Every Thief game, ranked
All 4 Thief games we hold, spanning 2000 to 2012: 2 ranked by the GamingPickz Score and plotted below, the rest listed in release order so nothing in the series is missing. Together they carry 6,781 Steam reviews.
Where to start
- For the best-reviewed: Thief Gold (1999) (GamingPickz Score 7.8), the highest-rated entry we can score.
- For canon order: begin with Thief II (2000) and follow the release-order timeline below.
The Thief games on the grid
Compare the whole catalogueThe same 2 games, plotted rather than listed. The two axes below are the ones the ranking is built from, so a game sitting high and right is a game the formula placed near the top. Change either axis to see the field a different way. Where we hold a publisher wordmark, the game is drawn as its mark rather than a dot.
2 games have both
Axes are fitted to these 2 games rather than the full 0 to 100 scale, because a filtered list shares a narrow band and would otherwise sit in one corner. End values are marked. A point on the left edge is the lowest of thesegames, not a low score.
Players. The share of Steam reviews marked positive, pulled toward the catalogue average in proportion to how few reviews stand behind it. A game with 200 reviews moves a long way toward the average; one with 200,000 barely moves at all. Without this a title sitting at 100 percent on nine reviews outranks Half-Life 2 at 98 percent on 278,000.
Popularity. A blend of two things that are not the same. Audience is how many people wrote a Steam review, which is a floor on how many played it. Reach is how many language editions of Wikipedia document the game, which is cultural footprint rather than sales. A game can score high on one and low on the other: a huge free-to-play title has audience without reach, and a landmark console exclusive has reach without a Steam audience at all. Where both exist they are averaged; where only one does, that one carries it.
- PC
Every point links to that game's entry. The value map and the reception map are fixed views of the same data.
How positions are decided
No paid placement, no favouritism, live third-party data
- Placed by the published method, not by us. Every coordinate is computed from the axis definitions and weights printed on this site. Nobody moves a point. See the axes.
- Nothing here is paid for. No sponsored placements, no promoted slots, no arrangement of any kind affects a position. If that ever changes it will be labelled and sit outside the ranking.
- No favouritism, including our own. The 16 games we have written full reviews of are scored by exactly the same formula as the other 1,510, from the same third-party inputs, and they land where it puts them. Our own opinion of a game does not enter its coordinates.
- A position is not an endorsement. It says how a game was received and what it costs, not that we recommend it. Where we do recommend something, it carries a written review with a name on it.
- Fetched from live third-party data. Player sentiment from Steam, critic aggregates as published on store pages, prices checked hourly, attention from Wikipedia. Each figure carries its source and the date it was read, and we do not adjust any of them.
Every game by critic score
The grid above is built from Steam data, so it can only place the Thief games that were on Steam. This one uses the Metacritic critic aggregate, which the older console-only entries have too, so the whole series lands on a single chart: critic score against release year.
On Steam (also has a GamingPickz Score) Console-only (Metacritic only)
2 best Thief games, ranked
Ordered by GamingPickz Score. Every figure links back to the source that produced it.
- 1
Thief Gold (1999)
Best for: A consistently well-received pick in this category
7.8GamingPickz Scoremedium confidenceThief Gold (1999) at a glance Released 2012 Studio Looking Glass Studios Player sentiment 92% positive of 4,177 Critics 92/100 Price $1.74 Steam Deck unsupported Install size Not stated Accessibility 0 declared features Raw 92% shrinks to 91.3 on 4,177 reviews, then blends with the 92 critic aggregate, giving 7.8.
Worth checking first- Flagged for mature content on its store page.
- Valve rates it Unsupported on the Steam Deck.
- 2
Thief: Deadly Shadows
Best for: A consistently well-received pick in this category
7.0GamingPickz Scoremedium confidenceThief: Deadly Shadows at a glance Released 2007 Studio Ion Storm Player sentiment 81% positive of 2,604 Critics 85/100 Price $1.79 Steam Deck playable Install size Not stated Accessibility 1 declared feature Raw 81% shrinks to 81.4 on 2,604 reviews, then blends with the 85 critic aggregate, giving 7.0.
Only the 2 Thief games with Steam review data can be scored and ranked. The complete series, scored or not, is charted in order below.
Best and worst entry
The best-received Thief game we can score is Thief Gold (1999) at 7.8. The lowest is Thief: Deadly Shadows at 7.0, a 0.8-point spread across the series. The GamingPickz Score is a composite of player sentiment, critics and popularity, computed the same way for every game.
Cheapest way in, and best value
- Cheapest right now: Thief Gold (1999) at $1.74. Prices are read live from Steam and move.
- Best value: Thief Gold (1999), the most GamingPickz Score per dollar in the series at its current price.
