Invading someone’s home to steal all of their most precious possessions should be empowering but in The Organized Thief, a free first-person robbery sim, it’s utterly terrifying. The house is the same on every playthrough but the list of objects on the thief’s checklist aren’t always found in the same place. I just spent several frantic minutes running from room to room, leaving scattered pillows and cushions behind me, as I tried to find a toaster. As it happens, it was in the kitchen and I had already collected it but I was in a blind panic and had forgotten where toasters normally live. The owner of the house had arrived home while I was performing my pilfering, you see, and I was trapped upstairs, cut off from the exit. They found me in a closet, trembling. Why not see if you can be a better thief than me?

Originally built in seven days by Redefinition Games, The Very Organized Thief has been released for public consumption following the application of a spot of polish. It uses the small space of the house extremely well, encouraging exploration by means of the checklist and then transforming that same area into a trap once the car pulls into the drive.

There are plenty of interactive elements too. Most things can be picked up and lobbed across a room and I’m half tempted to leave all the loot behind and simply rearrange all of the furniture. Sadly, the blocky little lord of the manor doesn’t notice the disarray so the obsessively tidy creeping of my first visit was unnecessary.

A single attempt only takes around five minutes and there is replay value, but what I’d really like to see is a bulkier version. It feels like an excellent prototype and reminds me of playing with daft 3d home design software on my Amiga. Except with an added thief.