14 Games Like Thief
Our list of stealth games like Thief offers a wide array of similar games where you’ll use your skills to explore, sneak and kill.
Thief is one of the classic games within the stealth gaming genre, starting in 1998 it was one of the early games to offer a solely stealth experience and mixed in a unique fantasy, steampunk setting that itself was well ahead of its time in gaming. Combined with multiple pathways to approach your objectives the original Thief was a popular title with the features and mechanics expanded in subsequent titles.
One thing that remained the same through these Thief releases was the focus on sneaking around enemies to avoid direct fights. Utilising the dark corners of the environment players can explore their setting to ultimately find a path forward as they turn off light sources, manage their sound profile and steal objects from the world.
The selection of games like Thief here features other games that focus on stealth elements across realistic and fantasy settings. While some of these games start you off as a master thief similar to the Thief franchise others will see you improving your stealth abilities as you progress through the game.
System Shock 2
System Shock 2 is a role playing action and horror game released in 1999 as a sequel to the popular 1994 original. Wit hacking and psionic abilities serving as core elements alongside first person shooting the System Shock franchise is often cited as influencing various classic and modern day FPS/RPG hybrid video game adventures. The setting for System Shock 2 pushes players far into the future (2114) with a dystopian style theme that centres on the player soldier as they attempt to fight off a ...[Read Review]
Deus Ex
Deus Ex is an older game with a cyberpunk theme which blends action, role playing, stealth and first person shooting into a single story heavy adventure. Highly rated amongst fans and critics the success of the first game has seen the lore, world and mechanics revived in a number of subsequent games in the Deus Ex universe. Deus Ex is set in a futuristic world during 2052 where conspiracies and a number of different government agencies are threatening to tear the world apart as they fight for co...[Read Review]
Dishonored
Dishonored is an action adventure game set deep in a fantasy dystopian society that is currently experiencing a plague outbreak. With a wealth of missions that require you to uncover information or assassinate targets you’ll be free to achieve these objectives in your own unique balance of stealth and aggression that utilise your selected powers. Dishonored takes place in a fictional setting that is similar to London in the early 1900s and blends the industrial age with magical elements. M...[Read Review]
Assassin’s Creed
Giving birth to a long running franchise the original Assassin’s Creed provides players a high quality stealth focused open world adventure which continues to serve as the foundation of the franchise in the modern day. Launching in 2007 the franchise has now expanded to over a dozen core game and spin-off titles with an almost yearly release cycle. This original Assassin’s Creed takes players fare into the past as they find themselves in the depths of the Holy Land during the time of the Crusade...[Read Review]
Aragami
Master lurking in the shadows with Aragami an action adventure title with stealth as the core gameplay. Available across all major platforms this ninja inspired experience allows players to fight as the Aragami, an assassin of great power that also wields unnatural abilities in order to achieve their goals. Summoned into existence by Yamiko, a girl who has been captured by Kaiho who are masters of utilising the powers of light. These masters of the light are also the conquerors of the land which...[Read Review]
Hitman: Blood Money
Hitman: Blood Money is the fourth game in the popular series of Hitman stealth video games and lets you jump into the shoes of Agent 47 once again as they tackle a broad range of assassination challenges. Released in 2006 for Windows, PS2, Xbox and Xbox 360 the game was later remastered in 2013 within the Hitman Trilogy collection for PS3 and Xbox 360 and once again in 2019 for PS4 and Xbox One. Just like in previous iterations of the series players will accept a number of hits as Agent 47 that ...[Read Review]
Deus Ex: Human Revolution
Deus Ex: Human Revolution is the third and long awaited game in the franchise of popular science fiction role playing games. Opting to explore a prequel the game is set 25 years before the first Deus Ex game which allows newcomers to the series to easily pick up the story even if they haven’t played the other games while fans of the series will pick up on the many subtle hints to other Deus Ex world adventures. In Human Revolution you’ll play as Adam Jensen in the year 2027 who is a leading memb...[Read Review]
Hitman: Absolution
Hitman: Absolution is a stealth based game that belongs to the popular Hitman series and builds on the diverse stealth mechanics of the franchise to date. Like many of the Hitman titles before it this 2012 addition will have you slowly calculating your next move in a variety of assassination style missions that introduce different settings and objectives. The game world is set in the aftermath of the previous game (Hitman: Blood Money) where players will once play as Agent 47 as they hunt down t...[Read Review]
Death to Spies: Moment of Truth
Death to Spies: Moment of Truth is a difficult stealth based adventure played from a third person perspective that seeks to challenge any fan of the stealth genre. Set in a World War II setting you’ll find a familiar video game location although unlike many other war games that focus on the direct battles of this conflict you’ll instead be helping your side win through spy tactics. Launching in 2009 this single player stealth title also serves as a sequel to the first game released i...[Read Review]
Assassin’s Creed Unity
The Assassin’s Creed franchise continues its historical based adventure series with the 2014 release in the series called Unity. Taking players deep into Paris to play a key role in the French revolution players will explore the DNA memories of Arno Dorian as they unravel the true story and motives behind the famous historical revolt. While Unity pushed the limits of hardware of the day to deliver it’s stunning graphics the age of the title now puts it in easy reach of modern hardware. Arn...[Read Review]
Vampire: The Masquerade Bloodlines
Vampire: The Masquerade Bloodlines is an action orientated role playing game that explores the rarely touched vampire fantasy for a video game setting. Offering deep role playing mechanics players customise their recently converted human to design their own playstyle through the vampire filled world full of story, choice and challenges. Set in a modern day Los Angeles players explore four unique game areas that include downtown, Santa Monica, Hollywood and Chinatown that each have their own myst...[Read Review]
Styx: Master of Shadows
Styx: Master of Shadows serves as the prequel and second game in the series occupying the same world as that Of Orcs and Men (2012). Unlike the first game though Styx: Master of Shadows pulls out Styx the goblin as the main character and focuses more on stealth than the fantasy action of the original. This new refined focus on stealth is pushed even further through a combat system that disincentives engagement by making it exceedingly difficult and even tedious to fight enemies making it suitabl...[Read Review]
Velvet Assassin
In Velvet Assassin you play Violette Summer, a World War II British Assassin sent alone into German territory with no official backing to disrupt the Nazi plots and help the allies win the war from behind the scenes. Velvet Assassin is inspired by the true story of British secret agent Violette Szabo who was captured during World War II and deported to Germany from the German controlled territory she was captured. Velvet Assassin begins with you in a hospital bed, with morphine syringes scattere...[Read Review]
Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes
Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes continues the franchises mixture of stealth, action and adventure on a large selection of platforms. Marking lucky number 8 in the franchise you’ll find similar gameplay fundamentals to the past releases while exploring a story designed to be the prologue Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain. In this stealth adventure players will take on the role of Snake as he infiltrates Camp Omega on a mission to rescue the Cipher agent known as Paz Ortega Andrade and ...[Read Review]