Look, I’ve never been a fan of puzzle-driven missions in Thief. It’s not how I envision optimal Thief gameplay, nor the flow that makes for a great FM. That said, this is the best puzzle mission I’ve played, and it’s friggin’ awesome.

Okay, let’s get the trash out of the way. HHHH suffers from the same issue as most puzzle missions – there’s a lot of jogging around, though I didn’t even notice it until the very end. Once you grasp the building’s layout, you’re able to move around quite smoothly. I also felt that the mix of beautiful custom ambient music with the worn-out OM tracks didn’t always work. But that’s it in terms of complaints – let’s move on to the fun stuff.

So, HHHH actually works like a mini-adventure game in many ways. It’s much less linear, though – there are still some things that need to be done in order, but you’re often free to roam, explore, and work on several problems concurrently.
Forget the typical Thief hotel. The layout is unique and, once again, reminiscent of some adventure classics. I wonder if this FM might have been at least partially inspired by the aesthetics of Grim Fandango or a similar title. Thick fog blankets the exteriors of the hotel, giving it a grandiose feel, but you’ll also uncover a much more practical reason behind it. The interiors range from “just fine” to “absolutely astounding.” Overall, the visuals are emphatically eye-pleasing.

But it’s the puzzles that truly elevate this FM to the level of art. Must puzzles in FMs are highly practical in nature – find an item and combine it with another item to solve a specific problem. Sometimes this will extend to multiple items to make it more challenging. HHHH has this variety as well, but often you will be required to think beyond that simple level of reasoning and approach problems in ways never before seen in Thief. I was stupefied by how clever and intriguing some of the solutions were, and unlike in many puzzle-based FMs that follow more standard conventions, I never felt discouraged or irritated.

I’ve played all three missions by the author, and they share a similar approach to puzzles. In fact, Bertrand’s Forgotten Tomb feels almost like an overture or a warm-up before HHHH, as it requires the same kind of out-of-the-box thinking, but on a much smaller scale. If you enjoy this style of riddles, I highly recommend playing all three missions, with the Hotel being the biggest and most impressive one.

Ultimately, a 10 may seem a bit extravagant, but the bottom line for me is that this beautiful piece gave me faith that puzzle missions CAN actually be fun, and not boring slogfests or, even worse, pixel hunts. I absolutely admire the style of trefoilknot and sincerely hope we’ll hear from this author again.