Sneak Out is a free-to-play multiplayer survival game where you and 4 others play as penguins running away from a killer. Read our review to see what it did well, what it didn't do well, and if it's worth playing.
Sneak Out Review Overview
What is Sneak Out?
Sneak Out is a casual multiplayer action game that features an asymmetrical 5 vs 1 gameplay, where five players cooperate together (or not) to complete tasks in an attempt to escape the castle. But beware—the hunter is on the prowl! Try your best to evade the clutches of the Hunter while hiding and stealthily solving tasks to open the escape portal.
But don’t fret if you’ve been caught by the Hunter—help your fellow Hiders out by causing your own brand of mischief as a Ghost. Haunt objects, distract the Hunter, and more!
Hunters, do your best to catch those pesky penguins and prevent them from escaping the castle! Do everything in your power to catch them or scare them out of hiding.
Sneak Out features:
⚫︎ Free to Play Multiplayer
⚫︎ Survival Hide & Seek
⚫︎ Play as the Hunter of the Hunted!
⚫︎ Customize your Penguin!
⚫︎ Unlockable Skills and Perks
For more gameplay details, read everything we know about Sneak Out's gameplay and story.
| Digital Storefronts | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Steam |
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| Free-to-play |
Sneak Out Pros & Cons
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
 Cute Aesthetics Better with Friends |
Skill Packs and Item Crafting System Can Get Really Repetitive and Boring Lack of Quality of Life |
Sneak Out Overall Score - 64/100
Sneak Out offers a mixed bag of experiences, leaning more towards the negative. On one hand, it's entirely free to play and can be fun, especially with friends. On the other hand, it's plagued with problems that really hold the game back. Essentially a hide-and-seek game, it takes too long for matches to play out, has horrible pay-to-win elements, annoying bugs, and lacks many quality-of-life features that would make the experience much more enjoyable.
Sneak Out Story - 5/10
Sneak Out doesn’t have much of a story; you’re dropped straight into the lobby when you first boot up the game. The gameplay's premise serves as the story: six penguins enter a haunted castle, and one gets possessed by an evil spirit, turning them into a killer. The remaining penguins must complete specific tasks to activate a portal and escape. It’s honestly kind of sad that one penguin gets possessed against their will and tasked with killing its friends.
Sneak Out Gameplay - 7/10
If you’ve ever played survival horror games like Dead by Daylight, Identity V, or Among Us, you’ll find Sneak Out's gameplay premise familiar: one player becomes the killer while the rest are hunted, tasked with surviving by completing various objectives. While Sneak Out can be enjoyable, it's hampered by a lack of quality-of-life features, RNG pack openings, and bugs. The game can also get repetitive due to its limited options. It’s definitely fun with friends, but playing with strangers can be a mixed experience, particularly because of the often long queue times.
Sneak Out Visuals - 8/10
The visuals in this game are cute and pleasing, exuding a charming innocence despite the dark premise, similar to Happy Tree Friends but with less gore. It’s one of those survival horror games that you can enjoy with everyone. Plus, the ability to customize your adorable penguin adds a nice touch.
Sneak Out Audio - 5/10
The game barely has any audio or soundtrack, and the music you do hear is passable at best. It's not a good sign if I turned off the music after only an hour of gameplay.
Sneak Out Value for Money - 7/10
The main redeeming quality of this game is that it's free to play and suitable for all ages. It's quite fun with a group of friends on a Discord call. However, its numerous issues really drag it down, making it hard to fully recommend. I hope these problems are fixed soon to improve the overall experience.
Sneak Out Review: Hide and Sleep
This game’s premise is basically Jason meets Club Penguin, and while it's initially charming with its cute aesthetics and rather fun gameplay, its overwhelming negatives start to show after an hour. It's disappointing because I was excited to play this free-to-play game reminiscent of Identity V, Friday the 13th, and Among Us.
