Casino Crime

Casinos will rob you blind, they say. If HandyGames's ode to glitz, glamour, and an overt fondness for potted plants is anything to go by, they mean that quite literally.

Casino Crime, as the name suggests, is a mix of the heady art of gambling and the not-so-steady profession of stealing.

As a result, play is essentially split twofold, between designing the kind of casinos customers feel comfortable in and perfecting your pilfering skills, pinching extra dollars from them to keep the place afloat.

Each of the casinos you take on comes with a series of goals, whether it be earning a set amount from the roulette table, or raising the venue's prestige – usually achieved by littering the casino with the kind of tacky chintz that might go down well in Las Vegas, but is more akin to a wet weekend in Skegness on these shores.

The two areas of play are distinctly different in practice.

Decorating each casino means perusing a set catalogue of items, ranging from the slot machines and assorted gambling paraphernalia that are essential to bring in customers to more cosmetic elements, such as chairs, lucky four-leaf clover tables and plants, that keep them engaged.

Indeed, keeping a check on just what your casino is missing is vital, with each and every customer displaying their wants and needs in thought bubbles above their heads.

If their particular desires aren't met, they'll simply leave, the bubble in question turning red to signify their discontent.

Those who stay on board, however, are ripe for the picking. Early on, Casino Crime encourages you to pick pockets, snatching cash from players when their attention is focused on the slot machines.

Things soon become a touch more serious, however, with the roulette wheels in particular giving play a new edge.

Money for nothing

Rather than rifling through customers' pockets, here the aim is to cheat, with the game giving you the ability to nudge the ball from one number to the next depending on where the player has placed his bets.

It's a simple, if addictive, element of Casino Crime that almost guarantees a certain level of income throughout – although con each player too often and you'll be found out.

The light nature of this roulette play is, in fact, symbolic of Casino Crime as a whole.

There's nothing all too deep here, and even the supposed elements of simulation are something of a cheat – your choices are always limited by the level you're in, and the relative funds at hand.

Nonetheless, there's much to enjoy, and though it's unlikely Casino Crime will endear a life of gangs and gambling to many, for a five minute fix of fun it's worth a punt.