Filcher

About

Filcher is a single player simulation game with a mystery theme. It was developed by Johan Hjärpe and was released on September 14, 2021. It received very positive reviews from players.

Filcher is a first-person, 2.5D, mission-based stealth game. As Sporey the master thief, break into guarded buildings to steal from the wealthy and corrupt, using only your senses, your wits, and a handful of tools and gadgets.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player

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95%Audience ScoreBased on 206 reviews

story35 positive mentions

grinding2 negative mentions

Excellent tribute to the original Thief games with solid stealth mechanics based on light and sound.
Well-designed, compact levels offering multiple approaches and encouraging exploration and replayability.
Unique noir art style with effective atmosphere, complemented by strong sound design and stylish comic cutscenes.

Lack of mid-mission save system leads to frustration due to having to restart entire missions upon failure, especially on longer levels.
Limited verticality and traversal options compared to Thief, with no climbing or mantling, and a less intuitive jump mechanic.
Use of 2D sprite enemies causes some difficulty judging guard line of sight and positioning.

story
198 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
18%
79%
3%
The story in this stealth game is simple yet engaging, delivered through stylish noir comic-book cutscenes and environmental storytelling that enrich the atmosphere and world-building. While some find it intriguing and well-integrated with mission design, others note it is relatively short, somewhat derivative, and lacks voice acting, leaving room for deeper narrative development. The absence of mid-mission saves emphasizes a trial-and-error playstyle that reinforces tension and challenge but can also lead to frustration, impacting the pacing and enjoyment of the story experience.
- “Filcher is an absolute triumph that also manages to stand on its own with a fun story and deeply appealing art-deco/noir aesthetic.”
- “Besides the gameplay, the environments you get to plunder, the excellent world-building and compelling, albeit somewhat derivative, story as well as the tight sound design and music all perfectly support the gameplay, each playing their own crucial parts in forming a 'lived-in' world and a rich soundscape that give Filcher its own distinct identity.”
- “I could praise the film noir atmosphere and the writing quality all day, but the level design is probably its biggest strength: there are countless ways to reach an objective, many secret passages to find and the story is wonderfully integrated in the environments.”
- “The story is relatively anemic and ends on a severe anticlimax, and there is no voice acting of any kind (except for guard's lo-fi grunts and yawns), undeniably hurting the personality that would have otherwise been provided by Steven Russel's gravelly voice.”
- “And magnifying both of these is the biggest and nastiest problem: the complete lack of any in-level save system, punishing any and all mistakes by forcing you to replay the mission from scratch.”
- “Story sort of ends on a weird note, where you think there are going to be one or two more levels after the last mission, but it just ends.”
gameplay
92 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
17%
79%
4%
Filcher delivers a polished, methodical stealth gameplay experience heavily inspired by the original Thief series, focusing on light and sound mechanics within well-designed levels that reward careful observation and strategy. Its streamlined mechanics, including a unique silent slide move, simplify the formula without feeling shallow, though the lack of climbing and mid-level saves may frustrate some players. Overall, the gameplay is challenging, immersive, and captures a classic stealth vibe while integrating a stylish neo-noir aesthetic.
- “Filcher nails the sound and light-based stealth mechanics that Thief: The Dark Project did so well, pairing it with retro-noir styling that fits its moody atmosphere and tense gameplay like a glove.”
- “The core gameplay revolves around navigating enclosed environments, avoiding detection, and stealing valuable items before escaping.”
- “Filcher also adds a sliding mechanic, so if you run and then crouch you can slide along any surface; the slide is completely silent which can allow you to close the gap on guards that are moving across loud surfaces in order to knock them out.”
- “But Filcher misses many of the nuances that make Thief more flexible in gameplay, lacking features like mantling, water/rope arrow equivalents, or even a map or mid-mission saving.”
- “Also, the lack of saving mid-level is not an issue in the start of the game, but near the end it is quite frustrating when most of a level is very easy and then there is one very hard part, meaning that you need to redo about 10 minutes of gameplay until you can reattempt the hard part.”
- “This mechanic becomes especially frustrating when taken in tandem with, for example, the fact that as soon as you shoot an enemy with a sleep dart, they instantly know exactly where you are, even if you are cloaked in complete darkness, or the fact that cameras are incredibly sensitive and are very quick to sound the alarm.”
graphics
53 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
32%
62%
6%
The game's graphics feature a distinctive, simple yet atmospheric art style heavily inspired by noir, art-deco, and the 90's Batman animated series, which effectively enhances its stealth-focused design and mood. While some sprite-based enemy models and basic visuals can feel inconsistent or janky, the overall aesthetic, lighting, and comic-panel cutscenes create a stylish, immersive atmosphere that resonates well with fans of classic stealth games. Despite modest graphical fidelity, the unique artistic direction and strong atmosphere are widely praised as charming and fitting for the game's tone.
- “In addition to these strengths, the visuals of Filcher manage, in my opinion, to be stunning in their simplicity, with the game effectively incorporating a noir art style which adds a unique charm to both its missions and the beautifully illustrated comic-panel briefings that evoke memories of the cutscenes of the first two Max Payne games.”
- “An unapologetic love letter to classic Thief with a gorgeous art deco expressionist aesthetic borrowed with love from Batman: The Animated Series and German expressionist films, not to mention classic film noir.”
- “The art style is clean and puts more emphasis on the lighting, so it has to be very strong and dramatic, which makes levels moodier and aids with the stealth by defining very clear spots where you can hide.”
- “The art style is not consistent at all; some sprites are way too low detail.”
