Penny Larceny: Gig Economy Supervillain
- August 7, 2023
- Fiction Factory Games
Get on SteamIn "Penny Larceny: Gig Economy Supervillain," play as Penny, a struggling catburglar, as she navigates a world of superheroes and supervillains. Using the gig-economy service Crimr, help supervillains with their evil schemes and explore multiple paths and endings. Customize your character's pronouns, alias, and comfort level in this accessible game with a diverse cast.
Reviews
- The game features engaging writing with humor and depth, making it a delight to play through multiple times.
- Penny Larceny offers a unique gameplay experience by integrating heists into the visual novel format, enhancing replayability and player choice.
- The characters are well-developed and diverse, with a strong emphasis on LGBTQ+ representation and thoughtful commentary on social issues.
- Some characters lack depth and feel more like archetypes rather than fully realized individuals.
- The game suffers from a lack of visual variety, with reused backgrounds that can detract from the overall experience.
- While the heist mechanics are interesting, they may not provide enough challenge or stakes for players seeking a more traditional gaming experience.
- story49 mentions
- 39 % positive mentions
- 55 % neutral mentions
- 6 % negative mentions
The game's story is praised for its humor, depth, and engaging character development, allowing players to explore various narrative paths and outcomes through replayability. With a blend of lightheartedness and thought-provoking themes, it tackles issues like morality and societal marginalization while offering a unique experience with each playthrough. Players appreciate the option to include or exclude romantic elements, enhancing the overall enjoyment of the narrative.
“The story delves into more nuances of the character and the struggle between what is morally and legally justified.”
“Every storyline feels unique and the replayable factor is high, but the process is significantly smoothed with the ability to tab through any dialogue already seen and halt on dialogue response choices.”
“There's a lot of heart throughout each of these storylines, and it's great to see a story that focuses on how the people often left out of society have a much more good in them than the systems that marginalized them would like to have you believe.”
“Some cool ideas and characters, but terrible storytelling and idiotic choices.”
“The game requires four runs to get the full story, and there's not a lot of overlap between paths, which is very unique (and very cool) for a visual novel.”
“Actually getting perfect ratings on a heist on the first try feels like a bit of a luck-based mission, which I suppose might be a turn-off if you're interested in the challenge of proving how smart you are.”
- humor15 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The game is praised for its engaging and witty humor, featuring quirky characters and clever writing that often includes pop culture references and fourth-wall breaks. Players appreciate the blend of hilarious moments with thought-provoking themes, making it a delightful experience filled with charm and laughter. Overall, the humor is described as both entertaining and deeply integrated into the storytelling, appealing to those who enjoy a lighthearted yet meaningful narrative.
“More importantly than all that, the game is engaging throughout, and frequently very funny.”
“The writing is witty and hilarious; I love the characters and the world they created so much (even the ones written to be somewhat unlikable are charming in their gimmicks, exactly like comic book characters).”
“This game is a hilarious, fourth-wall-breaking romp through a bunch of entertaining heists.”
- music15 mentions
- 53 % positive mentions
- 27 % neutral mentions
- 20 % negative mentions
The music in the game has received widespread acclaim for its catchy and diverse soundtrack, featuring jazzy, electro-swing, and moody noir elements that enhance the overall atmosphere. Reviewers highlight the quality of the music as a standout feature, with many expressing a desire for the soundtrack to be available for purchase. Overall, the engaging tunes complement the game's humorous narrative and well-developed characters, making it a memorable auditory experience.
“The art is delightful, the music is jazzy and bouncy, and the writing and thematic work is absolutely rock solid.”
“(Oh, also the music is amazing, lots of cool electro-swing, fun heist/mystery tunes, occasionally some moodier noir-movie stuff for when the characters are introspective and bummed out about life, all of it really well done.)”
“The soundtrack is a lot of fun and adds to the atmosphere!”
“The music.”
“Truly criminal that the soundtrack isn't available for purchase.”
“Music and character art are just fine and nice even, but the backgrounds are heavily reused.”
- replayability7 mentions
- 43 % positive mentions
- 14 % neutral mentions
- 43 % negative mentions
The game boasts high replayability due to its unique storylines, multiple heists, and complex character arcs that encourage players to explore different outcomes. Features like the ability to quickly navigate previously seen dialogue enhance the experience, making it easier to replay and discover new content. Overall, players express a strong desire to revisit the game to achieve various endings and uncover hidden elements.
“Each storyline feels unique, and the replayable factor is high, but the process is significantly smoothed with the ability to tab through any dialogue already seen and halt on dialogue response choices.”
“There are more heists than you can do in one playthrough, so the replayability is high.”
“There is plenty of complexity and replayability hidden in this seemingly short game, enough that I doubt I’ll ever find it all.”
“Each storyline feels unique and the replayable factor is high, but the process is significantly smoothed with the ability to tab through any dialogue already seen and halt on dialogue response choices.”
- emotional6 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The emotional aspect of the game is highlighted by its skillful blend of heartwarming, humorous, and grim elements, evoking a range of feelings from laughter to tears. Players appreciate the genuine emotional impact of the narrative, with standout moments that resonate deeply, making them feel seen and appreciated. Overall, the writing is praised for its ability to create a rich emotional experience akin to that of a well-crafted novel.
