The Swindle review – an indie crime caper that almost got away with it

PS4/PS3/PSVita/PC (version tested); cert n/a; Size Five Games

Gaming has its trends, and in recent times one has been the procedurally generated or "roguelike" indie game. You could go back over decades picking out examples of this design technique, but the big inspiration for this modern flowering is the success of Spelunky. A 2D platformer that married Nintendo-quality controls with brilliant enemies and ever-changing environments, it's not only a classic but shows why the technique is so attractive to small teams. A procedurally generated game can, if you get it right, keep surprising players for years and even decades to come.

The Swindle is firmly in this lineage, a treasure-focused platformer with an emphasis on stealth and an overarching structure that gives each individual "run" its own importance. Playing as a succession of thieves in a world of steampunk Victoriana, your goal is to filch enough cash to upgrade your thieves' capabilities, access new areas, and steal a new crime-busting invention from Scotland Yard before 100 days are up. Each heist takes one day, and if you die then that's that - the cash is lost, the day is wasted, and you move on to the next thief (they have great names: a particular favourite was the short-lived Pleasant Undercarriage.)