Little Kitty, Big City
Little Kitty, Big City
Game
Game2015
Crookz - The Big Heist
Developer Skilltree Studios
Crookz - The Big Heist is a tactical strategy game set in the funky 1970’s with a slick and groovy atmosphere. Show off the art of thieving by plotting stylish heists and robberies; utilizing espionage and quick-thinking to avoid detection. From the Steam store page
158 reactions from 2 sources (Steam reviews, Bluesky) · newest Sep 1, 2026 · last updated Oct 8, 2026 · How this works
Audience score
81
LovedLoved
127 positive · 30 negative
95% range 74–86%
| Source | + | − | = |
|---|---|---|---|
| Steam reviews | 127 | 30 | 0 |
| Bluesky * | 0 | 0 | 0 |
* shown, not counted in the score (label accuracy below our 85% bar or not yet audited).
1 newer reactions are still waiting for a label.
Steam's own rating
Very Positive
288 of 353 reviews positive (all languages, per Valve)
What people are saying
Summary pending — the reactions are listed below.
Reactions
60 of 158 · most liked firstGREAT GAME! Finished it in 51 hours (completionist, collected most of treasures-unnoticed) not counting the challenge modes and was a blast from the past lol! + Nice 1970's vibe, music and nostalgia minus the LSD/drugs. + Good point & click strategy-stealth-puzzle type of gameplay. + Lots (18) of interesting and big complex maps, some can take 30-100 minutes. + Some replay value from creativity to complete missions. + The game has a pause feature for planning) and have each do different…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Video Review https://youtu.be/38-u4pik1cs Written Review There are several playable characters to choose a team from which for most levels allows you to select four to take on a job. Each character has a set of specific skills for example Cleopatra runs faster than all other and can also run through laser beams whereas Bishop as the locksmith is the only one who can pick locks without tools. The characters are all useful in certain levels and selecting your crew comes down to your own play…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →TL;DR? See Conclusion The key was given to me for the purpose of review INTRODUCTION: Crookz – The Big Heist is a semi-real time tactical strategy game developed by Skilltree Studios and published by Kalypso Media Digital who's known for titles such as Tropico 5 and Dungeons II. The game is available on the PC, Mac and Linux with a free Demo available to anyone who wishes to try the game first. It features tactical strategy with an emphasis on stealth, perfect planning, execution and adapting…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →What I got from this game was exactly what I expected: a mix of "squad"-tactics and stealth puzzle, a good early-2000s game feel, cheesy characters, many different levels. How much of a "puzzle" instead of a "strategy" game this is, depends on how perfect you want your run to be. If you won't settle for anything less than absolute best, than it will play like a puzzle. Otherwise, you can approach it like a strategy game. I should mention that I really enjoy this subgenre of strategy games,…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →A fun little game, reminds me a bit of Commandos (minus the violence). Pro: - pretty good auto-save system, you usually only lose a few seconds - can be paused to plan and synchronize actions - each character has unique skills - 70s! Contra: - consumables can partially replace unique skills - you cannot bring the whole team to a mission - occasional stutter when unpausing or assigning actions to waypoints - AI behaves stupid in some cases - loading times are bad (OK for initial level loading,…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Boring. UPDATE: Played the game a bit more. Still boring.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Crookz The Big Heist is a genuinely good & really neglected stealth based real time tactical game with pause feature, that shares some similarities with games like Desperados/Commandos, inherently. Unlike those games though, Crookz has a more methodical way of handling movements & actions, and hence, can feel a bit slow paced. It's a heist game, as the name implies. So, the levels are all basically interiors. You can't kill any enemies but surely can incapacitate them permanently using…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Crookz – The Big Heist is a game about a group of trained thieves, as the game title implies. The game introduces you to six professional crooks who were betrayed by their boss and ended up in jail. Upon release from prison, the crew reunites and is bent on exacting revenge against their traitor. The game is a tactical stealth strategy game played from a third person isometric perspective. Each heist mission begins with a preview of what the venue for the upcoming heist looks like. You choose…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Great Heist strategy game with a pretty cool vibe and decent story path. My only criticism is that it's fairly linear despite having an element of choice in the order you do later heists. I would also like to see a game with this engine where you could recruit thieves with different skills for different pay from a database of thieves rather than being stuck with set characters with preset progressive skills. This would add more depth to the management strategy layer. Crookz remains a worthy…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I really like this game.. The plus: - nice voices - cool art and detailed maps - good control and gui enhancements The only bad thing is: - the storyline is a bit unrealistic - some minor bugs The biggest issue is that is seem to have a memory leak.. after some time game gets slow and does not load anymore. After restarting the game eveything is ok again.