Reel Steal is a heist game where a mysterious figure hires thieves to reclaim loot & justice. As renegades, nab appropriated art from evil billionaires, hurriedly making calling cards to leave in their place. The hook? You're armed only with a fishing pole.
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Reel Steal is a vertical progressing, height-based platformer where you control your thief character as you smash and grab loot from rich moguls and magnates to get back at them. You start from the top of the level - the building you’ve infiltrated - and by using the crank you control your descent, and once you’ve grabbed the loot, your ascent too. The one kink in the design for me is the perpetual horizontal strafing your character is forced to do at all times. The idea is for you to wait until your character is lined up just right to continue your descent into the level, or if you’re an impatient person, to use the face button to manually change your direction of movement at any time.
At no point are you given the ability to be completely still. Even when you are changing your movement direction you are always in motion. While this adds some intended challenge, the ergonomics of the handheld makes for an uncomfortable hand position if you want to use the crank and have constant access to the face button at the same time, at least for me. This usually meant unless I was feeling particularly impatient, I just waited for my character to loop around the right direction. The time loss was negligible for a game like this, but even still, with all things being equal I think forgoing the forced horizontal movement altogether would be a more satisfying choice. To compensate they could just elaborate on the trap and level design.
The levels themselves I found as endearing as the characters. Short bursts of simple platforming that wouldn’t be out of place on the homepage of coolmathgames.com, if anyone remembers that oasis that every middle schooler lauded. The campaigns are thematic, with repeated replays encouraged with small tweaks and new character abilities. I did it only twice, but I can see myself returning at some point. My favorite little detail though has got to be the option to leave a customizable calling card at the end of every level. It’s like a cursed etch-a-sketch that challenges your creativity and dare I say artistic capabilities. I love little bursts of character and flavor like that. As small as an aspect as that is, it’s the kind of thing that sticks with you when you think of the game.
Another thing that sticks with me is the perplexingly low ratings from other users. Beside the one issue I find with the control scheme, Reel Steal runs and plays like a charm. I’m a subscriber to the different strokes for different folks mentality, but I don’t want it left unsaid that this game isn’t earnest in what it’s trying to do. Given that it’s one of the handful of free games for the Playdate, there’s really no reason to not give it a chance.
At no point are you given the ability to be completely still. Even when you are changing your movement direction you are always in motion. While this adds some intended challenge, the ergonomics of the handheld makes for an uncomfortable hand position if you want to use the crank and have constant access to the face button at the same time, at least for me. This usually meant unless I was feeling particularly impatient, I just waited for my character to loop around the right direction. The time loss was negligible for a game like this, but even still, with all things being equal I think forgoing the forced horizontal movement altogether would be a more satisfying choice. To compensate they could just elaborate on the trap and level design.
The levels themselves I found as endearing as the characters. Short bursts of simple platforming that wouldn’t be out of place on the homepage of coolmathgames.com, if anyone remembers that oasis that every middle schooler lauded. The campaigns are thematic, with repeated replays encouraged with small tweaks and new character abilities. I did it only twice, but I can see myself returning at some point. My favorite little detail though has got to be the option to leave a customizable calling card at the end of every level. It’s like a cursed etch-a-sketch that challenges your creativity and dare I say artistic capabilities. I love little bursts of character and flavor like that. As small as an aspect as that is, it’s the kind of thing that sticks with you when you think of the game.
Another thing that sticks with me is the perplexingly low ratings from other users. Beside the one issue I find with the control scheme, Reel Steal runs and plays like a charm. I’m a subscriber to the different strokes for different folks mentality, but I don’t want it left unsaid that this game isn’t earnest in what it’s trying to do. Given that it’s one of the handful of free games for the Playdate, there’s really no reason to not give it a chance.
It's charming but just not very fun to play. In concept it's really cool but there's just not much mechanically there. Tying reversing your movement to a button instead of the d pad while expecting you to use the crank is a baffling choice. Visuals are good but the writing feels pandering and insincere. Can't complain too much considering it's free, but I'd just rather play Recommendation Dog again than touch this.
Super not for me, it's charming enough, plot is a bit obnoxious but I'm sure a lot of people will vibe with it.
Um conceito bem legal, mas executado de uma forma bem estranha. Usar a manivelinha para controlar o gancho é bem legal, mas o movimento horizontal ser automático - quando minha outra mão está exatamente no direcional digital - não faz nenhum sentido.
Eu tava esperando uma ideia meio Wario Land quando conseguisse chegar no objetivo da fase, de ter que sair correndo pra não ser pego, mas também não rolou. Mesmo assim, foi legal de jogar, se um dia tentarem fazer um Reel Steal 2, eu acho que vou atrás.
Eu tava esperando uma ideia meio Wario Land quando conseguisse chegar no objetivo da fase, de ter que sair correndo pra não ser pego, mas também não rolou. Mesmo assim, foi legal de jogar, se um dia tentarem fazer um Reel Steal 2, eu acho que vou atrás.
Cute concept with not the best execution. I like the idea of using the crank as a fishing hook to get a thief all the way to some sort of treasure, but I wasn't on board with how horizontal movement was automatic versus just using the directional pad. It's also a bit odd how you're ranked for each level, but are unable to replay levels without restarting the game. The game is charming, but mostly boring to play.
Bizarrely clunky controls for such a simple premise.