Sneaky Sneaky Review

Sneaky Sneaky is a stealth action game that sprinkles in elements of real-time strategy. Players take control of a rogue who seeks to steal all of the rubies throughout the kingdom. With some clever design, unique environments, and a good sense of challenge, Sneaky Sneaky successfully melds gameplay types into a fun and satisfying stealth experience.

At the start of each level, players control the thief protagonist in real-time. Tapping on the overhead grid-like environment causes the character to move to that section of the map. True to the name though, levels in Sneaky Sneaky aren’t as simple as charging past guards and grabbing rubies. Instead, players need to hide in tall grass, use distractions, and stealthily slay foes to earn a good level ranking.

While the stealth gameplay is all well and good, Sneaky Sneaky truly shines in the way that it handles enemy encounters. Unlike most stealth games that leave players hopelessly vulnerable in the event of discovery, Sneaky Sneaky instead switches to a turn-based game. By implementing this system, players have some time to think of a cunning way to escape rather than being forced into running away in a random panic or simply restarting the entire level. Players still are vulnerable in this mode, however, which keeps them focused on escaping and the gameplay focused on stealth.

Throughout the course of Sneaky Sneaky, players venture through thick forests, desert caves, and medieval towns, all of which introduce new enemy types and environmental features. To help compensate for some of the trickier hazards, players can spend skill points earned between levels on powering-up their thief’s abilities. Although the difficulty feels a little uneven at times, the levels are replayable to the point that it’s satisfying to ace those that were trouble before.

If there were complaints to be made against Sneaky Sneaky, they would mainly have to revolve around the pathfinding. Even though it moves in real-time and players can tap distances far away on the screen to move to them, the main character occasionally doesn’t make the best decisions on how to get there. This can be a bit frustrating at times, especially when the protagonist chooses a longer, riskier route that the player clearly didn’t intend.

That complaint aside, Sneaky Sneaky can also be frustrating in some of the ways that stealth games have been in the past, though this is largely mitigated by with the turn-based encounter system.

Overall, Sneaky Sneaky implements stealth on iOS in a really smart way, making it definitely worth looking into.