- “The enemy billboards make it hard to judge whether a dart will connect or if the blackjack will knock them out.”
- “Almost an art deco aesthetic, but the graphics are just a bit too basic for the world to be truly stylish.”
atmosphere
38 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
53%
39%
8%
The game excels in creating a dense, immersive noir atmosphere inspired by the Thief series, using minimalist art, moody lighting, and a dark ambient soundtrack to enhance stealth gameplay and exploration. While the simple visuals and 2D sprite enemies occasionally feel janky, the stylish art direction, sound design, and level design effectively build tension and complement the story, resulting in a compelling and atmospheric stealth experience.
- “The overall aesthetic, combined with its subdued color palette, creates a consistent atmosphere that complements the stealth-focused design.”
- “Filcher nails the sound and light-based stealth mechanics that Thief: The Dark Project did so well, pairing it with retro-noir styling that fits its moody atmosphere and tense gameplay like a glove.”
- “Absolutely perfect atmosphere and more than a fair share of charm, this is a must play for stealth fiends or indie appreciators in general.”
- “The atmosphere is more akin to Sly Cooper than Thief.”
- “There's not much in the way of music or sound atmosphere, and most of what is there is quite mediocre.”
- “There are moments where it really engrossed me in the gameplay with its noir aesthetic and simple but solid atmosphere, but there were also many moments where I wished I was just playing Thief instead.”
music
15 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
20%
60%
20%
The music in the game is minimalist and atmospheric, effectively enhancing the noir and stealthy vibe with moody, drone-like ambient tracks. While some find it sparse and repetitive, many appreciate how it builds tension and richly supports the game's immersive world and tone. However, limited sound options can sometimes make balancing music and sound effects challenging for players.
- “I'm a huge fan of the music too, it really elevated the vibe and fit the tone perfectly.”
- “Outstanding thief-like with great atmosphere and a super solid minimalist dark-ambient soundtrack.”
- “Besides the gameplay, the environments you get to plunder, the excellent world-building and compelling, albeit somewhat derivative, story as well as the tight sound design and music (with the Blackburn House ambient tracks being my favourites in particular) all perfectly support the gameplay, each playing their own crucial parts in forming a 'lived-in' world and a rich soundscape that give Filcher its own distinct identity.”
- “The music is limited; the most you’ll hear is the very thief-like droning ambience when you boot up or pause the game, but what is there is nice.”
- “There's not much in the way of music or sound atmosphere, and most of what is there is quite mediocre.”
- “Where it fails to impress is the music, which is lackluster and repetitive.”
replayability
8 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
38%
24%
38%
The game offers solid replayability through varied missions, hidden secrets, and a scoring system that encourages multiple playthroughs for better performance and completion. While the overall length is relatively short, its engaging design and challenges provide satisfying motivation to revisit missions. Some players note limited replay value after mastering levels but still enjoy returning due to the game's fun factor.
- “This design also supports replayability, as returning to a mission with better knowledge often leads to more successful and satisfying runs.”
- “Made with passion and admiration for Looking Glass Studios' genre-defining series, Filcher brings back the classic formula of an exploration and thievery-focused sim, repackaged into a highly stylized, charming, and almost overwhelmingly low-fi, story-driven set of 9 varied missions with a decent amount of replayability, thanks to secrets and a scoring/rank system for enthusiasts and completionists.”
- “Even if the game is short, there's plenty of replay value due to the amount of secrets, rankings on the missions based on how well you play, etc., so why not just give players a difficulty option?”
- “Forced replay value is no value to me at all.”
- “Little replayability after ghosting all the levels but I might replay them anyway because the game is that fun.”
- “Game could be longer - although the replay value is decent thanks to well hidden loot and secrets.”
optimization
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
33%
34%
33%
Optimization in the game is problematic, with notable performance issues arising, particularly when creating multiple saves within a single level. These technical shortcomings impact the overall experience.
- “I had some pretty bad performance issues with the game at points which seemed to be caused by creating too many saves in one level.”
humor
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The humor in the game is appreciated for its playful and sneaky mission design, which adds to the overall enjoyable and atmospheric experience. Despite a minor complaint about the awkward jumping in the first level, players find the game amusing and fittingly styled with its noir art.
- “It's a really good game, the way we have to complete each mission sneaking through those guards is so funny and the noir art fits great with atmosphere and the story, good indie buy it.”
grinding
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Grinding in the game is made tedious and stressful due to the lack of autosave or quick checkpoints, causing players to lose significant progress after minor mistakes. The progressively complex levels exacerbate this issue, leading to frustration rather than enjoyment.
- “The biggest fault though, and the reason I'm refunding it, is that you cannot autosave; I get it - the developer wants you to master each level and that's perfectly understandable - however, what I think they perhaps failed to understand is how tedious beating a level can become when one minor mistake sets you back to the beginning - the impressive intricacy and progressively larger size of each level only exacerbates this problem.”
- “The rough gameplay paired with no quick saves/checkpoints makes for a very stressful and tedious experience.”
stability
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game demonstrates strong stability, with users experiencing minimal bugs aside from a few minor issues like objects not aligning perfectly with surfaces. Overall, the gameplay is smooth and largely free of disruptive errors.
- “Other than some objects not being perfectly flush with surfaces in certain levels, which isn't really a bug, my experience was pretty much bug-free.”