Speaking to FRVR, Hickman noted that Steam has quite a few rules about Early Access releases, including what exactly constitutes an “Early Access” game. He said it is “a very specific thing on Steam and behind the scenes, to be frank, they have a bunch of rules about ‘this is what early access means, this is what you have to do within early access’. And they’re a little constraining to what we want to do, to be frank”.

He went on to note that the development team didn’t want to be stuck to a content roadmap that isn’t even set in stone yet. This way, the team can change things up whenever it comes up with new ideas based on player feedback for the various aspects of Thick as Thieves, like whether they prefer single-player or co-op, or if they want a potential PvP mode.

“We want to be able to pivot wherever we need to,” Hickman explained. “Do players just love solo and co-op play? Okay, great: no PvP for the future. Do players love solo and co-op, but are screaming about PvP? Oh, maybe we should do PvP. Like, we have a whole bunch of baseline plans, but none of them are set in stone.”

Interestingly, this ability to pivot would also allow OtherSide Entertainment to switch to Early Access if the development team decided that it was the right idea.

“My intent would be there will, at some point, there will be an early access,” he said. “And we probably then would open up a traditional early access sometime in the future. But this is not early access…

“I don’t want to theorise on what might or might not happen,” he continued. “Like, we could also go, ‘actually, we’re not going to go into early access. We’ve got enough from this.’ We’re just going to go straight to worldwide launch at some point in the future and never have an early access because we got so much info out of the thing that we’re shooting now.”

In its current state, Thick as Thieves has been described as a “foundation” that could then be built upon in the future. Hickman has confirmed that the studio has already tried quite a few ideas with it, and at one point during development, it even featured an open world before ultimately settling on its two levels.

Thick as Thieves is available on PC and is priced at $5. In our review, we praised its gameplay, level design, and replayability. However, the general lack of content, as well as the lack of basic features like a Field of View slider, led us to ultimately give it a score of 7 out of 10.

"When I say Thick as Thieves is a stealth game, I really mean it."

Thick as Thieves is a callback to classic stealth games, like the Thief series, where players are thrown into a level with a couple of missions, and it’s left entirely up to them how they want to deal with it. Curiously, the title makes use of a gameplay structure similar to what we’ve seen from extraction shooters; get into a level, loot as many things as possible, and potentially even try to finish up a contract or two to continue the story. Along the way, if you happen to get spotted and killed by a patrolling guard or a turret, you’ll lose anything you were carrying with you, be it loot or even keys.

When I say Thick as Thieves is a stealth game, I really mean it. Taking on a mission head-on is essentially suicide, since there’s no real way to fight back. Rather, you’re given a variety of tools that you can swap between to handle different situations. A crank gun, for instance, allows you to grapple on to nearby ledges. The smoke grenade, on the other hand, will let you obfuscate enemy line of sight, giving you the chance to slip by without raising any alarms. All in all, there are six distinct tools, including bottled up fairies that can pick pockets and flick switches, and even antagonistic bottled fairies that can cause distractions by yelling curses at nearby guards.

The general stealth gameplay is quite simple, and works on the tried-and-tested Thief method of mixing in line of sight, light levels, and sound. The game even provides you with a prominent gem at the bottom of the screen that lets you know how visible you might be in any sort of lighting, and moving around even lets you know how much noise you might be making.

The moment-to-moment gameplay of Thick as Thieves is tense, slow, and deliberate. You’re never going to rush into things because even just walking upright has the tendency to create sound and make you more visible under even the dimmest of lights. This means you will be crawling around slowly, waiting to observe guard patrol routes, and taking your time in picking out your routes. This is all helped by the fact that the two levels in the game are beautifully designed with many intricate layers that offer a variety of options through them, depending on the tools you have at hand and the difficulty you’ve picked.

"The moment-to-moment gameplay of Thick as Thieves is tense, slow, and deliberate."

Since there are just two levels in the game, the entire experience has been designed around the idea that you will be going through the same levels many times throughout the story. But if you’re concerned about this starting to feel repetitive, you have little to worry about. Just about every one of your attempts at a given level will start you out in different locations, and introduces subtle changes to things like guard patrols and turrets. This is further boosted with the option to play at higher difficulty levels, which brings in more guards, enemies that have special abilities, and more challenging objectives with stricter time limits.

