# Thief video game

Hacker Approved page: https://hackerapproved.com/p/thief/

10 people recommended Thief video game in Hacker News comments and 2 criticized it, November 2025 to October 2026. It was recommended in 5 of 12 months, in 5 threads. It meets the Hacker Approved badge rule.

**Verdict:** Stealth game built around light, shadow and sound, credited with pioneering immersive sim genres; critics say later entries, the 2014 reboot and a VR game, disappointed fans.

Summary written by Claude from 11 comments. It was written before the November 2026 recount, and 10 of those comments still count.

## Why people recommend it

- Light and shadow stealth (2 comments in the sample): "Splinter Cell and Thief are the only series I'm familiar with that actually have light and shadow based stealth" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48290828)) "how intuitive they are because they're mostly relying on sight/sound senses" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48292206))
- Pioneered stealth and immersive sim genres (2 comments in the sample): "Spector being the progenitor of 2 entire very rich single player genres with Thief and DeusEx" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49345582)) "Without System Shock, Deus Ex, and Thief leading the way" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49346176))
- Atmospheric medieval gothic setting (2 comments in the sample): "the king of medieval stealth punk fantasy loot games" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48290798)) "pretty decent gothy noises" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46471163))

## What people warn about

- Later entries gutted the franchise (2 comments in the sample): "Really a shame they gutted the franchise with the 2014 game and the very recent VR one." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46635006)) "the war crime that was  Eidos Montreal's previous outing on the franchise" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45910473))

## Other stealth games people recommend

- [Thief: The Dark Project](https://hackerapproved.com/p/thief-the-dark-project/): 12 recommend, 1 mixed, 0 criticize
- [Metal Gear Solid](https://hackerapproved.com/p/metal-gear-solid/): 9 recommend, 6 mixed, 2 criticize
- [Metal Gear Solid V](https://hackerapproved.com/p/metal-gear-solid-v/): 7 recommend, 1 mixed, 3 criticize
- [Splinter Cell](https://hackerapproved.com/p/splinter-cell/): 7 recommend, 4 mixed, 2 criticize

## The badge

A product earns the Hacker Approved badge when at least 10 people recommend it, recommenders outnumber critics at least 2 to 1 (mixed feelings count toward neither side), it was recommended in at least 4 of the 12 months and in at least 5 different threads, and no single thread supplies more than half of the people who recommend it. Health and money products are never badged.

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "Thief video game", https://hackerapproved.com/p/thief/ (10 recommend, 0 mixed, 2 criticize; Hacker News comments, November 2025 to October 2026).

Counts updated 2 Nov 2026, with data through October 31, 2026.