The Swindle Reviews
A Sonic-the-Hedgehog-esque money-as-health system would be my proposed solution, where every hit results in some dropped wonga as you limp back to the escape vessel, but until then, for all The Swindle’s good attributes, it manages to suck the fun out of its own good ideas so thoroughly in its early-game that many players won’t have the desire to soldier on.
The Swindle is an enjoyable enough game which I would probably rate higher on other platforms, but the additional shortcomings with the Switch version in handheld mode make it a little more difficult for me to recommend. If the technical issues aren’t deal breakers for you, and if you’re looking for something you can play in short bursts and which will let you progress quickly, this is a fine enough choice. If you can play it on another platform, I’d suggest going that route instead.
In the end, The Swindle is one of the most rewarding and unique rogue-likes that I've ever played.
In the end The Swindle is an ambitious game that unfortunately just falls in at average
Overall, I enjoyed my time with The Swindle. While the random levels were a point of frustration, and the occasional frame rate drops maddening, the gameplay is solid and provides players with an interesting challenge in a wonderful setting. If you can get past its brutal challenge, you'll find a rewarding experience, even if it can be an exhausting one.
'The Swindle' can be very satisfying, if you don't mind its cruel difficulty and regularly mystifying level design. It is not a AAA stealth game with all of its fancy checkpoints and low difficulty levels and no death penalty. It's not that those things are bad necessarily, it's just that roguelikes are intended to be a very different experience, one in which success is distant, pain is frequent, and every reward is a joyous occasion.
Despite its flaws and steep challenge, The Swindle on the Wii U eShop taught me how to become a greedy, stealthy crook — and I loved every minute of it.
The Swindle is superb: a truly original entry to stand beside Spelunky and a great opportunity to test the player's ability not to snap their controller in half. The stealth combat is an interesting new take on the rogue-like genre, the gadgets and abilities are fun and interesting to experiment with, and - most importantly - there is a quality to the game that makes the player want to come back to play again and again. A trait system and an infinite mode would simply serve to make an already fantastic game even better.
The Swindle is a fun romp through Victorian London, and the feeling of getting away with the heists is one that never gets old, but the game is brought down by some questionable design choices and some technical issues. If it's a decent roguelike you seek, you won't regret taking a look, but if you're craving for the next Spelunky, take your thievery skills elsewhere.
It's a huge shame that The Swindle misses the mark so hard on its execution. The tools, upgrades, and challenges are all really fun to experiment with. There's a great game somewhere within the mess, but you'll probably stop having fun way before you manage to pull off the heist of a lifetime.
To that end, The Swindle is a usually enjoyable jaunt that's equal parts familiar and refreshing. It's by no means an easy game. The 100-day time limit can prove a huge frustration, but it does succeed in adding a significant portion of tension. Like anything irritating you'll eventually feel the urge to hit back - what's critical is whether that's enough for you to close the game forever, or the impetus you need for just one more shot.
The Swindle is a very fun game, and I would certainly recommend it at its small price point.
Thrilling when it works, incensing when it doesn't
Give it a few patches and hopefully we'll have a must-have game on our hands, but even right now you shouldn't regret a purchase. Jolly good burglary, old chap.
The Swindle is not immediately satisfying, but this seems to be a deliberate choice. The randomness of the level generation means that there's every chance the first heist lacks the £100 needed to buy hacking—or the passages are blocked off and inaccessible—which can be a little deflating. But the constant, continual escalation is what keeps The Swindle gripping and satisfying—even when it feels unfair. Which is often, because I am terrible.
It's hard to fully recommend a game with inconsistent controls, but The Swindle is awfully close to being excellent. There are a huge number of enemies with different behaviors and the randomized level generator is more than happy to put multiple kinds together in ways that require different strategies to handle.
When it comes down to it, The Swindle is the perfect kind of game for the Nintendo Switch. It never would have found a home in my PC library but I find myself picking up and playing it on the Switch quite frequently. It's the exact kind of platformer that can thrive in the Switch ecosystem: easy to understand mechanics, difficult to beat in its entirety, but engaging gameplay that keeps you coming back out of pure enjoyment for every level played.
The Swindle is an excellent combination of platformer and stealth game, with a gorgeous steampunk aesthetic that absorbs you completely into the game.
The Swindle is frustrating at first glance, but smooths out to spread its steampunk wings thanks to some good depth, variety and quick gameplay style.
It's a different take on the stealth genre, one that really impresses the player with an interesting environment. Sadly, the controls lack precision, and that's a real shame for a game that requires so much rigor on the gamepad.
Review in Italian | Read full review