The Big Con

The Big Con is a welcome nod to one of the coolest decades of all time, featuring some great writing, beautiful visuals, and fun gameplay.

The Big Con is a bright, fun and surprisingly wholesome crime spree through a Saturday morning cartoon version of 90s America. You might develop a compulsion for kleptomania, you might feel bad for picking hundreds of pockets, but at least you'll laugh along the way and feel cool doing it.

This is a great narrative adventure inspired by the 90s, with funny, well-written dialogues and a very unique art style.

The Big Con is a heart-warming coming of age story that will delight 90s kids, referential-humor enjoyers, and those with sticky fingers. Its relatable protagonist never loses her heart of gold, despite the horrible circumstances she finds herself in, which serves as a shining testament to the dev team’s ability to carefully craft a story using controversial mechanics. If you have $14.99 and 7 – 10 hours to spare, take a look at The Big Con — it’s bound to steal your heart.

Despite some technical glitches, The Big Con succeeds in telling a moving story with plenty of wit and charm. The aesthetics and humour are spot-on, each character brings a new dimension, and this is a world worth getting lost in. If you’re looking for a healthy dose of ‘90s nostalgia and a throwaway attitude to petty crime – give it a go. I swear I’m not having you on. This time.

You’ll only need several hours to complete it, but The Big Con’s one adventure worth looking into. Offering a vibrant presentation brimming with nostalgia, there’s an enjoyable story about 90’s America which kept me hooked. Though the pickpocketing mechanic lacks depth, that’s made up for by a fun narrative and good sense of humour, keeping the action entertaining. If you like indies, The Big Con’s a breath of fresh air that comes recommended.

The Big Con delivers a heartwarming story set in an iconic time period filled with beautiful characters and stunning environments.

The Big Con is ultimately about its story, though, and it's a story that mostly works despite an inescapable sense of familiarity. There aren't many beats here that you haven't seen before, and while that lends the closing hours the feeling that expected pieces are simply falling into place, the game has enough verve and style that it manages to hold it together. The writing isn't especially funny or clever, but there's enough personality in the art style and story conceit that I was still entertained for the bulk of the six hours that I spent with it.

The Big Con succeeds when, as its title suggests, you’re working on elaborate con jobs that provide clever puzzle ideas with a lot of open and fun gameplay. While the rest of it is fine, it never feels like the sort of epic cross-country adventure it should be, despite what its stakes would suggest. It still makes for a good adventure with well-done challenges, and that alone may be worth it, but don’t expect a grand score by the end.

The Big Con is a charming little slice of nineties nostalgia. It's propelled by its strong writing and world-building, a deep understanding of the era it is referencing, and some fantastic characters, and it's certainly a road trip players will enjoy taking. Although its gameplay is limited and there are some technical issues, it's an earnest and compelling journey.

Even if it does get monotonous sometimes, I certainly can't fault the originality of the pickpocketing idea. The Big Con is not the kind of adventure game I see every day and credit to Mighty Yell for trying something different. I don't know if it's because I was hoping more would be done with the idea or because the game felt too short, but I ultimately came out of this game wanting something more. Maybe that's just the hunger for a bigger score.