Monaco: What's Yours Is Mine

Lore & Background

Monaco: What's Yours Is Mine is a stealth video game played through a top-down perspective. It features single-player and cooperative modes, allowing up to four players to partake in heists and robberies. The game has four main campaigns, each through the perspective of a different character, with missions taking place in locations varying from nightclubs to yachts. Players only have vision of areas within direct line of sight, requiring strategic navigation through a fog of war. If one player dies, another must revive them before finishing the mission. The campaign is offered in two modes: 'Classic' (full-length story) and 'Enhanced' (a condensed version released in a later update). Other game modes include a zombie mode and player vs player maps.

There are eight characters, each with different traits and advantages: the Locksmith, the Cleaner, the Lookout, the Pickpocket, the Mole, the Gentleman, the Redhead, and the Hacker. The first four are available immediately; the rest must be unlocked as the campaign progresses. Abilities include opening doors faster, putting guards to sleep, seeing enemies not in line of sight, digging through walls, changing appearance, uploading computer viruses, and charming enemies. Players can find and use items such as smoke bombs, C4 explosives, and firearms, which are single-use but replenishable by collecting ten coins. Items are not shared in cooperative mode.

The plot is told through interrogations by Inspector Voltaire. The Locksmith describes a prison escape, meeting the Gentleman, a yacht explosion, and a rescue of the Redhead. The Pickpocket recalls events differently, claiming the explosion was a distraction for Interpol and that he was a spy. The Lookout provides backgrounds on the thieves, including the Mole being caught, the Locksmith's broken hand, and the Gentleman being called 'The Rat' for tipping off police. Inspector Voltaire and a constable named Candide later fail to recapture escaped thieves, and Candide poisons Inspector Voltaire, with the Mole disposing of the body.

Reader's Guide

Monaco: What's Yours Is Mine is significant for its cooperative stealth gameplay and its recognition at the 2010 Independent Games Festival, where it won two awards including the Seumas McNally Grand Prize. Critics praised its cooperative modes but considered its single-player gameplay inferior for lacking content. The game was frequently compared to heist films, and reviewers praised its art style and minimalist design. Austin Wintory's soundtrack also received praise. The game's development began as a prototype by Andy Schatz while working for TKO Software, originally planned as an Xbox Live Indie Game. After TKO shut down, Schatz founded Pocketwatch Games and returned to the concept in 2009. After only fifteen weeks of development, the game won IGF awards, leading to a partnership with Valve for Steam publication. Majesco handled the Xbox 360 release after Microsoft Game Studios twice rejected the game. A Nintendo Switch version, Monaco: Complete Edition, was released in 2019 by Humble Games. Pocketwatch announced a sequel, Monaco 2, in March 2022.

Did You Know?

• The game was twice rejected by Microsoft Game Studios before Majesco handled its Xbox 360 release.
• Lead developer Andy Schatz first prototyped Monaco while working for TKO Software, a company that later shut down.
• The Pickpocket character owns a coin-collecting monkey.