The Sting!, released in 2001 by Neo Software and JoWooD Productions (and sort-of-sequel to the 1994 game "The Clue!"), is an excessively charming game I can only describe as a "Burglary Puzzle/Strategy Sim". While there seems to be no way to actually lose the game, the challenge lies in laying out the perfect plan that nets you the most valuable loot in each job. Your crime spree starts out small, but as you graduate from robbing gas stations and convenience stores you begin being able to trade in your loot for bigger getaway cars and better burglary tools. You can even amass a plethora of bizarre, colorful and suspiciously-easily-convinced accomplices if you take the time to explore the sprawling cityscape - and why wouldn't you take a moment to stake out the place you're about to rob blind?
It may not seem like much to look at at first glance, but as you explore the city of Fortune Hills you will quickly find it to be filled to the brim with inspired sights. Run-down apartments stand atop towering legs of steel that descend far below the grimy mist that blankets the world at all times. The local scrapyard is littered with recently-decommissioned zeppelins, each topped with smokestacks tall enough to pierce the clouds. From the edge of town you can see that the slums have been literally torn away from the rest of the city, pipes jutting out from the concrete chasm between the two, and incomprehensible machinery lines the foundation of the metropolis everywhere you turn. It's as if every little corner has something interesting that catches your eye...
...just, uh, maybe don't look too closely at your fellow citizens.

The character models may be the ugliest thing I think I've ever seen in my life and what little dialogue there is may be bizarre and stilted, but these do nothing to distract from the fact that The Sting! is a very fun experience that manages to exude an unshakeable charm that has managed to stick with me since the day I first played the demo all those years ago.
The Sting! runs shockingly well on Windows 10, Provided you use a very specific version of DXWnd with a very specific configuration to run the game in windowed mode, and have an image of the game's CD mounted to a virtual drive in addition to using a cracked EXE that allows the game to actually run in the first place, and the stars are aligned and Venus is in retrograde, and you've made sure to turn off Hyper-V virtualization in your Windows settings, and you made sure to reboot your computer first...
Oh yeah, and run it in Windows 98 Compatibility Mode.
If all of that doesn't sound too torturous to turn you off, I'm worried about you I highly recommend you give The Sting! a try. It's a game that deserves to be experienced and remembered by a lot more people.



