Robbery Bob: Man of Steal (a pun on man of steel, an epithet associated with Superman, and also known by the subtitle King of Sneak[2][3]) is a 2012 stealth action game developed by Swedish[4] studio Level Eight and originally published by Chillingo. In the game, the player controls a robber named Bob and must sneak around houses to complete missions. The game was released for iOS on May 3, 2012, and has been met with a mixed reception for its gameplay and art quality.
| Robbery Bob | |
|---|---|
 App icon | |
| Developer(s) | Level Eight |
| Publisher(s) | Chillingo (formerly) Level Eight AB (iOS)[1] DECA Games (Android) |
| Producer(s) | Johan Westin |
| Artist(s) |
|
| Platform(s) | iOS, Android, Windows |
| Release | May 3, 2012
|
| Genre(s) | Stealth, action |
| Mode(s) | Single-player |
Gameplay and release
editThroughout 50 levels,[5] the player controls Bob, the titular player character, from a top-down perspective. Bob must sneak around houses and steal items without being caught.[6][7] Enemies, including police officers, dogs, and family members, will roam around the house.[7][8] Bob can put on disguises, hide, change the enemies' direction,[7] and make distractions.[8][9] The player can run, but it will lure enemies towards them.[9] The level ends once they are out of the house, and stars grade the player's performance based on speed and accuracy.[9] On May 3, 2012, Chillingo released Robbery Bob for iOS.[6][8]
Reception and sequel
edit| Aggregator | Score |
|---|---|
| Metacritic | 71/100[10] |
| Publication | Score |
|---|---|
| Pocket Gamer |    [9] |
| TouchArcade | (Robbery Bob)[7] (Robbery Bob 2)[11] |
| Paste | 7/10[8] |
| Gamezebo | 70/100[5] |
The game has a "mixed or average" score on Metacritic.[10]
The gameplay was received poorly. In a TouchArcade review, Brendan Saricks felt that the game's sneaking mechanic went from "real strong" to "a repetitive room-by-room hunt".[7] Saricks compared Robbery Bob to the 2011 video game The Last Rocket, criticizing that the game mechanics did not go together and that the gameplay was luck-based.[7] James Nouch of Pocket Gamer thought the controls were "clumsy",[9] while AJ Dellinger of Gamezebo thought they were "pretty fluid".[5] Although he thought the dialogue was "cringeworthy", Dellinger found that the story was "intense", writing about the crimes Bob commits in the game.[5]
Robbery Bob's art style was met with criticism. Luke Larsen of Paste magazine described it as "tacky", presented through "cartoonish antics" and "forgettable characters".[8] Dellinger said the graphics mostly consisted of smoothed "pixels from the '90s", and he stated that the plants were "drawings from kindergarteners".[5]
A sequel, titled Robbery Bob 2: Double Trouble, was released on June 3, 2015.[12] TouchArcade rated it four out of five stars, with reviewer Chris Carter praising it for filling a niche for heist games and focusing on stealth over action while criticizing the story’s premise as "stupid" and the art design as "forgettable".[11]
References
edit- ^ "Bob's Big Move (iOS)!". Youtube. Level Eight AB. September 8, 2017. Retrieved March 1, 2024.
- ^ "Robbery Bob - King of Sneak". Google Play. Retrieved March 3, 2024.
- ^ "Robbery Bob - King of Sneak". App Store. February 27, 2024. Retrieved March 3, 2024.
- ^ "About". Level Eight. Archived from the original on October 25, 2015. Retrieved January 20, 2024.
- ^ a b c d e Dellinger, AJ (May 3, 2012). "Robbery Bob Review". Gamezebo. Archived from the original on December 30, 2023. Retrieved December 30, 2023.
- ^ a b Frushtick, Russ (May 1, 2012). "iOS Gaming Watch List: King of Fighters, Brainsss, Robbery Bob and More!". Polygon. Archived from the original on December 27, 2023. Retrieved December 26, 2023.
- ^ a b c d e f Saricks, Brendan (May 8, 2012). "Robbery Bob Review – A Sneaky Game of Sneaking". TouchArcade. Archived from the original on December 30, 2023. Retrieved December 30, 2023.
- ^ a b c d e Larsen, Luke (May 14, 2012). "Mobile Game of the Week: Robbery Bob (iOS)". Paste. Archived from the original on December 27, 2023. Retrieved December 26, 2023.
- ^ a b c d e Nouch, James (June 5, 2013). "Robbery Bob". Pocket Gamer. Archived from the original on December 30, 2023. Retrieved December 30, 2023.
- ^ a b "Robbery Bob". Metacritic. Archived from the original on December 26, 2023. Retrieved December 26, 2023.
- ^ a b Carter, Chris (June 24, 2015). "Robbery Bob 2: Double Trouble Review – Sneak Prince". TouchArcade. Archived from the original on December 30, 2023. Retrieved December 30, 2023.
- ^ Nelson, Jared (June 3, 2015). "Out Now: You Must Build A Boat, Move the Walls, AlphaBetty Saga, Robbery Bob 2: Double Trouble, The Ember Conflict and More". TouchArcade. Archived from the original on December 27, 2023. Retrieved December 26, 2023.