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This game has gotten zero buzz and very little attention, but that's a shame because this is honestly a great real-time-and-pause tactical squad game reminiscent of classics of the genre like Commandos. Gameplay is challenging but never impossible, and there are almost always multiple ways to achieve your goals within the missions. The 70s vibe is pretty good (aside from some glaring anachronisms, if you're old enough to notice them), the soundtrack is solid, and the graphics, while nothing…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Once a member of a group of sassy 70's thieves you were tasked with stealing Kryptonite(at least that's what it looks like to me). Alas, as an alien much greater than me once said "It's a Trap!". Having disbanded after the last heist and down to two members of the original gang you set off to steal this rare moonstone again, years later. Only this time, it's personal. Crookz The Big Heist is at it's core a simulation heist game. You start with two thieves each with their own "Particular set…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Awesome game ..game is having action in about '80-'90 and you control 5 characters in order to do differents heists ..each of them have unique skills which you will learn in gameplay ..which is very easy ..of course some levels can be very tricky and you need to plan a bit your way and watch over the opportunituies you have in order to achieve your goal ..ain't that hard as it sounds ...gameplay is very easy and also guards or cops wont come to shoot you or something i know it sound weird but…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Crookz has some decent art and workable voice acting, but the gameplay is far too shallow to warrant playing. The game is less of a simulation and more of a puzzle game. It's an on-the-line passable game without much else to say about it.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Fantastic tactical game. Not without its flaws, but it can still provide several hours of entertainment for fans of the genre. Keep in mind that this is a slow-paced game and each level takes planning. if you like fast-paced games then it isn't for you. -------Pros------- + Different thieves with unique abilities + Fantastic soundtrack + Challenging levels + Several different ways to complete a level + Great graphics + Excellent difficulty progression + You can replay missions with all…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Crookz is a strategy game with some light stealth elements, where the player takes control of a gang of career criminals who are trying to pull off a series of heists, with the ultimate goal of stealing a valuable artefact called the Luna Stone. Each heist starts with a briefing where your crew explains the mission objectives and gives advice on how to complete them. You can see a detailed map of the building, complete with guard patrol routes and vision cones, plus the locations of security…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →tl;dr version: Do you remember games like Commandos and Desperados? Did you like those games? If you answered yes to both those questions then this game is for you. Full review: Crookz is an isometric, real time with pause, tactical stealth game set in the 70s that follows the exploits of a group of professional thieves. Pros: * 70s setting * 70s style funk soundtrack * Strong tactical gameplay * Missions play out differently depending on your chosen team members and tools you brought with…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I am pleased I bought this game as it is challenging and fun to play, with 18 missions in the campaign and a seperate challenge mode where you race the clock with a predetermined team and set of tools. The missions start off easy to allow you to learn the game mechanics, then it gets more difficult which requires more planning and time to think which makes the pause and plan feature come in handy. There are six characters to choose from all with unique skills, for example there is the acrobat…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Kinda fun at first, but drags on way too much and has a few cons. This is a cross between Shadow Tactics and Thief. You control up to 4 thieves from a roster of 6, each with their own abilities and consequent roles. The aim of the game is to stealth around the map, completing some objective like stealing notes from a safe, breaking out of prison, etc, optionally completing other objectives like upgrading your tools and stealing money dotted around the map, often in more-challenging-to-reach…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I give this a thumbs-up with some reservations. It is an under-rated game in that there is a surprising lack of players for what is a competent (but sadly not exceptional) stealth game. One thing that Crookz does very well is having a planning stage, where you can watch the guards patrol and examine the level in detail prior to picking a team and initial equipment to tackle it. This changes the feel of the game somewhat: Instead of a scrappy sneaky thief making things up as you go along, you…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →A game of heists, with a much-needed pause button. The first ten levels or so are great, upping the difficulty as it goes in a very pleasant-to-progress curve. I think I got my money's worth out of it, with many hours of gameplay before I hit a level which was so complicated that it just stopped being fun for me... perhaps because of my tactic of just muddling through the missions without proper planning! I found the armoured guards too difficult to deal with, having not developed the knowledge…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I couldn't even make it through the tutorial. It's easily one of the most complicated control schemes I've ever seen for a game. You need to click 20 way points and symbols just to accomplish something and the game does a terrible job explaining why. I thought this was a turn based tactical strategy game and it's just a "Pause and Play" game. Not my cup of tea.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Man! The only crook is me for buying this game on sale for just under $5. Crookz is definitely worth the full price. Strategy and timing is the key to getting your hands on the goods. It's fun, clever and funkier than my afro, ya dig? ★★★★★★★★★✰
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →When you think of the heist genre you think of things like Payday or GTA V, but Crookz: The Big Heist provides a new way to play this kind of game and I am happy to say, it's a lot of fun. Each level begins with a flyby overview of the map and an explanation of what objectives need to be completed. Pay attention to this as it's very important to get a good idea of the best approach to each heist. This is also where you will need to think about what characters to bring with you. The characters…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Great game. I missed something like the old Clue/Sting games. Planning heists with style. The world needs more of those. I won't waste my time on some long review because there is a free demo anyway. Try it out.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I'm not installing a freaking Kalipso launcher when I have the game in Steam. I didn't install 2K games launcher to play the masterpiece of XCOM 2 I won't certainly install this. Seriously it seems many gaming companies are trying to push gamers into finding alternatives.