The story of Thick as Thieves doesn’t really delve too deeply into any intricate lore, character arcs, or world-building. By the end of the tutorial, you find yourself in possession of a magical gem that allows you to see through walls to spot nearby guards and treasure. The rest of the story largely revolves around hopping back and forth between the two levels: Constables’ Guildhall and Elway Manor. While missions start off simple—get your hands on police documents investigating the gem and figuring out why the Elway family has a special interest in the gem to begin with—before slowly escalating as you get further in your attempts to finally fence the gem off.

One of the most compelling things about the game is how well it melds early 1900s industrial decor and architecture inspired by a fusion of art deco and gothic styles, and the presence of magic in the overall world. Even the weirdest things you might find in the game never really feel out of place thanks to how well the art and gameplay work together.

The fact that there are only two levels feels like a major missed opportunity for Thick as Thieves. The two stages already showcase quite a bit of personality, and made me get invested in the world almost instantly thanks to its vibrant art style and interesting architecture. Unfortunately, however, any more story you might be looking for is relegated to random sound bites you might overhear while sneaking around behind a guard, or perhaps even hidden documents here and there.

Thick as Thieves being so short also leads to running out of things to unlock as you get your hands on more treasure, and by extension, more money. At a certain point, there just isn’t really anything left to unlock aside from cosmetic items for your character, which in turn feels pointless outside of the co-op mode since the game takes place entirely in first-person.

"The fact that there are only two levels feels like a major missed opportunity for Thick as Thieves."

Length isn’t the only issue Thick as Thieves suffers from either; the title is lacking in many options that would be otherwise basic in any other games. It is sorely lacking in things like a field of view slider and rebindable controls. Along with this, even the mouse sensitive setting is strange, since, instead of giving you a slider that can be used to fine-tune the setting, you instead get three options: low, medium, and high.

Despite these issues, I couldn’t really help but keep jumping back into Thick as Thieves. The general gameplay loop felt quite addictive, and I would be lying if I said that I didn’t miss intricate level design that we last only saw in games made by Arkane, like Deathloop or Dishonored 2. Stealth games as a whole feel like an endangered breed, with the gameplay style largely serving as an optional way to accomplish things in titles that are otherwise more action-heavy.

Thick as Thieves is also the rare game in the genre that supports co-op play, which also ties into its highly-replayable nature. Rather than giving you the same objectives as in solo mode, playing in co-op changes things up so that both players have to work together to complete all of the objectives in time.

The ultimate saving grave of Thick as Thieves is its price tag. Since it just costs $5, the fact that it only has two levels feels a lot more forgivable than if it were priced any higher. Despite its short runtime, Thick as Thieves offers plenty of fun, especially for players that enjoy revisiting large, intricate levels to play around and experiment. Ultimately, it feels like an easy game to recommend, especially after offering plenty of warnings about its lack of what would otherwise be basic features.

This game was reviewed on PC.

Set in a 1900s city known as Kilcairn, players start as a novice thief who works their way up through the hierarchy to become a master thief. They can undertake heists solo or in co-op with six unique gear pieces. While there are two maps and 16 missions, Thick as Thieves’ biggest calling card is randomly generated conditions, which mix up the overall flow and encourage different tactics.

Originally, the plan was to offer a PvEvP gameplay loop, but as the developer noted on Steam, “There were a lot of dead ends we went down and had to backtrack out of – civilians, huge city maps, direct combat. Somewhere along the way, we figured out that the heart of the game, which really made it sing were moments of creative improvisation, when you’re in the world and reacting to the situation with the toolset you have, without thinking about it as a game at all.”

While the team is excited to finally have players get their hands on the title, it noted that the current offering is more of “an appetizer for a much more robust world, where thieves can explore more of the city, its history and more ways of interacting with the world and with each other.” You would assume this means more content, perhaps even additional campaigns that advance the narrative, but nothing has been confirmed yet.

