.Become the real thief. Steal in free roam sandbox neighborhoods. Observe your target and gather information that will help you with the burglary. Take the challenge and rob the best secured houses. Buy some hi-tech burglar equipment and learn new thief tricks. Sell stolen goods to the passers. Do anything that a real thief does!
You play as a thief, serving as a minion of the Mafia. The player character is forced by Vinny to commit crimes to pay off his debt to the Lombardis after they paid his bail.
On January 5, 2022 the demo version released for Thief Simulator II which was developed by Ultimate Games and PlayWay. The sequel adds new features like the ability to survey environments with a flying drone and new areas to steal from including banks and restaurants.
On June 15, 2022 Noble Muffins released American Theft 80's, a spinoff of the original game that is a re-telling of the same game but set in the 1980's.
Tropes:
- Acceptable Breaks from Reality: Often times, the more realistic elements of thievery are changed for gameplay balance or convenience.
- If the police are chasing you and you leave the neighborhood, whether on foot or in a vehicle that may or may not be stolen, then they will stop their pursuit and let you go on your way. Needless to say, that's the exact opposite of what they would do in real life, but the game wouldn't be nearly as fun if it happened like reality.
- No matter how many times you get caught in people's houses, the residents in the neighborhoods will not bat an eye at you if they see you outside, even though word should have spread about what you look like. Averted when it comes to the police on patrol, however, as they will attempt to arrest you on sight.
- Even if people see you drag multiple paintings and electronics from somebody's house, as long as you put the stolen items down, they'll immediately lose interest.
- In the sequel nobody seems to notice your drone flying during overnight hours.
- In the sequel the ATM includes instructions on how to hack it.
- Five-Second Foreshadowing: After you steal the painting from the Adams and send it to Vinny, you'll be prompted to buy the hideout, which seems odd considering that your debt would be settled after that job. You find out why after Vinny sends you your 'bonus' in the form of an explosive package.
- Hacking Minigame: The sequel has a minigame that allows the player to hack into an ATM.
- Hero Antagonist: The police and the tenants of the homes you break into are this since, well, you're a thief.
- Locked Door: You will need lockpicks of various levels to unlock doors. There can be keys lying around so you don't have to worry about some of your lockpicks breaking, though.
- Lockpicking Minigame: The first two lockpicks have a minigame you have to complete to gain access to the house. They'll break if you mess up too many times, forcing you to either use another lockpick or find another way in.
- Police Are Useless: Zig-Zagged. On one hand, they'll start to patrol the neighborhoods in search for you if you get caught by the homeowners one too many times, making the game more difficult. On the other hand, they'll make no attempt to search the area thoroughly if you hide or get out of sight, instead running around for around a minute before calling off the search and driving off.
- Retraux: American Theft 80's takes place in the mid 1980's and has the look of a VHS tape playing back on an old CRT television. In addition, the player is tasked with stealing items like CRT TV's, boomboxes, VCRs, and mid 1980's cars.
- Revenge: After the Lombardis decide to kill the thief with an explosive package (and fail), the thief goes on a quest for vengeance in the third part of the game by breaking into compounds owned by the Lombardis, and eventually blows up their mansion with Vinny inside.
- Silent Protagonist: The thief never speaks a word in the entire game.
- The Computer Is a Cheating Bastard: The residents will somehow instantly know that their house was broken into if they see an unlocked door or window and call the police, even if they're closed.
- Thou Shalt Not Kill: To the point where trying to attack a tenant will have no effect, and doing it to a pedestrian will give you a game over. It's fair game for the Lombardis after they try to kill you, though.
- Video Game Cruelty Punishment: If you run over a pedestrian or hit them with your crowbar, you will be forced to load your last checkpoint.
- Villain Protagonist: You play as a thief breaking into people's houses and stealing various expensive stuff.
- Work Off the Debt: After the Lombardis bail the thief out, he is forced to steal from various people to pay off his debt. Once he does, they'll leave him with a 'bonus' in the form of a bomb inside of a package. Thankfully, it doesn't take, and the rest of the missions involve you getting your revenge against the Lombardis.
