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You may of heard, The Great Toy Robbery has been rewritten in python and in the process the game has undergone a lot of changes. It’s time for me to go find my reviewer hat and give this game a spin. I’ll be both reviewing and comparing it to the last version released. Spoiler, if you liked the last version you’ll like this one more. If you didn’t like the last version I think you’ll end up liking this one.
Game Details
- Developer L-Works
- Version being reviewed: 2.0
- Platform: Windows & Mac
- Download from L-Works.net
Summary of the game
You have broken into Santa’s workshop because you are naughty. You run around grabbing toys but every 45 seconds an elf is dispatched to stop you. Avoid the elves and keep grabbing as many toys as possible. After 2 minutes the map clears of elves and toys. The big fat man himself spawns on the map and is coming to squish you. Run and get keys that sound like a vinyl Christmas song, each key unlocks a random door on the map, but also speeds up Santa’s walking speed. Grab some keys and try to get out a door before getting squished by Santa.
Read the description and read me on L-Works.net
Major Changes
The most notable change in the latest version of the game is how it is now cross platform. In the past it could only be played on Windows, but now folks on Mac can also run the game.
The scoring system has been completely reworked.
You can move in two directions at a time instead of just one.
The first part of the game is now time based instead of being based on toys collected.
In the second part you have to collect keys to unlock doors to exit the map and complete a round of the game. Each key you collect increases Santa’s speed.
Space bar does something.
T, S, and C check time, toys collected, and your coordinates.
Achievements, lots of achievements…even a camel one!
Regional scoreboard, I’m not sure why but it is a thing.
Check the change log for other changes. These are just the most notable ones as far as game play is concerned.
Lets Give It a Play
My Thoughts
Let me start off by saying, I was not a fan of the old version of this game. It didn’t have enough features, even for such a simple small game. There were a lot of things that really bugged me, it just wasn’t fun.
That being said, I actually really like this new version. Some of the changes both big and small have completely changed my opinion. One of the biggest things for me is the ability to move in two directions at a time. Now I can hold down right or left arrow with up or down arrow to move at an angle. Also having the ability to check my stats in the game is a huge addition, something that should have been in every version.
The new scoring system is much better as well. Since it is time based it allows for more variations of scores which is important with an online scoreboard. It also adds to the replay value of the game. This combined with the new Santa ending allows for a much bigger variety in scoring. You don’t just run to the corner of the map at the end now. You have to go grab keys. Each time you get a key it unlocks a random door on the map, and it also increases Santa’s walking speed. You have to balance the risk with the reward of more points.
I haven’t played the doors off this game yet, but in the dozen or so rounds I’ve played for this review I’m really impressed and happy with the changes. The final product is a really nice little game.
Conclusion and score
Overall I enjoy playing The Great Toy Robbery now. This is not something I could have said in the past. This isn’t a game you are going to play for hours every day, but it isn’t meant to be that type of game. This is something you drop in a folder and play for 30 minutes or so here and there. There are a lot of free audio games that fit this description, but not many have replay value and give you an enjoyable experience. I’m more a fan of multiplayer online games, but I still enjoy this little game.
In the category of single player round based games I give this 9.5 out of 10.
I’m taking .5 off for purely subjective reasons. I’d like to see some other type of bonuses, maybe special toys that give you a bit of speed or something similar. Toys being worth different amounts of points, just more to randomize the scoring. I can see most of the top scores all being bunched right around the same amount, but that is 100% subjective. You can’t go wrong with downloading this and giving it a play, it’s free and it doesn’t suck!
Download from L-Works.net