to take another swing this year.
"I think of The Swindle as a stealth game for the rest of us," said Marshall in an email interview with Polygon. "I'm tired of games making me sneak up behind people and hoping they don't turn around.
"This is much more a case of being spotted is an inevitability rather than a fail state. Once you're seen, the game changes from this sneaky stealth kind of game to a race against the clock action game, where you're just trying to stuff as much cash as you can into your pockets before the police turn up. "
Players send thieves into buildings, who then avoid detection, slay guards and steal goodies. Marshall said the game has heavy role-playing elements, such as earned upgrades (which remain, even after permadeath), rather than random perks. "When I first announced The Swindle, I described it as 'Sonic the Hedgehog crossed with Deus Ex' which still kind of holds true," added Marshall. "But because of the procedural generation the new version feels more like 'Spelunky crossed with Deus Ex'."
Last edited by prudislav on Sun, 26th Jul 2015 09:34; edited 1 time in total
Sneaking around ghettoes starts off simple. You don’t have any tools, can’t hack into computers, and can barely fight off the robotic security guards posted throughout each location. Enemies have a beam of light projecting in front of them that shows their field of vision to help you plan your route. You can try to ghost around them, shutting every door behind you and leaving all windows intact.
This is difficult with limited resources, so you need to start by taking any cash you see laying around. Don’t get too attached to your initial thieves, as they will almost assuredly die as you acclimate to the various types of robots, surveillance equipment, and traps. Once you make enough money to buy the hacking ability, the real game starts. Placed throughout each map are various hackable computers, where you have to hold down the Y button and face a series of directional button prompts to earn the big bucks.
Hacking brings The Swindle to sweet, panicked life. I’ve found myself in ass-clenching situations like trying to hack for a big pay day while a surveillance camera is swiveling over towards me, escaping at the last second only to run headfirst into a mine. You can hack these explosives, too, but I didn’t realize that at first and have come to this conclusion: fuck mines. I’ll work on getting better at using them to my advantage.
There are multiple types of maps to explore, with each one representing bigger rewards and more precise challenges. I’ve only got to the third one, and I’ve gone through about 80 thieves, including my precious Letitia Danklighter, and my favorite, Bart Stealer. As Zack Writer, I appreciate those who are named after their professions so we can all get to the point that much quicker. I need to grind a bit more to move on, so I can buy myself the teleporting device. I’m excited to see how much the game changes towards the end.
Talking of which, it was important to me that all the versions release at the same time on as many formats as we could muster. I’m not someone with massively strong convictions one way or another, these things aren’t black and white- but on the whole, I’m kind of against the idea of platform or timed exclusivity, it just seems kind of rotten and unfair to people who forked out their hard-earned cash on one black box over another, and that’s not who I am.
There were talks of FREE MONEY to release on one box over another, but it didn’t feel right. So as near as dammit, all versions will just launch at the same time, which means release is now Summer, to allow for making sure it all works properly on these wildly different setups.
I’ll be using that time to polish the hell out of the game, and stuff as much content in as I possibly can.
I'm really enjoying it so far but yeah, apart from the RNG God screwing you with room placements/layout, there's not really any "challenge" right now... which isn't always a terrible thing () but maybe it gets much tougher as time goes on? Very repetitive too though that's the case with most any roguelike title.
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Sadly the main killer for this, for me at least, is the fact that the more "days" that progress; the harder the game gets. It doesn't matter if you're stealing thousands or failing every day, it gets harder to the point where they keep bringing in brand new technology to stop you. If you had a bad run and couldn't raise the money to improve your thieves? Tough, restart over, because there's no way you're going to get around all the new security.
Nice little game, though I wish the stealth part was less 'simplistic', to enhance the sense of variety. Level design in my opinion could definitely use more inspired layouts as well in terms of different approaches available, and so on. It's a respectable attempt, but doesn't tickle my sexy panther feels too furiously, so to speak xD
@Sab: indeed, that can be annoying. The game is designed in a way that the player is supposed to never have virtual bad days, which is damn hard to achieve. I actually don't even dislike difficulty bumps, it's just that the randomly generated levels here are many often on the meh side for some stealth action.
I already uninstalled, that pathetic time-based difficulty modifier was bad enough, but once you actually DO reach the final mission; it costs $400,000 *each time* you play it. Have to quit because the RNG created an unwinnable level? Tough shit! $400k please! Died because X reason? Tough shit! $400k please! oh and we've increased the difficulty because you spent another day!
Yeah, no thanks. Too much irritation and stress. Deleted. Great concept, lousy execution.
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!!!
) but maybe it gets much tougher as time goes on? Very repetitive too though that's the case with most any roguelike title.