Thick as Thieves is also in development for Xbox Series X/S and PS5, with a release date yet to be announced. Stay tuned for updates, hopefully in the coming months.

What’s the catch? According to studio CEO Paul Neurath (also renowned for his work on the old-school Thief games) in a press release, “Releasing this introductory campaign gets players into the world ofThick As Thieves and gives them a meaty taste of a world worth returning to.”

To that end, you can expect the campaign to last “at least four hours.” There are two dynamic maps with 16 missions to complete and six gear pieces to unlock. Thick As Thieves offers randomly generated circumstances with each mission, including different guard routines and layouts, so there’s definitely some replay value beyond the initial completion.

Megabit Publishing also weighed in on the decision, noting that it “reflects the team’s desire to bring players into the world sooner, and to give the team the flexibility to develop additional content informed by how players engage with the game.” Of course, it’s looking to expand on the premise beyond the initial campaign, including with “future content,” though in what shape and form remains to be seen.

For more details on Thick As Thieves, including how missions play out and the different gadgets you’ll use, check out the latest developer walkthrough below. Set in an alternative-history 1910s city where players seek to work their way up from regular thief to a legendary figure.

Alongside Neurath, Warren Spector of Deus Ex fame is involved, so it’s well worth looking into when it launches next month. Thick As Thieves is also coming to Xbox Series X/S and PS5, though a release window has yet to be announced.

From infiltrating deep vaults to stealing keys off guards and leaving calling cards, there’s quite a lot to delve into. Of course, not every heist ends quietly, and it’s very much possible that you’ll have to avoid capture to escape. It’s a short but sweet look at what you can expect when the full game launches on May 20th for PC.

Contrary to what you would think, this isn’t based on Dan Santat’s graphic novel. Thick as Thieves instead takes place in Kilcairn, an alternative history 1910s metropolis where thievery is the business, and business is booming. You’ll start as an initiate who must work their way up the ladder, cementing their own legend.

New tools are unlocked as you ascend the ranks, but the twist is that no two nights are the same. You’ll need to use every bit of cunning and split-second timing to succeed. Stay tuned for more details en route to launch.

As developer OtherSide Entertainment explained on Steam, “When we first revealed Thick as Thieves, we intended to focus on PvPvE gameplay. However, as development progressed and the world of Kilcairn has come to life, we found that we were having more fun with solo and co-op play.” Thus, the decision to pivot to those modes.

OtherSide also believes that it allows for “doubling down” on what makes the game “truly special – dynamic stealth gameplay.” “We’re already seeing how this has strengthened the moment-to-moment action, whether you’re playing solo or with a partner in co-op. We’ve had some fantastic moments while testing the game. Now we’re putting all our energy into making things even better as we build up to launch.”

Fortunately, it seems we’ll see how this works on April 9th during the Triple-I Initiative showcase. Thick as Thieves will receive a new gameplay trailer, and the development team promises other “well-guarded secrets.” Which may include a release date or a playtest announcement of some kind, but time will tell.

For now, this new approach looks more fitting for the 1910s alternative history setting that OtherSide is going for. The story is all about becoming a master thief; the hook is that every night offers new challenges courtesy of emergent gameplay.

As in Thief, you’ll need to observe different opportunities, avoid guards, and use your skills to pull off the perfect crime. One has to wonder if there’s any deeper plot – after all, the earlier premise involved building your “own personal storyline, mission by mission.” But the aesthetic is still pretty killer, and any new immersive experience from former Looking Glass developers and Spector is worth checking out.

Thick as Thieves is planned for this year and will be available for Xbox Series X/S, PS5, and PC.

Thick As Thieves is set in a metropolis in an alternate history, where both technology and magic exist and often end up clashing against each other. As is often the case with settings like these, the world of Thick As Thieves has a bustling underworld, as well as a sharp divide between the rich upper classes and a lower class that struggles to survive.

Players will be taking on missions where they have to infiltrate, steal, and then escape in order to succeed. The game offers quite a bit of replayability thanks to its multiplayer mode, as well as a world rich in stories thanks to a host of different characters and mystery.

Thick As Thieves will be coming to PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S in 2026.