The Big Con Reviews

The Big Con is ranked in the 60th percentile of games scored on OpenCritic.
8.5 / 10.0
Aug 31, 2021

The Big Con is a welcome nod to one of the coolest decades of all time, featuring some great writing, beautiful visuals, and fun gameplay.

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85 / 100
Sep 15, 2021

If you are nostalgic for the gaming scene of the 90s, The Big Con is a can’t-miss throwback. But even if you are maybe a little younger, or sick of wallowing in that most radical of eras, you may find a lot to like. It’s certainly a very cool con artist story, which is appealing to me. Funny and a little melancholy, The Big Con is exactly the sort of adventure game I’ve been wanting to play for decades.

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8.5 / 10.0
Aug 31, 2021

The Big Con is a bright, fun and surprisingly wholesome crime spree through a Saturday morning cartoon version of 90s America. You might develop a compulsion for kleptomania, you might feel bad for picking hundreds of pockets, but at least you'll laugh along the way and feel cool doing it.

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8.5 / 10.0
May 27, 2022

undefined.The Big Con is a stylish adventure game that feels more playful than mystifying, nailing a good balance that opens up to a wider audience than most of its kind. The '90s Nick feel definitely makes it more appealing to those of a certain age, but the goofy period piece design of the world is unspecific enough to not feel impenetrable if you don't know your Skeeters from your Stimpys. The charm far outweighs the thievery for Ali as she tries to save her mom's video store by robbing the world blind.

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8.5 / 10.0
Aug 31, 2021

It is not easy to make a game about coning and robbing people on this personal of a level and not make the gamers feel bad about what they are doing but the developers behind The Big Con use the art style, comedic bits and the 1990s nostalgia in a way that this idea works in such a nice way that you will have a blast playing it, specially if you are a 90's kid.

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8.5 / 10.0
Jun 1, 2022

Maybe it’s the 80s kid and 90s twenty-something in me, but I’ll admit that when a game features a slice of life from my own heyday, made clear by your character working in their mom’s video rental store, it can quickly get my attention...

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Aug 31, 2021

The Big Con delivers a heartwarming story set in an iconic time period filled with beautiful characters and stunning environments.

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8 / 10.0
Aug 31, 2021

That bright, cartoony art style works perfectly for The Big Con’s nostalgic portrayal of the Nineties, and, combines with a touching story and witty dialogue to make The Big Con a very enjoyable adventure to play through. It can be a little easy at times, and I played through it more quickly than I expected, but I had a blast.

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Generación Xbox
Nathusalem
Top Critic
8 / 10.0
Sep 7, 2021

‎The Big Con is about its history and nostalgia for an era it is no longer. It's a pleasant road trip, where cassette tapes still need to be rewound, MTV still plays music videos, and fanny packs are all the rage. Ali is a typical teenager who in the long run is endearing, the touch of familiarity that surrounds the whole story works very well and visually the game has a very pleasant style. ‎

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8 / 10.0
Jun 28, 2022

The Big Con is a coming-of-age story set in the '90s. Its strength is in the storytelling, the relatable characters, and the homage to that moment in time. The puzzles provide some challenge, and while the pickpocketing mechanic is a bit overdone, it's something you can turn off. For those who didn't grow up during the '90s, you might not connect with some of the story, but you'll still get enjoyment nonetheless. However, for people like me, who are old enough to remember growing up during this time, I think there's a lot you can connect with in this game.

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8 / 10.0
Sep 7, 2021

The Big Con provides some much-needed 90s nostalgia while also providing an outrageous tale smothered in wit, sarcasm, and Horm. It’s a short, casual game, with a whole lot of spunk and a whole lot of crime, and I really recommend it to anyone looking for a laugh.

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8 / 10.0
Sep 16, 2021

Where the gameplay may be lacking, The Big Con makes up for with emotional stakes. I found Ali’s relationships to be engaging, funny, and heartfelt. She can call her mom and her best friend—who she’s currently on the outs with—from the road. She makes friends with recurring guests along the road, including a particularly funny Pawn Shop Broker (the game’s way of letting you sell random items for extra cash). She even has a delightful imaginary friend called Rad Ghost who serves as a helper—emotionally, and logistically with controls—throughout the game. Amid the nostalgia and time travel, there is a very tangible reflection on the transience of commercial fads as well as a love and concern for small businesses. Ali is a good kid, and getting to follow her journey, living vicariously through her as the cool ‘90s teen I never was, was worth even the most lackluster of pickpocketing opportunities.

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Sep 8, 2021

Video tapes, scrunchies, plaid shirts, grunge…did someone say a recipe for the ‘90s? Though I was born in 1997, which some would say doesn’t count, I still remember the ‘90s vibe going on strongly into the early 2000s. A time of Pokemon, classic Disney films and the PlayStation 1, where little me had no responsibilities!

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4 / 5.0
Nov 9, 2021

The Big Con is a heart-warming coming of age story that will delight 90s kids, referential-humor enjoyers, and those with sticky fingers. Its relatable protagonist never loses her heart of gold, despite the horrible circumstances she finds herself in, which serves as a shining testament to the dev team’s ability to carefully craft a story using controversial mechanics. If you have $14.99 and 7 - 10 hours to spare, take a look at The Big Con -- it's bound to steal your heart.

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75 / 100
Aug 31, 2021

The Big Con is a blast from the past in its setting and story. While the tools to get you where you need to go need a bit of work, Ali is an exceptional main character, and playing through her story is a lot of fun. It's short, yes, but it's definitely worth the price of admission for an entertaining jaunt through the '90s.

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XboxEra
Harm0nica
7.5 / 10.0
Aug 31, 2021

Criminality has never been so much fun, and thankfully, in The Big Con, no one really gets hurt.  Available on day one via Xbox Game Pass and with a roughly six-hour completion time this is a title well worth checking out.

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7.5 / 10.0
Aug 31, 2021

Though there's some technical issues, some more devastating than others, The Big Con is a heart-warming teenage road trip that's worth playing

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7.5 / 10.0
Sep 3, 2021

For an experience meant to mimic a night spent in front of a rented VHS tape and a bowl of microwaveable popcorn, that’s about all you can ask for.

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GameSpot
Top Critic
7 / 10
Aug 31, 2021

The Big Con is a unique take on video game nostalgia that takes players to the '90s, but not the video game '90s.

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7 / 10
Aug 31, 2021

However, even if it does get monotonous sometimes, I certainly can't fault the originality of the pickpocketing idea. The Big Con is not the kind of adventure game I see every day and credit to Mighty Yell for trying something different. I don't know if it's because I was hoping more would be done with the idea or because the game felt too short, but I ultimately came out of this game wanting something more. Maybe that's just the hunger for a bigger score.

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