Thick as Thieves is a stealth-action heist game set in Kilcairn, an alternate-history Scottish city in the 1910s where early technology exists alongside magic. The player joins the Thieves’ Guild and takes contracts involving valuable heirlooms, guarded buildings, and secrets connected to the city’s nobility and Constabulary. The campaign lasts around four hours and contains 16 contracts across two main locations, with several mission types and increasing difficulty settings.

Two Thieves Offer Different Approaches

Players can choose between the Spider and the Chameleon, two thieves with different talents and abilities. Missions are designed around observation and improvisation rather than following one required route. Buildings can be approached through streets, rooftops, and alternative entrances, while guards and security systems create obstacles between the thief and the objective. Raising the difficulty from Novice toward Master Thief also changes guard positions and security layouts.

Gadgets Create New Routes Through Each Heist

Equipment provides several ways to bypass or distract security. Slithersap can disable lights, Smoke Bombs break enemy line of sight, and the Pickpocket Fairy can activate switches from a distance. Players choose their gear before contracts and decide whether to rely on stealth, distractions, or combinations of abilities. Because layouts and guard arrangements can change, replaying the same contract can require a different plan.

Players can:

• complete 16 different contracts;
• choose between two thieves;
• sneak past guards and security systems;
• travel through streets and across rooftops;
• use Smoke Bombs and other gadgets;
• change equipment before missions;
• replay contracts on harder difficulty settings.

Heists Can Be Completed Alone or Together

The same missions can be approached alone or with another thief. Cooperative play allows two characters to handle different parts of a heist, such as distracting guards while the other reaches an objective. The game does not use traditional numbered levels; progression comes through contracts, mission types, locations, and difficulty tiers.

A typical mission begins with choosing a thief and equipment, studying the guarded location, and looking for a safe way inside. The player then avoids detection, manipulates security, reaches the target, and escapes with the loot. Thick as Thieves focuses on stealth, alternate routes, reusable gadgets, changing security layouts, and finding different solutions to the same heist.