Keef the Thief

Keef the Thief is a 1989 role-playing game subtitled A Boy and His Lockpick, and above all it is a comedy. You play Keef, a young pickpocket trying to climb out of poverty in a region of three cities, and the game mocks the entire fantasy genre almost continuously — in item descriptions, in the names of shopkeepers, and in how little it takes itself seriously.

Exploration happens in first person through a fairly narrow field of view, backed up by an overhead map. Combat runs in real time: you turn to face an enemy, step in to strike, or reach for a spell or a ranged weapon. The thieving is what defines it, though. Instead of conventional lockpicking there is a Steal command — succeed and you walk away with equipment you had no business owning, while your skill climbs. Fail and you spring a trap or bring guards down on you. You can also lift goods in shops the moment the owner looks away, and prices are open to haggling.

Spellcasting is a minigame of its own: recipes found in books have to be deciphered and then mixed from reagents laid out on a cloth. It is unusual, and one of the few mechanics anyone remembers from Keef.

The weakness is depth. The adventure is short, combat is clumsy enough to become a chore, and outside the jokes there is not much on offer — contemporary reviews ranged from enthusiastic to dismissive, and both reactions make sense. If you enjoy tongue-in-cheek fantasy and can live with an archaic interface, this is a pleasant few evenings. If you want a full-blooded RPG, you will be disappointed.

On oldgame.cz Keef the Thief runs straight in your browser, with no installation.