On a Steam Deck
Valve's own Deck compatibility rating for the Thief entries on Steam:
- Playable: Thief: Deadly Shadows
- Unsupported: Thief Gold (1999)
Platforms across the series
Where the 4 Thief games have landed, counting every entry we hold:
| Platform family | Entries |
|---|---|
| PC | 4 of 4 |
The Thief series, game by game
Every Thief game we hold, in release order. Each description is the game's own, from Steam where it has a listing and Wikipedia for the older entries, never ours.
- 2000
Thief II
Metacritic 87Thief II: The Metal Age is a 2000 stealth video game developed by Looking Glass Studios and published by Eidos Interactive in March 2000. Like its predecessor Thief: The Dark Project, the game follows Garrett, a master thief who works in and around a steampunk metropolis called the City. The player assumes the role of… (Wikipedia)
Plot
Setting and characters Like its predecessor Thief: The Dark Project , Thief II is set in a steampunk metropolis called the City, whose appearance resembles that of both medieval and Victorian era cities. Magic and steam technology exist side by side, and three factions—the manipulative and enigmatic Keepers, the technology-focused Hammerites and the "pagan" worshippers of the Pan -like Trickster god—are in operation. Thief II takes place one year after… (Wikipedia)
Reception
Reception Thief 2 debuted high on the bestsellers list for computer games, and its initial sales were better than those of its commercially successful predecessor. By November 2000, its global sales had surpassed 220,000 copies; PC Zone described these figures as "commercial acclaim". The United States alone accounted for 67,084 sales by the end of 2000, which drew in revenues of $2. (Wikipedia)
- 2007
You are Garrett, the master thief. Rarely seen and never caught, Garrett is the best that ever was. Able to sneak past any guard, pick any lock, and break into the most ingeniously secured residences. Garrett steals from the wealthy and gives to himself, making his living in the dark and foreboding City. (Steam)
Plot
The game begins when Garrett steals a rare opal from a nobleman's castle. After fencing it, he is contacted by Keeper Artemus , who offers Garrett access to the Keeper Prophecies if he brings to the Keepers two Artifacts: The Builder's Chalice and the Jacknall's Paw, which is kept by the Hammerites and the Pagans, respectively. After learning of a coming "Dark Age", Garrett steals an ancient book, the Compendium of Reproach, that details more about the… (Wikipedia)
Reception
Reception Thief: Deadly Shadows received "generally positive" reviews, according to review aggregator Metacritic . The editors of Computer Gaming World nominated Deadly Shadows for their 2004 "Action Game of the Year" award, which ultimately went to The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay . It was also a runner-up for Computer Games Magazine s list of the 10 best computer games of 2004. (Wikipedia)
- 2012
Stalk your prey on the quest for stolen goods with your blackjack, sword, and an assortment of unique arrows. Steal for money and uncover the hidden agendas of your allies and enemies as you play through an unravelling story of deception and revenge. (Steam)
- —
Thief
not scoredNo sourced description on file.
Thief, head to head
Two entries side by side on score, price, specs and reception:
Thief vs other series
How Thief stacks up against other series in the same genre, as a whole:
Also: Thief vs Doom, Thief vs Just Cause, Thief vs Serious Sam, Thief vs Wolfenstein, Thief vs Borderlands, Thief vs Crysis, Thief vs Dead Island, Thief vs Dishonored, Thief vs F.E.A.R., Thief vs Max Payne, Thief vs Quake, Thief vs Red Faction, Thief vs Sniper Elite, Thief vs Sniper Ghost Warrior, Thief vs State of Decay, Thief vs Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon, Thief vs America's Army, Thief vs BioShock, Thief vs Bright Memory, Thief vs Deep Rock Galactic, Thief vs Friday the 13th, Thief vs Homefront, Thief vs Infestation, Thief vs Killing Floor, Thief vs Left 4 Dead, Thief vs Metal Gear, Thief vs Outlast, Thief vs POSTAL, Thief vs Prototype, Thief vs RAGE, Thief vs Red Dead Redemption, Thief vs Sea of Thieves, Thief vs Shadow Warrior, Thief vs Slime Rancher, Thief vs Sniper, Thief vs Squad, Thief vs Subnautica, Thief vs The Evil Within, Thief vs World War, Thief vs Z1 Battle Royale, Thief vs Zombie Army
Common questions
How many Thief games are there?
We hold 4 Thief games in the catalogue, released between 2000 and 2012. 2 of them carry enough Steam data to rank; the rest are listed in release order below, including console-only entries with no Steam listing.
Which Thief game is best?
By the GamingPickz Score, Thief Gold (1999) rates highest at 7.8. That is a composite of player sentiment, the critic aggregate and popularity, computed the same way for every game, not our opinion. The full ranking is above.
What order should I play the Thief games in?
Release order is listed below, from 2000 to 2012. For most series that is also story order, but we list dates rather than telling you a canon; the timeline is read from Wikidata.
More franchises
Browse every game franchise ranked the same way, or head to the full grid.