There’s a lot of games that put you into the role of a thief or a bandit, but I’ve never played anything that’s allowed me to steal anything near the obscene amount I’ve stolen in Bandit Knight.
Pickpocketing and stealing in open-world RPGs has almost become a bit of a joke over the years, not least thanks to Bethesda games. But, let’s face it, video games haven’t truly figured out how to handle stealing, and neither have tabletop RPGs — there’s no real tension, the risk is normally minimal, and the punishment can normally be evaded. Bandit Knight leans into this so hard that it’s practically laying down.
In Bandit Knight, you have to perform a series of heists around a variety of incredibly varied locations. It all looks like an old SNES RPG that’s just waiting for the exact moment to throw you into a turn-based combat battle, but nothing here is slow. In fact, it excels at making you think in the moment — dodge guards, learn movement patterns, pick pockets before people turn around and do it all at high speed because you need to be somewhere, or the guards are alerted.
Now, so far so… fine? But what makes Bandit Knight one of my most anticipated games (I’ve played the demo through completely multiple times, including at Gamescom and GDC) is the fact that it completely fails to take its subject matter seriously. You can steal almost everything in a room with zero effect on your speed or movement, stealing hundreds of items from a room by simply running over to them and tapping the steal button. Shortly after starting you’ll also learn to pickpocket and the same applies. Here it’s about being quick and, if you can, thorough.
Loot then directly translates to the currency that you use to upgrade skills, stealth and equipment. And, if you’re finding it all too easy then you can even send warning that you’re coming ahead of you so that your victims boost their security.
Bandit Knight is equally ridiculous and charming, and it already holds a similar place in my heart to Pizza Possum and the Katamari series.
Bandit Knight is currently in development for PC, it doesn’t have a release date at the moment.