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →If you just need to play every tactical strategy game, this is one of them. Beyond that it's a mixed bag. The theme is interesting if you're into 1970's funk, it's got some style with the crook choices and there's some interesting puzzles to start with as you learn the basics. Unfortunately it's not very deep. Once you learn the basics, it's repetitive. The missions drag on and get tedious if you're trying to get all the way through the plot. The voice acting is cheesy, you can see that for…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →really flippin' boring. i love the style and premise of the game, but there is just zero tension, zero fun. voice acting is dull, gameplay is dull. big disappointment.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I really like this game. I'm a big fan of Commandos / Desperados / Shadow Tactics and this is in a similar vein, and very enjoyable. Pretty challenging without being too frustrating. Nice 1970s vibe. Smooth gameplay, lively presentation and good music. Lots of nice gadgets so you can tackle the challenges in a variety of ways. Highly recommended.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →You control a small team, each of them with own unique skill (Stealth, Technician, Hacker, Bully etc). Planning the route and timing of every action to achieve the objective. If you like X-COM, CIV, Invisible Inc, turn based strategy games, you will enjoy this very very much. Along with it, the animations, voices, characters are very well design. Even just watching the cut scenes and background music is as enjoyable as watching a movie. This game makes you feel like you are the Master…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Lovely game with a very nice style and art direction.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Very good game. I really liked it + A bit simple in the beginning, but good plot with lots of 70s style + Characters will help you remember good heist movies + Tactical part is good at nearly every level + Autosave system works well. - The game is a bit bugged. I got some crashes, but I hope, it will be fixed by patches. +/- Sometimes, balance is a bit off.Several levels get A LOT more difficult, if you picked the wrong team composition. May be, it can be considered as a challenge to those,…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The game is similar to oldie-goldies like Commandos and Silent Storm (without the shooting). Each character has its own role, as in things that they specialize in doing, which the other characters cannot do without tools that are either found or bought in the pre-planning stage of the current map. What makes this game great though, is that you really have to plan ahead the moves of each character, several steps ahead, which also has to time each action with what task you put the other…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The biggest problem with this game is that it ends too soon. This would be so much better if more heists could be done some some auto-generated missions or user shared ones.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →If you won't settle for anything less than absolute best, than it will play like a puzzle. Otherwise, you can approach it like a strategy game Crookz takes an approach similar to Shadowrun Returns for perspective and uses a pauseable real-time gameplay style, almost entirely fulfilling my personal desire for a third-person stealth game that isn't Alpha Protocol. I found controlling multiple characters at once annoying, but that's something I've had a problem with for years, which I think is a…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I think it's a good game but all the late game levels seem too unrealistic
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It's a heist game, you command some team members around a place to steal something or do something other in that place. I just played once a game of this type. And that was in a time, where the technology did not allow such "big" levels. Short: I love it. You can plan the whole heist at once if you spend enough time in it, then press play and some times "Proceed" when a team member is in waiting state. It's very comfortable to use: Just set waypoints, move them around and/or assign some…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Do you want to be robbed by a video game? Have you ever felt that keys are overrated? Do think that sterotypes in media are still up to date? Then check out this game, otherwise stay clear of this boring repetion! For further information check out this review: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ch0PXHTxXV4
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I CANNOT play this game at all. After I registered for an account, verified it via email, log in and choose the only option "PLAY CROOKZ" my laptop screen goes blank and I can hear the soundtrack playing, but only that. I waited 10-15 minutes but nothing happened. As I switch tabs and pointing the tab of CROOKZ on my taskbar, it shows "CROOKZ (32bit, DX11)" on the tab. My windows 8.1 is the 64 bit version. I tried to search the option to alter the game settings, but found nothing. I tried…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It's not the kind of game I normally play, but it's good enough that I'd want to play it more if the genre interested me. For more: http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/video-games/editorials/reviews/14476-Crookz-The-Big-Heist-Pulls-Off-a-Competent-Job-as-a-Thief-Simula
