The Swindle Reviews
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.
The Swindle is an excellent combination of platformer and stealth game, with a gorgeous steampunk aesthetic that absorbs you completely into the game.
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.
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.
Size Five's The Swindle has come to Nintendo Switch but a new console can't fix the same old frustrating controls
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.
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
While the game is indeed varied and its visual environment is very well designed, it can often become very repetitive as it compels the player to repeat missions again and again.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
Thrilling when it works, incensing when it doesn't
So should you buy The Swindle? Absolutely; the game is, quite simply, fun. It has real stakes, and that makes every jump, every break in, every move all the more intense. With great gameplay, great visuals, and great music, it's hard not to suggest The Swindle; just keep in mind that it has got some issues, and it is not for the faint of heart.
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.
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.
It's hugely clever, chaotic and funny, though there are downsides in the implementation of randomly generated stages and in some technical glitches and flaws. Despite some issues the premise, presentation, music and gameplay all work well together, making this a steal on the Wii U - just not the great heist it could have been.
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.
I don't think this game is for those new to the genre, but if you're a fan of rogue-likes and crave something super challenging, then you may just want to take a swipe at The Swindle.
The Swindle creates a challenging environment for fans of the rogue-like game genre, with a wide variety of ways to achieve heists for maximum profit.
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 uncompromisingly brutal difficulty of The Swindle will turn many off, but for those up to the challenge, the reward of thrilling thievery could very well be worth the effort.
My time with The Swindle was littered with failure. I blame myself for plenty of those attempts, but the game roots against you in a way that's nearly unrivaled in the past two decades of video games. Not since the Wet Bandits attempted to invade the McCallister residence has burglary gone so laughably wrong. Yet still, it had its moments and surely there are those that will appreciate this sort of beating more than I did. Perhaps it hearkens back to a time when games didn't hold our hands as much, and if that's the case, perhaps I've been coddled by quick-time events and cutscenes that do the hard stuff for me. I don't believe that's the case, though. 2015 is my 20th year as a gamer and I have played few games that challenge your patience as much as The Swindle. Maybe the game's robots have achieved sentience and human-like emotions. That would explain all the menacing satisfaction they seem to derive out of my failure.