Thief: The Dark Project
Ranked 2 of 6 stealth games by recommenders
People recommend it for its atmosphere, sound design and world building, and for shaping the stealth genre. One reader found it rough in parts.
People recommend it for its atmosphere, sound design and world building, and for shaping the stealth genre. One reader found it rough in parts.
13 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 13
- criticize it
- 0
- approval share
- 100%
Recommended in 2 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 13 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- Nobody criticizes itNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 2 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, not met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Immersive sound design and ambient loops
“it was the crescendo and decrescendo of guard sounds/singing/footsteps in Thief that made it one of the most immersive games I've ever played”
Comment from 15 Jan 2026 in “The 3D Software Rendering Technology of 1998's Thief: The Dark Project” “some of these late 90s titles absolutely nailed (Thief in particular), is the sound design and ambiance, which is just so dang evocative”
Comment from 15 Jan 2026 in “The 3D Software Rendering Technology of 1998's Thief: The Dark Project” “The world building, sound design (especially the ambient sound loops) and the aesthetics/general visual style is something really unique”
Comment from 15 Jan 2026 in “The 3D Software Rendering Technology of 1998's Thief: The Dark Project” Atmosphere, world building and visual style
“The world building, sound design (especially the ambient sound loops) and the aesthetics/general visual style is something really unique”
Comment from 15 Jan 2026 in “The 3D Software Rendering Technology of 1998's Thief: The Dark Project” “I really, really like the atmosphere, the world building and Hammerites old-english and tenets”
Comment from 15 Jan 2026 in “The 3D Software Rendering Technology of 1998's Thief: The Dark Project” “The lighting and atmosphere aged better than a lot of early hardware-accelerated games”
Comment from 15 Jan 2026 in “The 3D Software Rendering Technology of 1998's Thief: The Dark Project” Defined the stealth genre
“these games were way ahead of their time and defined the genre for years to come”
Comment from 15 Jan 2026 in “The 3D Software Rendering Technology of 1998's Thief: The Dark Project” “Thief pretty much defined the stealth game genre, at least it did for me”
Comment from 15 Jan 2026 in “The 3D Software Rendering Technology of 1998's Thief: The Dark Project” Ahead of its time, influential design
“Even cooler is that Entity-Component System was literally invented to create this game”
Comment from 15 Jan 2026 in “The 3D Software Rendering Technology of 1998's Thief: The Dark Project” “these games were way ahead of their time and defined the genre for years to come”
Comment from 15 Jan 2026 in “The 3D Software Rendering Technology of 1998's Thief: The Dark Project”
Other stealth games people recommend
The four most recommended other stealth games, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Metal Gear Solid | 15 | 2 | 88% | 6 | — | Approved |
| Thief: The Dark ProjectThis page | 13 | 0 | 100% | 2 | — | — |
| Splinter Cell | 12 | 2 | 86% | 4 | — | Approved |
| Thief video game | 11 | 2 | 85% | 6 | — | Approved |
| Metal Gear Solid V | 8 | 3 | 73% | 3 | — | — |
What people said
14 of the 15 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“I really like SS2 (and Thief 1 & 2, and Deus Ex for that matter)”
“The lighting and atmosphere aged better than a lot of early hardware-accelerated games”
“Enjoying TDP quite a lot already”
“they did not have the same soul, passion and love that those games had”
“Even cooler is that Entity-Component System was literally invented to create this game”
“I enjoyed it a lot, but its pretty rough in parts for me”
“I really, really like the atmosphere, the world building and Hammerites old-english and tenets”
“Thief pretty much defined the stealth game genre, at least it did for me”
“I had an excellent time with many TDP maps”
“I was amazed at the immersive nature of the thief game play”
“The world building, sound design (especially the ambient sound loops) and the aesthetics/general visual style is something really unique”
“some of these late 90s titles absolutely nailed (Thief in particular), is the sound design and ambiance, which is just so dang evocative”
“these games were way ahead of their time and defined the genre for years to come”
“it was the crescendo and decrescendo of guard sounds/singing/footsteps in Thief that made it one of the most immersive games I've ever played”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.