Treasure Grab

There’s something about the noble thief that appeals to your average Brit. While most of us are thoroughly decent sorts who feel bad for taking an extra serviette from a café, we all quietly root for the sticky-fingered scamp who sticks it to the man. Our greatest folk hero is Robin Hood, after all.

Universomo’s Treasure Grab appeals to this base instinct in all of us, putting us in the sneaky-boots of a mediaeval apprentice thief, groan-inducingly named Alya Loot. It’s your task to rob four wealthy aristocrats of everything they own, making a series of daring dashes through their mansions and avoiding their guards.

While it sounds like a slow-paced stealth game, Treasure Grab is nothing of the sort. Indeed, it’s far closer in gameplay to Pac-Man than Metal Gear.

You’re given two minutes per level to dash through and pick up loot like the yellow one gobbles up dots. Contact with the ghosts - I mean guards - means an end to your round.

Despite the similar concept, Treasure Grab’s success is in all the bells and whistles attached to it. First there’s the overarching goal of driving each aristocrat out of the city. Every run you make through their mansion eats away at their morale, giving you reason to stick your neck out that little bit further.

Then there are the extra gameplay elements such as locked doors that can be picked through a simple mini-game, or the Trickster Spirits that imbue you with special powers such as invisibility or the ability to slow time. Each layer enhances the game beyond its simple maze-running remit.

The presentation, too, is top notch, with finely detailed environments and a charming art style. Guards stop and have amusingly banal conversations, while the between-level story scenes set the tone nicely.

Our main gripes concern the lack of an instant restart option. When things go wrong (which is quite often - this is a tough game) you want to wipe the slate clean and have another crack, but the game seems keen to make you face up to your failure.

Then there’s the creeping sense of repetition, with very little variation from one mansion to the next.

Still, Treasure Grab is a refreshing twist on the maze-running collect-everything genre, placing you in a likeable and distinctive universe and giving you plenty of lovely gizmos to play with.