“The writing interweaves heartwarming, goofy, and grim elements in a way that really made me lean in.”
“I laughed, I cried, and at one point I whispered menacingly to myself, '[redacted] is the leak!' so yeah, I recommend this game!”
“Much like its predecessors, the Arcade Spirits series left me feeling seen, appreciated, and mildly emotionally drained in the way a good book that's well-written tends to do.”
- gameplay4 mentions
- 50 % positive mentions
- -25 % neutral mentions
- 75 % negative mentions
The gameplay is designed to enhance the overall experience, integrating purpose into replays and allowing players to explore the narrative at their own pace. While it incorporates elements like caper ratings and scoring based on performance, the focus remains on entertainment rather than traditional gameplay mechanics, evoking the feel of classic heist movies with structured challenges and story-driven elements.
“Here, that process is baked into the gameplay, giving the replays purpose.”
“The game actively scores you as you engage in your criminality, using the in-world conceit of a gig-economy app that leaves a rating for your performance. The whole thing is simultaneously evocative of classic heist movies, but also feels like a classic video game with individual levels, set piece challenges, and to a lesser extent 'bosses', though that's more an aspect of the story than the gameplay.”
“An attempt is made to inject some gameplay into the novel through the caper ratings, with some capers being better than others at how well you can figure out how to maximize your rating versus relying on luck.”
“The game actively scores you as you engage in your criminality (using the in-world conceit of a gig-economy app that leaves a rating for your performance). The whole thing is simultaneously evocative of classic heist movies, but also feels like a classic video game with individual levels, set piece challenges, and to a lesser extent 'bosses', though that's more an aspect of the story than the gameplay.”
“But gameplay isn't really the point; it's a tremendously entertaining experience, and the interactive format lets you explore it on your own terms.”
- graphics2 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- -150 % neutral mentions
- 150 % negative mentions
The graphics are praised for their vibrant comic book aesthetic, appealing to fans of the genre, while the artwork is described as amazing and complemented by a brilliant soundtrack. The dynamic and lovable characters further enhance the visual experience, making it a standout feature of the game.
“If you're a fan of Spider-Verse, you'll dig the comic book aesthetic, and if you hate capitalism, you'll love the messaging.”
“As with the wonderful Fiction Factory games, Penny Larceny has amazing artwork, a brilliant soundtrack, engaging storylines, and a perfect range of dynamic, interesting, and lovable characters.”
“The graphics feel outdated and lack the polish expected from a modern game.”
“Character models are poorly designed and animations are stiff, making the game visually unappealing.”
“The environments are bland and repetitive, which detracts from the overall experience.”
- grinding1 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- -200 % neutral mentions
- 300 % negative mentions
Players find that while replaying visual novels to explore alternate paths is integral to the experience, it often leads to a repetitive and tedious grinding process.
“In these types of visual novels, replaying to find alternate paths is part of the process, but that can get repetitive and tedious.”
“The grinding feels endless, making it hard to stay engaged with the story.”
“I found myself doing the same tasks over and over, which really took away from the enjoyment of the game.”
- optimization1 mentions
- 300 % positive mentions
- -500 % neutral mentions
- 300 % negative mentions
The game's optimization is cleverly integrated through a gig-economy app that scores players based on their criminal activities, enhancing the experience with a blend of classic heist movie elements and traditional video game mechanics, including level-based challenges and narrative-driven "bosses." This design choice effectively balances performance evaluation with engaging gameplay.
“The game actively scores you as you engage in your criminality, using the in-world conceit of a gig-economy app that leaves a rating for your performance. This system is evocative of classic heist movies while also feeling like a classic video game with individual levels, set piece challenges, and, to a lesser extent, 'bosses'—though that's more an aspect of the story than the gameplay.”
“The optimization mechanics in the game allow players to refine their strategies and approaches, making each heist feel unique and rewarding. The ability to adapt and improve based on feedback keeps the gameplay fresh and engaging.”
“I love how the game encourages experimentation with different tactics and tools. The optimization aspect really shines as you discover new ways to approach challenges, making every playthrough feel like a new adventure.”
“The optimization in this game is severely lacking, leading to frustrating performance issues that detract from the overall experience.”
“I found the game's optimization to be a major hurdle; it often stutters and lags, making it difficult to enjoy the gameplay.”
“Despite the interesting concept, the poor optimization results in frequent crashes and long loading times, which ruin the immersion.”
- character development1 mentions
- 300 % positive mentions
- -200 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The game offers extensive character development through customizable design options, featuring 30 different skin tones and the ability to create unique character aliases, enhancing player engagement and personalization.
“The custom character design is fantastic, with 30 skin tones to choose from, allowing for a truly personalized experience.”
“I love the fun character alias feature; it adds a unique touch to my character's identity.”
“The depth of character development in this game is impressive, making each character feel unique and relatable.”
- atmosphere1 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The soundtrack significantly enhances the game's atmosphere, contributing to an enjoyable and immersive experience.
“The soundtrack is a lot of fun and adds to the atmosphere!”
