Where to get it

2015 · Image & Form · Adventure · Indie

SteamWorld Heist

Timed Nintendo exclusive

Join Captain Piper Faraday, smuggler and occasional pirate, as she recruits a rag-tag team of steam-driven robots and sets out on a daring adventure. With your hearty crew you’ll board, loot and shoot your way through enemy spaceships. Overcome the challenges of the vast frontier by upgrading your robots with unique abilities, weapons – and even stylish hats!

Released: 2015
Platforms: Linux Nintendo 3DS Nintendo Switch PlayStation 4 PlayStation Vita Stadia Wii U Windows Xbox One iOS macOS
Genres: Adventure Indie Role-playing Strategy Turn-based strategy Turn-based tactics
Developers: Image & Form
Publishers: Image & Form
Series: SteamWorld SteamWorld Heist
Modes: Single-player
Perspective: Side view
Themes: Action Science fiction
Age ratings: ESRB E10+PEGI 7 USK 12 CERO A
Languages: Chinese (Traditional), English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Russian, Spanish (Spain)
Entry: #3 in SteamWorld
Time to beat: 13hmain story21hcompletionist
Composers: Steam Powered Giraffe

About

SteamWorld Heist is a turn-based tactics shooter video game developed and published by Image & Form. The third installment of the SteamWorld series and the sequel to SteamWorld Dig, SteamWorld Heist has the player control Captain Piper Faraday, a smuggler and occasional pirate, as she recruits a ragtag team of robots and sets out on a space adventure. The objective of the game is for players to board, loot, and shoot their way through enemy spaceships.

SteamWorld Heist was released on the Nintendo eShop for the Nintendo 3DS in Europe, the Americas, Australia and New Zealand on December 10, 2015. It was released worldwide for Microsoft Windows, OS X and Linux through Steam on June 7, 2016, for the PlayStation 4 and the PlayStation Vita via the PlayStation Store on June 7, 2016, in North America and on June 8, 2016, in Europe and Australia. It was released both physically and digitally (through the Nintendo eShop) for the Wii U on September 30, 2016, in Europe and Australia and in North America on October 20, 2016. It was released worldwide on the iOS App store on November 9, 2016.

Players say

Media

The articlegameplay, story, development, reception

Gameplay

SteamWorld Heist is a side-scrolling turn-based strategy game that emphasizes skill over chance. Players command a squad of robots through procedurally generated levels on enemy spaceships.

• Combat System: The core mechanic distinguishes itself from genre staples like XCOM by removing random hit percentages. Instead, players manually aim their characters' weapons. Successful attacks depend on the player's ability to line up shots, utilizing the environment to bounce bullets off surfaces ("trick shots") to bypass enemy shields and cover.

Development

SteamWorld Heist was developed by the Swedish studio Image & Form. The developers aimed to create a strategy game that solved the frustration of "missing a 99% hit chance" common in the genre, leading to the manual aiming mechanic.

Soundtrack

Reception

SteamWorld Heist has received positive reviews on all platforms, with current scores ranging from 81 to 91 on Metacritic.

Dave Rudden of IGN praised the game's depth, addictive combat and charming characters, though he lamented the lack of utilization of 3D effects in the 3DS version. Mitch Vogel of Nintendo Life praised the game's design and gameplay and considered the Nintendo Switch version the best version to play it.

Releases by platformdates and regions as published

Platform	Released	Regions
Nintendo 3DS	9 December 2015	North America · Europe 10 December 2015
Windows	7 June 2016	Worldwide
Linux	7 June 2016	Worldwide
PlayStation 4	7 June 2016	Worldwide
PlayStation Vita	7 June 2016	Worldwide
macOS	7 June 2016	Worldwide
Wii U	29 September 2016	Europe · North America 20 October 2016 · Worldwide 31 December 2016
iOS	9 November 2016	Worldwide · Worldwide 31 December 2016
Nintendo Switch	12 July 2018	Japan
Stadia	10 March 2020	Worldwide
Xbox OneCancelled	Unreleased

Title IDsone per regional release, with its latest update

Platform	Title ID	Region	Latest update
Nintendo 3DS	0004000000157C00	Europe	—
	000400000012D900	North America	—
Nintendo Switch	010016100A186000	—	v1
PlayStation 4	CUSA01478	Europe	01.02
	CUSA01495	North America	01.02
PlayStation Vita	PCSB00693	Europe	01.02
	PCSE00583	North America	01.02
Wii U	00050000101A3700	Europe	—
	00050000101A4000	North America	—

Editions and related releases

Included in: SteamWorld CollectionSteamWorld Heist: Ultimate EditionSteamWorld Heist Complete Bundle
Downloadable content: SteamWorld Heist: Hatbox - Hatful Eight + 2SteamWorld Heist: The Outsider
Editions: SteamWorld Heist: Ultimate Edition