Thieves Guild Tycoon Review

Thieves Guild Tycoon is a bizarre little combo. Coming to us from the mind of indie dev Billy Slang, it's a game that attempts to put its fingers in as many pies as possible by combining the clickathon gameplay of a title like Cookie Clicker, fusing it with the familiar architecture of the tower defence format while also throwing in a heady dose of plate spinning: namely, a careful balancing act where you must ensure all of the above work in sync with each other.

Thieves Guild Tycoon puts you at the head of – where else? – a thieves guild, in which you start off with a crew, a small amount of cash, and work to be done. Beginning with pickpocketing and progressing to things like burglary and bank robbery, you command your crew by picking the job that needs to be done, waiting a matter of seconds, and reaping and reinvesting the rewards when the job is completed. This formula is the same one employed by the cult hit AdVenture Capitalist, and structurally, the two games are very similar: while this game is about thievery, and AdVenture Capitalist was about finance, it all boils down to clicking buttons and letting the money roll in.

This may sound like a simple and uninspired formula, but the concept becomes addictive very quickly, hinging on one simple idea: more. As your money snowballs, you begin to set goals: “I want to get to $5,000; $10,000; I want to max out the pickpocketing job”. You become addicted to gaining more and more, and that's what will keep your attention glued to this game, despite it having the depth of a kiddie pool. Your self-imposed goals will ensure you make it to the end of the game, and a strong plus of this title is that it can be played over and over again, giving incredibly strong replay value.

This sounds solid so far; however, just as too many cooks can spoil a broth, one too many elements in this game sours the taste. It is not enough to just click buttons, earn money, and reinvest, as this game makes you keep at least one eye on other important aspects of the game so that you're forced to juggle. The second half of this game comes in the tower defence side: while you're clicking away and making money, marauders will try to invade your guild's vault, looking to scoop up your loot for themselves: it's your job to put down weapons along a set path a la Bloons Tower Defence to make sure you don't receive a premature game over. Frustratingly, the game doesn't tell you that thieves are trying to access your vault which is hidden away on another screen, meaning you have to switch between menus frequently. Adding another little dash of frustration are your workers, who must either be incompetent or unlucky, as they keep getting caught and imprisoned every five minutes, forcing you to pay extortionate fees for their release (refusing means game over as well). What Thieves Guild Tycoon then descends into is micro-management, asking you to have a million eyes, watching a million pots so they don't boil over. This is totally tedious and impedes the addictive click-based investment game. It's commendable that Slang attempted to add in these features to distinguish his game, but the odd combination falls flat.

Also rather disappointing is the creative direction of this game; it has to be carefully stated that Thieves Guild Tycoon is not ugly or distasteful, just bland and brutally uninspiring, looking like any old rank and file title that can be found within the bowels of Steam. After about five minutes of looking at it, the visuals just seem to merge into one dark, murky blur. Not that the graphics matter one jot as the entire game could theoretically be played out as a text-based game and it would still inspire the same levels of satisfaction, but still: Thieves Guild Tycoon is not the prettiest game out there.

Thieves Guild Tycoon puts its fingers in many pies, but the downside to that idea is that your hands tend to get messy quickly. While the fruity, jammy residue left on your hands is delicious, it's really one big mess that's in dire need of some refinement. However, even if it's not sophisticated, give your fingers a taste: you might find something enjoyable here even though the pie's not fully baked.