Killers and Thieves

Killers and Thieves, developed by Alex Thomas and published by Stoic, is a unique blend of strategy, management, and stealth that challenges players to build and command their own guild of outlaws in a gritty medieval city. At its core, the game is about control—of people, of plans, and of chaos. It tasks you with forming a band of misfits and criminals and leading them to wealth and infamy through carefully planned heists and risky infiltration missions. The city of Greypool serves as both your playground and your battlefield, a place filled with opportunity, danger, and moral ambiguity. It’s a world that thrives on shadows, where success depends not only on skill and timing but also on patience and resourcefulness. Killers and Thieves takes the familiar thrill of stealth games and blends it with the managerial tension of running an organization that constantly teeters between survival and collapse. The game is divided into two main layers: the strategic guild management phase and the real-time infiltration missions. In the management layer, you recruit new thieves, train them, equip them, and assign them to jobs. Each character comes with distinct traits and skills—some excel at lockpicking or sneaking, while others are better at brute force or agility-based challenges. As the guild master, your responsibility is to balance the risk and reward of every operation. Sending out inexperienced thieves might lead to disaster, while assigning your veterans to every mission could leave the guild broke if something goes wrong. This dynamic creates an engaging sense of tension, where each decision feels weighty and every mistake has consequences. You must manage your finances carefully, ensuring that your rogues are paid and motivated, all while keeping the law at bay. The management aspect feels intuitive yet unforgiving, and its depth gives the game a strategic backbone that goes beyond simple mission planning. When it’s time to execute a job, Killers and Thieves shifts into its second mode: a 2D side-scrolling stealth game. Here, you control a small group of your guild members as they sneak through mansions, warehouses, and city strongholds, each mission unfolding like a self-contained puzzle. The goal is to collect loot, avoid detection, and escape without casualties. The missions are where the game’s most exciting moments emerge. There’s an undeniable thrill in watching a well-orchestrated plan come together—slipping past guards, unlocking a vault, and vanishing into the night with your pockets full of gold. But just as often, things go wrong. A mistimed command, an overlooked patrol, or a panicked recruit can unravel an entire heist in seconds. This unpredictability is a double-edged sword: it gives the game a sense of realism and tension, but it can also lead to frustration when unclear mechanics or awkward controls turn an elegant plan into chaos. Visually, Killers and Thieves has a distinct art style that captures the gritty charm of its medieval setting. The hand-drawn environments, filled with muted colors and heavy shadows, create a sense of atmosphere that perfectly complements the game’s theme of moral grayness. The characters, though simply animated, are expressive enough to convey personality through their movements and posture. Every corner of Greypool feels alive, from the dingy taverns where you recruit your crew to the noble estates you infiltrate under the cover of night. The art direction emphasizes simplicity and style over realism, giving the game an illustrated storybook quality that fits its narrative tone. The sound design is equally effective—subtle ambient effects like creaking floorboards and distant voices add to the tension during missions, while the faint music of lutes and drums reinforces the medieval atmosphere without being intrusive. Despite its strong concept and visual identity, Killers and Thieves is not without flaws. The biggest issue lies in its interface and mission controls, which can feel unintuitive at times. Managing multiple thieves during complex operations requires precise coordination, but the limited AI behavior and occasionally clunky command inputs can make this a challenge. There are moments when a thief fails to follow an order or walks directly into a guard’s line of sight due to an unclear pathfinding rule, resulting in frustration that feels less like player error and more like a mechanical hiccup. Furthermore, the game’s difficulty curve can be punishing, especially early on when resources are scarce and failure often means losing both valuable loot and irreplaceable team members. This harshness will appeal to players who enjoy unforgiving strategy games, but it may alienate those expecting a smoother or more accessible experience. Repetition is another issue that eventually surfaces. While the thrill of planning heists and executing them never completely fades, the limited variety of mission layouts and objectives can make later stages feel familiar. The cycle of training thieves, preparing for missions, and carrying out heists begins to blur together after several hours. The lack of narrative progression beyond the basic guild expansion also means that motivation must come from the player’s desire to perfect their strategies rather than from evolving storylines or changing environments. This sense of stasis is compounded by the fact that the game rarely rewards long-term success beyond incremental upgrades or new recruits. The world of Greypool remains static, and while its atmosphere is rich, its systems could have benefited from more dynamic interactions or emergent events to keep the experience fresh. Yet, even with its rough edges, Killers and Thieves possesses a charm that’s hard to dismiss. Its combination of stealth mechanics and guild management creates a satisfying loop that feels both strategic and personal. Every recruit in your guild has a story that unfolds through their successes and failures, and every mission feels like a gamble that reflects your leadership style. When a plan goes off without a hitch, the satisfaction is immense—not just because of the loot you gain, but because it validates your careful planning and risk assessment. It’s a game that rewards patience, adaptability, and an appetite for controlled chaos. Even when things go wrong, there’s a certain thrill in watching your thieves scramble to salvage a doomed operation. In the end, Killers and Thieves stands as a fascinating experiment that blends genres in creative ways. It’s rough and sometimes unrefined, but its ambition and atmosphere make it memorable. It captures the thrill of leading a secret society of rogues, the tension of a well-planned heist, and the heartbreak of watching your best thief fall to a careless mistake. For players who enjoy strategy games with emergent storytelling and don’t mind a steep learning curve, it offers a rewarding and distinct experience. It’s not a polished gem, but it gleams with potential and personality—a game that, much like its thieves, succeeds through daring rather than perfection. Rating: 5/10

