How to Play Catch the Robber: A Complete Beginner's Guide
New to Catch the Robber? This guide walks you through everything you need to know to clear your first few levels, from the basic controls to the small details that separate a good sheriff from a great one.
The goal of the game
Each level asks you to catch a certain number of robbers — five on the first level, and two more for every level after that. Robbers arrive from black getaway vans parked at the four edges of the city. Each one picks a building, walks to its door, breaks in, and then tries to run back to a van with a bag of money.
You start with three life stars. Every time a robber reaches a van while carrying loot, you lose one star. Lose all three and the game is over. Clearing a level gives you one star back (up to a maximum of three), so a good level can repair the damage from a bad one.
Controls
- Keyboard: move with WASD or the arrow keys. Hold Shift to sneak. Press P or Esc to pause.
- Touch: put your finger anywhere on the map and drag. A virtual joystick appears under your finger. Tap the Sneak button above the game to switch sneaking on or off.
The sheriff automatically slides around corners, so you do not need pixel-perfect steering to turn into a side street. Just hold the direction you want to go.
Understanding vision cones
The most important thing on the screen is the yellow cone in front of each robber. That is what they can see. Buildings block the cone, so a robber cannot see you through a wall or around a corner.
If you step into a cone, a yellow question mark appears and the cone starts turning orange. This is the robber's suspicion building up. Step out quickly and it will slowly fade. Stay inside and the cone turns red, an exclamation mark appears and the robber runs away at high speed. A spotted robber is not impossible to catch — they get tired after a couple of seconds — but it is much harder.
Reading the alarms
When a robber starts breaking into a building, a message appears at the top of the screen and a red ring pulses around the door. An orange progress bar above the thief shows how long until they finish. This is your best chance: while stealing, the robber faces the building with their back to the street.
Be careful, though. Every second or two a stealing robber glances over their shoulder, and their vision cone swings round to cover the street behind them. Wait for the cone to swing back towards the building, then move in.
If a robber is spotted before they finish stealing, what happens next depends on progress. If they were less than halfway through, they flee empty-handed and you lose nothing. If they were more than halfway, they grab the bag on the way out.
Scoring basics
Each catch is worth 100 points. A sneak catch — catching a robber who never noticed you — adds another 100. Catching a robber who is carrying loot adds a bonus depending on where it was stolen from, from 50 points for a house up to 150 for the bank. Later levels multiply every catch, and clearing a level gives a bonus based on the level number and your remaining stars.
Your first level: a simple plan
- Start in the centre and wait for the first "Robbery in progress" message.
- Walk (don't sneak yet) towards the pulsing red ring using streets that keep a building between you and the robber.
- When you are one block away, hold Shift and approach from behind.
- Watch the cone. If it swings towards you, stop outside it and wait.
- When it swings back, walk into the robber to make the catch.
Once you are comfortable with that routine, read our seven stealth tips to start pushing your score higher.