Sneaky Sneaky is the first game from developer duo Naiad Entertainment. Naiad comes to the development table with AAA experience (EA being one), and this game proves that these guys know what they’re doing. Sneaky Sneaky combines stealth and strategy to make a clean, quick little game that’s easy to pick up and pretty fun to play. It’s a solid debut title, especially for a two-person team. The combat design alone is much cleaner than what often comes from many larger devopment teams. Aside from some forgivable mistakes, it’s clear that Naiad Entertainment is a more than competent development team, and it definitely shows in this turn-based adventure.
Sneak, Kill, Loot, Repeat (Story)
Sneaky Sneaky isn’t a complex game. You play Sneaky, a rogue who’s stolen a bag full of rubies. After a slight mishap, you lose your bag of loot. Of course, you have to go after it. The pursuit of your twice-stolen goods takes you through 15 levels that require varying degrees of strategic planning to complete.
There isn’t a whole lot of story development in Sneaky Sneaky. From start to finish, you’re looking for your rubies. The only complication is that you’re wanted by the law, but this doesn’t factor much into the gameplay, aside from a few chuckle-worthy wanted posters.
For a game this short (about 3 hours), I don’t mind a simple story. But I would have liked to see a little more than what I got. The story only appeared at the very beginning and very end of the game, both times in short cutscenes. Other than that, the only story development in-game comes with a few letters from your partner, though his existence isn’t really elaborated on.
With no narrative to contextualize the areas that I was visiting, the game lacked a sense of purpose. I was grinding through levels with no idea how far into the story I was or what the significance of each area/level was. All I knew was that Sneaky’s rubies were out in the ether somewhere, and I just had to keep going through levels until they popped up. So after a while, it started to feel repetitive. Sneak, kill, loot, repeat.
The Invisible Bag of Tricks (Level Design)
I mentioned earlier that Sneaky Sneaky is an easy game to pick up. That’s because there’s only one control: left-clicking. You click where you want Sneaky to go, you click to activate levers and items, you click to kill enemies. Easy-peasy.
While accessibility is great, it can be problematic. Because every action was bound to the same key, it was easy to make mistakes. Sometimes, instead of stealth-killing an enemy, Sneaky would walk right up to them. Or he’d pull a lever instead of walking to it, which often resulted in a horrible death by floor spikes. There were also times when the game would mistake clicking for clicking and dragging, which would activate the bow instead of moving Sneaky elsewhere. In a game where timing is of vital importance, that was sometimes a serious issue.
For the most part, level design is very straightforward. You start in a room without enemies, then progress through the level by cutting down various foes, avoiding traps, and activating levers. Along the way, you can also collect loot and try to track down the three rubies that are hidden in each level.
When you reach the end of the level, you are awarded points based on the number of sneak kills you made, the number of regular kills, and the number of times you remained undetected. You also get bonuses for things like collecting all three hidden gems, making it through the level without retrying a room, or going through an entire level undetected. You’re then awarded a bronze, silver, or gold medal based on the total number of points. The medal you get determines how many points you’ll get toward Sneaky’s next level. Each level-up allows you upgrade Sneaky’s health, melee damage, ranged damage, or increase his field of movement.
The best part about the level design /overall game structure was the timing of certain perks. Sneaky Sneaky doesn’t give you all your tools at once. Instead, the devs chose to build your arsenal piece by piece. After a few levels, you gain your bow. After a few more, an encounter potion. A few more, and you have a ham that can lure and distract enemies. The list goes on. By the end of the game, there are lots of resources at your disposal. (The barrel disguise was my favorite.) This also gives the game a lot of replay value, as you’re able to go back and complete some previously difficult levels with a shiny new trick and earn that gold medal. You can restock on all these little goodies in the shop between levels.
For a short game, the levels were pretty varied in terms of aesthetic, layout, and difficulty. Each level fit into one of four types: forest, dungeon, desert, or city. The basic layouts remained the same for each type, but they contained different enemies, traps, and resources. There were distinct visual themes for each type, but all levels were brightly colored and well-animated. (I could definitely see the resemblance to Bastion, another title that the creative director for this game worked on.) Within each level, different enemies behave and move in their own ways, so you have to switch up your tactics to compensate.
Although the varying area and enemy types kept me thinking on my feet, there were definitely some flaws in the level design. My biggest issue was that new levels weren’t always more challenging than the previous ones. Some were actually less challenging. Even after beating the game, there are still some early levels that I haven’t earned gold on. Yet I was able to breeze right through some of the late-game levels without a problem. I was really hoping for more of a challenge before recovering my rubies.
Aside from that, I only had two minor quibbles:
- When you die, you’re able to restart a room without restarting the whole level. But the game menu doesn’t give you a “Restart Room” option for those times when you just didn’t quite get it right. If you want a re-do, you’ll have to let your enemies kill you (and sacrifice extra points), or restart the whole level.
- Some of the levels that included mazes and required the opening/closing of gates. Oftentimes, one of the three rubies (or some sweet loot) was trapped behind a gate that seemed impossible to open. Even after finishing the game, there are some levels that I don’t have the rubies for because there was seemingly no way to get to them. (Perhaps I’m missing something, but I tried everything I could think of.) Completionists beware.
Jousters, Werewolves, and Bats – Oh, My! (Combat)
Sneaky Sneaky has a really clean, effective combat system that’s easy to grasp. Combat is turn-based, but there are a lot of ways to go about killing enemies. Because each enemy behaves differently, you really have to pay attention to their patterns in order to complete a level efficiently. You can choose to hide or stalk them and achieve a stealth kill, which usually drops them instantly.
If you don’t opt for (or can’t opt for, as is sometimes the case) a stealth kill, you’ll enter into turn-based combat. If you engage your enemy before they see you (with your bow or a potion), you’ll have an “encounter”, which means you have the first three moves. But if your enemy detects you before you attack, they get the first three moves. During your three-part turn, you can move toward or away from your enemy, attack, or hide. Hiding will confuse your enemy, causing them to exit combat mode. This is really helpful for those accidental detections. Later on in the game, you’re able to lure and distract enemies, kill them with traps, put them to sleep, or even blow them up.
The combat is probably the best part about the game. I have very few complaints, aside from a few kinks in the enemy AI. Given that this is a smaller game, and that it’s the first title from Naiad, I certainly don’t expect the kind of complex NPC behavior you’d get in bigger indie or AAA titles. But certain enemies, flying bats and burrowing skeletons in particular, were incredibly frustrating. These types of enemies move freely around the room, as opposed to the set paths that other enemies have. While this gave me a lot more options as to how I wanted to go about killing them, it became problematic when an enemy would keep flying around the same corner of the map for five minutes or more. Sure, you can always use the bow and engage them, but if you’re out of arrows or you’re trying to get gold on a level with only a few enemies, that kind of behavior can really become an issue.
Verdict
In spite of a few major flaws, I really enjoyed Sneaky Sneaky. It’s an easy game to play casually, as some levels take less than fifteen minutes to complete. Whether you’re a veteran of stealth games or a brand-new player, this game has a bit of something for everyone. It’s lighthearted and humorous, with just a dash of sadism tossed in (I’m looking at you, floor spikes). If you can look past some spotty level design and the occasional control or AI bug, this is definitely a fun little adventure.
You can check out the trailer above, or visit the Steam page for more information. Sneaky Sneaky is available now for $9.99.
Published: Nov 14, 2014 07:49 am