The third-person card-slinging occult noir stealth sim Sleight of Hand is launching on Xbox Series X|S and PC via Xbox Game Pass and Steam in 2025. Unveiled during the Xbox Partner Preview, the game from RiffRaff Games is headed by Joshua Boggs, creator of the multi-award-winning puzzle game FRAMED. In Sleight of Hand players will be able to infiltrate the rain-slicked streets of Steeple City as a day one Game Pass launch.
Boggs expressed his excitement over the game, saying:
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“Making this game has been a long-time dream of mine. It combines my love of Kojima’s brilliant pioneering work in Tactical Espionage Action with Metal Gear Solid and my obsessive desire to push the envelope in making new gameplay experiences…In typical ‘me fashion’ (as the team here would say), I’ve sought to turn the genre on its head with a healthy dose of innovative card play. It’s been a hard road, honestly the hardest project I’ve worked on, but I am so honored to walk side by side with this team as we push the stealth action genre in a brand new direction.”
Debi Mae West (Metal Gear Solid) voices Lady Luck, a revered former occult detective. Fate finds her returning for one final job in taking down her former Coven. Her departure was less than amicable; last time, she lost her left hand. Too tired to fight fate any longer, and with more overdue bills than bucks to her name, Lady Luck strikes out to Steeple City with cursed deck in hand, ready to track down everyone from her past life.
Everything To Expect From Sleight Of Hand
- Slink through a hard-boiled city rife with taboo, where knowledge of ritual magic and possession of cursed artifacts separate the haves and the have-nots. Wield Lady Luck’s cursed cards to cast a smoke-based menagerie of magic. Navigate around patrolling ruffians by Evaporating into smoke. Faced with a group of huddled-up goons? Even the odds by intertwining their fates with the Chain Smoker card — now any cards cast affect them all at once. Snuff them out with a lethal card, or choose an affliction to help Lady Luck sneak right past.
- Silently take out enemies using powerful card and state combos. Inaccessible guard causing problems with a spotlight? Take him out by marking his position with a Hex card, which tags any target within line of sight. Once Hexed, other cards combo with this state, like Peekaboo, which teleports the player behind any Hexed target in view. While lurking behind the unsuspecting goon, you don’t need a card to know a silent takedown is the next play to get through.
- Upgrade the deck and assemble the perfect hand for each highly replayable level, all built to encourage experimentation. Stick to subterfuge with Glimpse to see enemies behind walls and blind them with Ignorance to slip by undetected. Become a wickeder witch by taking out guards in one shot with Hand Cannon.
- Discover hidden passwords to access secret pathways through speakeasies and interrogate former friends of Lady Luck’s ex-coven to settle “old debts.” Gain new powers, intel, and cards to bring the coven leader in. Just hope the cards pulled come out in Lady Luck’s favor.
When Will Sleight of Hand Be Available
Sleight of Hand will launch on Xbox Series X|S and PC via Xbox Game Pass and Steam in 2025.
