Hi fellow Boomers,

have you already read or heard about a new game named "Crookz - The Big Heist" that was published August 25th. It is tagged with words like "Strategy", "Simulation" and "Heist" and one review calls it a "Tactical Theft Simulator". The game is available at least on GOG and Steam.

I have now played it for 3 days and like it more each day. The further you progress the more you need careful planning and timing. This is definitely not a game for any hasty person but for those who can concentrate even hours in careful planning and observation before executing your plan. Of course all this is carried out in small portions and should your plan fail you always have several automatic (and also manual if you wish so) save points where to roll back and refine your plan.

Here is a quote from a review which I can totally agree:



You can read the whole review here.

I warmly recommend this for you if you meet the qualities mentioned in the review recommendation.

Timo

Timo

I saw this game on GOG but didn't know much of anything about it. Thanks for the explanation; now I have a better idea of what the game is like.

Glad you're enjoying it.

Sounds like a good option for those who don't like to fight, and I love that it has a manual save point.

I like this game more each day, it's my first strategy game ever. I'm currntly playing mission 11 (of total 18) which is first 3 star mission and I had to change my crew 3 times and start the mission from the beginning again before I could make my way to the basement, phuhh! But I learnt to do things better each time. I just wonder how challenging 4 and 5 star missions will be? This game offers dozens of hours of challenging gameplay. The only minus is the current price ($30) but I suppose it drops on more acceptable level in few months. Keep this game in mind then if not now.

Timo

Thanks for the update TJL!

Yep, strategy games can become addictive once you start to really get into it. Strategy/RTS games can be a good segue for adventure gamers into dark side games because they tend to be more thoughtful and require problem solving.

This one sounds interesting, I like the idea of changing up crew members. Do they have different skills that make them more appropriate for different missions?

Yes, there are 5 humans and 1 robot from which to build up a crew for each mission. The size of the crew has varied from 2 to 4 so far. Each person has their own talents and strenghts and you have to carefully choose the right ones for each mission and equip them with right tools I believe almost every mission is completable with any combo but some make ithe task easier than others.

There is a demo covering first 4 missions available on Steam (http://store.steampowered.com/app/310490 Button "Download Demo" on right side of the page) if you became interested. The full game is also available on GOG (https://www.gog.com/game/crookz_the_big_heist) which many of us seem to prefer.

I can't understand how I have so overlooked strategy game genre so far although I have played over 100 adventure games and maybe 30 action games. I must make correction to this. Any suggestions?

Timo

Personally, I've played through the broader RTS games ala Sid Meier like the Civilization series and so on. Those are really time consuming, but a lot of fun if you like controlling entire cities, groups and so on. I also tend to like turn based/strategy tactical gaming like Crysis, which is borderline FPS/Action. More recently I became pretty addicted to XCOM: Enemy Unknown. XCOM can be fairly fast paced at times, but also allows for planning as it blends Strategy and Turn-Based Action. It's interesting because it starts out with managing a team, then broadens much further out to managing larger forces in turn based battles. Like others it has a decent learning curve and definitely requires some replay. It was continued with XCOM: Enemy Within and another is in the works. The game is basically a remake of on an early, popular series known as UFO: Enemy unknown from back in the 90's.

There are also RPG's that are more like an RTS/RPG hybrids that might be closer to what you're playing.

Other Dark Sider's in the forum should have some good suggestions on those types.

Hi,

I just completed my first 4 star mission, #14/18. Either I'm beginning to learn the tricks or it was quite easy for a 4 star mission. Still not an easy game still, but who even wants one!?

Thanks for the game tips Trail_Mystic. I believe XCOM games could be something for me. I like games which 'are played' in decades already gone, so especially "The Bureau: XCOM Declassified" looked interesting although it didn't get so high grade on Steam.

I'm open for any new game suggestions, I like especially horror, mystery and historic elements in games.

Timo

Hi all,

I finally finished the main story. Didn't record exact hours played but definitely used several dozens. Now there are still 10 unlocked, time limited (6 to 30 minutes not in pause mode when timer is stopped) challenges left, difficulty level from 3 stars up to 5+.

This game offers plenty of value for the money for those who have patience enough to plan your heists well, the only way to succeed. There are so many simultaneous things to concider and time perfectly that you really have to use your tiny grey cells.

I can nothing but repeat my recommendation!

Timo

So glad you enjoyed it

Hi all,

I came to continue my "monologue" and say I have now finished both the main game and all ten time limited (6-30 minutes active time) challenges.

I must say my thinking and ability to make complex plans reaching several steps ahead developed greatly in past five weeks.

I felt very proud while solving all the most difficult (5+ star) challenges each with 2-8 minutes active time left. I was not trying to be any perfectionist and collect every valuables (money bags, strongboxes, safes) but focus on the main task.

So for a perfectionist there would still be lots of replay value left but I happily end my story with the Crookz here.

It was fun while it lasted and worth for the money.

Timo

Thanks, so much, TJL. It's always great to hear that playing a game improved your real life abilities

Thanks L4L,

as I already told in the beginning, this was my first game of this type. I was very positively surprised how fun and gripping also this kind of very slow paced game can be.

The outcome is that I try to be more open and explore other new game genres in future and not to freeze only to those already familiar to me.

Life is full of surprises, you never know what you like or not without trying!

Timo