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The game looks like it was an experiment to invent tactical stealth genre. In reality such genre has been invented long before which makes this game a joke. Pros: + Optimization. Sadly, not many developers care about that these days. + Setting... I guess. Just trying to find something good here. Cons: - Tutorial. It's awful. I had a lot of questions while completeing it. Why to make 5 waypoints which do nothing and then to remove them? Why to... nah, too many "whys". Nearly each step makes no…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This game is very well designed early on, but then your options start to get narrowed a lot and managing four characters across large maps is very tedious. If you get this in a bundle, I do recommend playing the first few missions.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Even though I have a lot of cons, I absolutely find the game worth it. If you like turn based strategy games then I can wholeheartedly recommend this game. I REALLY hope they will make a sequel! Pros Somewhere half-way the game after you have unlocked most things the game really shines. Some things your characters can do are very useful and fun. The level with the disco/club was fantastic. Pretty hard and very satisfying. I like how it looks. Not just the graphical fidelity, but also the '70s…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →a strategy game with some light stealth elements, where the player takes control of a gang of career criminals who are trying to pull off a series of heists, with the ultimate goal of stealing a valuable artifact called the Luna Stone. Heists are linked together by a fairly decent story, Crookz is a fun game which rewards tactical planning, and I think its worth playing, although hardcore stealth fans might find it a bit too casual. Its addicting once you get a hang of it, fairly laid back but…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Great game - style, stealth and strategy. Glad I found this and started over. First time I only played couple of levels and got stuck. Was a lot of fun and was compelled to go all the way through. Time based missions are stressful (had to look up tips to get some help on 2nd level of casino) and requires constant saving but quick save and time saves implemented well. A lot of fun to methodically go through and get through all the traps and guards with team members you pick to use.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I am not a crook someone said. Why not? It's fine to be a crook, especially in a game like this. I liked the Commandos serie despite all the problems the game have today, Crookz is somehow an evoluted version of Commandos, with different skills and better commands, if Commandos had some of Crookz' features, I'd probably fall in love for that game. Back to Crookz, it features a lot of pre planning and choices, you can prepare your tactics to proceed in the map, but it's not too dispersive…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This game is very good and enjoyable ! the only cons is tutorial is slow and boring but you shouldn't skip it [it's only like 15 mins]. But don't let that fool you, things are really different when you get your hands on the real missions ! The graphic is nice. The characters have their own uniqueness vibes & skills, plus , the banters between character and story is good. The highlight is the gameplay. You'll get to see the blueprints, to plan suitable characters and gadgets before heist…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Recommended. This game is a real-time tactical heist simulation with the option to pause. You will have a variety of "crookz" to choose from to make up your team for each heist, and eventually you'll get the option to choose the order in wich certain heists are done. Taking you from heist to heist is a storyline that sets back in the 60's, but from how it plays out it's more like this game tries to capture the air of the 60's TV-shows rather than of the 60's itself. The different maps have an…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Great game that you can buy at 15 CENT in Spains CEX and you earn 3 trading cards for a 33 CENT value :D
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Groovy game, man!
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →A surprisingly fun and enjoyable game about planning and executing heists on places from museums to bunkers to mansions. It starts off relatively easy but progresses in difficulty with each level. Got addicted to it pretty fast, 9/10 would buy again.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Crookz - The Big Heist is one of those games that you have absolutely never have heard of, until one day you randomly stumble upon them, usually during some sale, and then wonder why the hell you didn't know anything about before. Well, as you may have guessed this is, in my opinion, a great game. They say that good things come in small packages: this game isn't huge but surely jam packed with good features! It does everything right: has very classy 70's/funky vibe and style, excellent arts…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →8.5/10 ** GREAT GAME ** Hilariously funky puzzle game with high production value and replay-ability. Crookz is pretty much what the title implies, you control 2-4 bandits in a turnbased 'slash' realtime environment, pause the game whenever you feel like it, give your Crookz walk, pause and action commands and lean back to enjoy the show, if your plan fails, jump in and quickly adjust or take over all together, it's up to you and works like a charm. The controls in Crookz are very well done,…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Thorougly enjoyable. I'm only a handful of hours into the game however the learning curve is easy and the challenges so far have been great. Purchased during the Steam Autumn 2015 sale at 75% discount - do yourself a favour, buy it!
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Nicely designed and carefully balanced so that levels are challenging but solvable with any set of characters. Good for those who like careful pausing and planning!
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Great game, It's been a long time I haven't played of this characteristics and I'm glad I found this one. Totally recommended.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Wanted to give this game a positive review but with BIG caveat, if you're looking for something similar to Commandos, Desperados or Shadow Tactics you may be disappointed. While a lot of the mechanics are very similar to the more well known strategic stealth games the level design here is very different giving a totally different tone. Enough so if you love those game I could see you not enjoying this. Other games in genre present you with a big open sandbox full of challenges and character…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Not playable from level 12 whith that stupid timer. No medkit for sometimes also very stupid. People like my 75 who play slow want to have fun !!! I play rts games since 1999 . But i hate timer games.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Does not work properly. Full of bugs. I was not even able to play it more than 1h because of that. At that time, there was no demo...
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →If you need something new to help you go to sleep, you've come to the right game. Don't pay more than 50¢ for this.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →
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