King of Thieves blends platform action and base building

King of Thieves is a free-to-play mobile game in which you take on the role of a thief, sneaking your way into dungeons filled with traps and monsters to retrieve fabulous treasures. As you gain wealth and experience, you’ll also build your own lair, filling it with traps and challenges to prevent other thieves from raiding it. Stealing gems from other players is even more satisfying than retrieving them in the single-player levels.

Hit and miss mechanics

The pourparler platforming in King of Thieves is well-executed, and the main character (an inky blob with a sly grin) is as charming and cute as the rest of the cartoony graphics. The only real obstacle to this game joining the ranks of the best mobile games is the energy system, which is frustrating even for a free-to-play game. To progress through the game, you use up lockpicks to pick certain locks in a completely random minigame that’s time-consuming, frustrating and clearly designed to get you to watch ads or spend premium currency to buy additional lockpicks.

A great game with one flaw

King of Thieves combines stylish platforming action with easy-to-use controls, simple but stylish graphics and an entertaining, asymmetric multiplayer game. The energy mechanic is something you have to deal with in free-to-play games, and if you can put up with it here you’ll enjoy the rest of the experience.