How is it legal to sell a game that doesn't even run? How is this game being supported by Steam when it doesn't work. This is theft.

킬러거나 도둑이거나 집터는 게임입니다.... 아니 킬러...음... 어쨌든 둘다 가능한 게임입니다. 플레이어는 보유한 캐릭터들로 스토리를 진행할 수 있고 자유 플레이를 진행할 수 있죠. 도시의 특정 지점을 지정하여 도둑질을 진행할 수 있습니다. 맵에 존재하는 집 중 하나로 진입하여 집을 이리저리 돌아다니면서 상자나 특정 오브젝트를 뒤져서 물품이나 골드를 획득할 수 있죠. 집 내부에는 일반인(하인?)이나 병사가 돌아다니는 경우가 있는데, 다른 인물이 근처에 존재하면 은신 수치가 급격하게 떨어지게 됩니다. 은신 수치가 0이 되기 전에 탈출을 하면 괜찮지만, 0이 되어버리고 병사에게 걸려버리면 잡혀가게 되죠. 만약, 능력으로 전투 능력을 보유하고 있다면 병사에게 대항할 수 있고, 잡혀가는 동료를 구출하는 것도 가능합니다. 이렇게 훔치기, 전투 등을 진행하면서 성장이 가능하고 성장에 따라서 포인트 획득 가능! 포인트를 소모하여 스텟 성장, 일반 능력, 특수 능력을 성장시킬 수 있으며, 성장 종류에 따라서 스텟이 달라지기도 합니다. 게임 내 상황 진행, 임무 진행, 전투 등을 진행하기 위해서는 특수한 능력들이 필수이기 때문에 나름 전략적인 성장도 필요하죠. 아니면 그냥 골고루 올려서 다같이 다니거나...? 아쉬운 점 -가끔 발생하는 버그 ( 층계사이에 끼여버려서 움직이기 불가... 당황...)

A lot of bugs needs a big update problems with main screen loading up. Make it free at this point

I really love the idea. but... Game feels not finished. I gave up when climbing skill killed one of my thieves. No load saved game / restart heist option + climbing -> sooner or later you misclick and your thief will die = frustration. Avoid climbing at all or just don't play this game.

It's very unfortunate, I really wanted to like the game but the control are just a deal breaker for me.

I REALLY wanted to like this game. lots of style and some really interesting ideas but awful gameplay and execution, especially the heists which are mostly just frustrating.

Game is bugged and abandoned - you won't be able even to finish first mission.

per 1 euro e 59 è un buon stealth game gestionale. Gestisci una gilda di ladri, ironman, nessun save, tensione mille. Solo alcuni dei tuoi possono combattere e il combattimento non sempre è una garanzia. Molto spesso ti chiedi se è meglio continuare ma con il rischio sempre costante di venir cioccato e vedere i tuoi ladri arrestati o uccisi, oppure accontentarsi del magro malloppo. Dopo diverse ore un po' si comprende il motivo del perchè è mixed review. Ci sono cose frustranti, tipo il fatto che per vendere gli oggetti devi andare ad ogni negozietto in ogni quartiere, portandoti tempo a dover gestire menù e sottomenù, e il vero dramma è anche nel poco margine d'errore. Ci sono pochi tasti rapidi e sono messi in brutte posizioni, il gioco forza il combat che è un terno a lotto, dove i tuoi ladri rischiano per il 80% di volte la morte a meno che non hai statistiche potenziate. Per il resto mi sono trovato bene nel loop generale, ma spesso perdere un buon ladro per via dei miss click è tremendo. Non adatto ai deboli di cuore e i bestemmiatori facili

Yes, it is a bit repetitive, yes you will soon start just killing the guards because this is faster than stealth. But. If you put all the texts together, the game actually has a surprisingly well written and intriguing story. This is what compelled me to finish the game. This and Morrys Pratt :)