The Bookwalker: Thief of Tales

Introduction

The Bookwalker: Thief of Tales casts you as Etienne Quist, a writer stripped of his ability to write and forced into a criminal deal: dive physically into published books, alter their internal stories, and extract legendary fictional items — Thor's Hammer, Excalibur — to pay off the debt. Developed by Ukrainian studio DO MY BEST and published by tinyBuild, it released 22 June 2023 and sits at a lifetime Very Positive 91.5% across 2,786 reviews. This review reads a substantial share of both samples and finds a premise this review's own reading confirms is genuinely distinctive, paired with two specific, well-corroborated complaints about how that premise plays out mechanically.

A concept few other games attempt

The strongest, most consistently praised element across this review's sample is the core hook itself. Reviewers repeatedly describe never having played anything quite like it — entering a published story as a physical space, rearranging its plot to create an opening, then stealing an object out of the resulting altered narrative. Art direction and worldbuilding within each book-world draw specific, repeated compliments, including from reviewers who otherwise land negative on the game as a whole. One reviewer, a published author themselves, describes being moved by how the game treats fictional characters as genuinely alive within their stories. That's a real achievement worth crediting on its own terms, independent of how the surrounding systems land.

Combat that reviewers wish wasn't there

Set against that, the single most consistent mechanical complaint in this review's sample concerns turn-based combat encounters layered into the book-diving sequences. Reviewers describe it repeatedly as filler — present without adding meaningful challenge or synergy with the narrative — and several ask directly why a story-first game includes it at all, with one summarising a broader genre frustration: "I don't understand why every story-driven game nowadays feels so compelled to add a pointless combat system that does nothing other than disrupting the flow." This isn't a minority complaint about difficulty; it's a specific, recurring critique that the combat exists as an obligation rather than a genuine part of the design.

Choices that reviewers say don't choose much

The second consistent thread concerns the game's dialogue and decision system, which the presentation frames as central to how each book's story unfolds. A significant share of this review's sample reports the opposite in practice — that choices fail to meaningfully diverge outcomes. One reviewer states it plainly: "your choice couldn't matter less," comparing the experience unfavourably to games built around genuine branching consequence. That's a real tension for a game whose central fantasy is literally rewriting stories from the inside; several reviewers frame it as the gap between what The Bookwalker promises and what it delivers mechanically.

Writing, comparisons and a shorter runtime

A related, more specific criticism concerns prose quality: several reviewers note, without unkindness, that English is not the Ukrainian developer's first language, and that dialogue reads as basic or occasionally awkward as a result. The game's isometric presentation and UI style also invite direct comparison to Disco Elysium, which several reviewers say works against it — one calls it "another entry in the growing list of Disco Elysium inspired 'narrative focused' RPGs" that inherits the genre's usual weak spot, a lack of genuinely interesting mechanics beneath the prose. On the more positive side, several reviewers specifically credit the game's shorter runtime as a strength rather than a limitation, describing a well-paced experience that doesn't overstay its welcome — Steam's own achievement data shows just over half of players completing the first book, a reasonable completion rate for a story-first game of this length.

Final Verdict

The Bookwalker: Thief of Tales succeeds most clearly at the thing hardest to manufacture — a genuinely original premise, rendered with real craft in its worldbuilding and art direction. Where it falls short is in the systems built around that premise: combat several reviewers call unnecessary, and dialogue choices a significant share say don't deliver on the consequence the game's structure implies. Play it for the concept and the atmosphere over a short, focused sitting, and go in with tempered expectations for its RPG systems rather than the Disco Elysium comparison its presentation invites.