The Big Con is an indie adventure game set in a vibrant recreation of 1990s America. Players take on the role of Ali, a sarcastic high schooler who skips band camp for a cross-country road trip. The goal is to raise enough cash to save her mother's video rental store from aggressive loan sharks. The experience blends light stealth, dialogue choices, and humorous cons in a single-player format focused on exploration and narrative.
Gameplay
Ali travels between distinct locations across the United States, each requiring a set amount of money before progression opens up. Core activities center on gathering funds through pickpocketing, item collection, and side tasks from locals. Pickpocketing involves a timing-based minigame where players stop a needle in a target zone on an indicator showing how much cash an NPC carries. Failure forces a change of disguise before retrying, and repeated failures lead to a penalty task of rewinding VHS tapes at a store to recover lost progress.
Additional options include selling collected items to a pawnbroker and completing optional sidequests. More advanced approaches involve wearing disguises, sneaking through areas, eavesdropping on conversations to gather information, lockpicking, and smooth-talking marks into bigger payoffs. Players decide which targets to target and which to assist, shaping the flow of each stop on the journey. A mentor figure provides guidance on con techniques while phone calls home add personal context to the story.
Game Modes
The Big Con operates entirely as a single-player experience with no multiplayer components. Progression follows a structured road-trip narrative divided by locations, where the player must meet financial thresholds through varied con methods before advancing. Within each area, free exploration allows mixing simple pickpocketing with more elaborate schemes involving breaking and entering or persuasion. Side activities and item gathering provide flexibility without altering the main story path. The structure emphasizes choice in approach rather than separate named modes, letting players repeat locations or experiment with different tactics on subsequent playthroughs.
Story and Setting
The narrative follows Ali teaming up with an experienced con artist named Ted to pull off schemes while keeping her mother in the dark. Dialogue and character interactions highlight teenage sarcasm alongside moments of genuine connection. The 1990s backdrop features period details such as plaid clothing, payphones, malls, and VHS culture, delivered through colorful comic-style visuals and a fitting soundtrack. Humor arises from the contrast between everyday teen life and escalating criminal antics, with the Hormipillar ride serving as a recurring lighthearted element.
Is It Worth Playing?
Player reception on PC remains very positive years after release, with the majority of reviews praising the writing, art direction, and nostalgic tone. The game suits those who enjoy narrative-driven adventures with light puzzle and stealth elements rather than intense action or competitive play. Its short, focused campaign and replayable con systems make it accessible for completion in one or two sittings. Availability on PC supports straightforward access, and the absence of ongoing seasonal content means the experience stays consistent as originally released. Fans of character-focused indie titles with humor and era-specific charm will find the most value here.