The game does have some redeeming qualities. The visuals are appealing, with cute and expressive penguins and well-designed hunters. The gameplay can be fun and intense, especially when you're completing tasks and narrowly avoiding the killer. Even if you die, there's a chance for resurrection if another player digs up your grave.
Unlike Among Us, dead players can still interact with the game by harassing the killer, closing doors, or using skills to stun them, which can be really entertaining.
However, several issues drag the game down. The tutorial is pretty lacking and doesn’t explain some major features like the skill packs. These packs cost 100 coins and contain skills that are essential to winning. What hinders this approach is that you have to keep opening packs to level up these skills. This process is grindy, expensive, tedious, and essentially random as these packs.
The item crafting system also requires crystals for resource gathering, which you need to craft in-game items. If the killer leaves the game, you lose these items, wasting your resources. This pay-to-win aspect becomes more apparent as you play, which diminishes the fun for those who play for free.
The gameplay itself gets repetitive quickly. The tasks for penguin survivors are monotonous, requiring the same EXACT key presses over and over. Unlike Among Us, where tasks vary, this game has you complete 40-50 EXACT tasks on small, repetitive maps, which becomes tedious fast.
Additionally, the game lacks quality-of-life features. There’s only one play mode, and you can’t customize your game settings, like task length or map choice. Bugs are also common, causing issues like getting stuck on objects, and the queue times are often long.
Playing with friends is more enjoyable because you can communicate and strategize, but playing with randoms can be frustrating. While I don’t want to ask too much from a free-to-play game, I really hope the developers address these problems. Making shards usable only for cosmetics would reduce the pay-to-win feeling, and improving gameplay mechanics and features would make the game much more enjoyable overall.
Pros of Sneak Out
| Things Sneak Out Got Right |
|---|
|
Cute Aesthetics Better with Friends |
Cute Aesthetics
The game’s aesthetic is really charming. As a fan of Club Penguin, I adore seeing Penguins in silly situations and sporting goofy hats and clothes. Though the maps are mostly identical, they exude a spooky yet fun children’s cartoon vibe, which makes playing much more enjoyable for me, especially since I tend to get scared easily. I really hope they introduce more costumes in the future!
Better with Friends
This game is absolutely much better with friends as you can easily forgive the game’s many problems as you’re able to communicate and know what you’re getting yourself into as well as have adequate teamwork and fun plays and you can all agree on things like not using overpowered skills or items, and you can count on them on not quitting halfway through the game.
Cons of Sneak Out
| Things That Sneak Out Can Improve |
|---|
|
Skill Packs and Item Crafting System Can Get Really Repetitive and Boring Lack of Quality of Life |
Skill Packs and Item Crafting System
This game struggles with balancing, mainly due to the skill packs and crafting system. Skill packs require leveling up, but they're locked behind RNG packs, and the crafting system relies on shards to enhance items quickly. I've encountered many unbalanced games where it's obvious which players paid to win, making the experience less enjoyable, especially when you're playing as the killer.
Can Get Really Repetitive and Boring
The game has its moments of fun, but it also has several dull moments. It has its highs and lows, and there were even times when I zoned out and almost fell asleep due to how long the game dragged on. I really hope they introduce more variety to the game, like making the tasks more diverse, similar to Among Us.
Lack of Quality of Life
This game could really benefit from a lot of quality-of-life features and additions. I wish they had included options to adjust and edit game lobbies, find specific lobbies, and choose modes, maps, and game duration. I would have also appreciated having a task list or a map to know what tasks are left. It can be frustrating to play the game when so many aspects feel out of your control.
Is Sneak Out Worth It?
Wait for the Updates or Invite Friends
While I found some aspects of this game enjoyable, it's clear that it needs to address its issues. Despite being free to play, there are other games like Identity V that offer similar experiences and can easily overshadow Sneak Out due to their depth. I believe there's a better way to incorporate in-game purchases to make it more profitable for the developers. I hope they address these issues soon because the game has a lot of potential to be amazing, but it requires further polishing to truly shine.
| Digital Storefronts | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Steam |
|||||
| Free-to-play |
Sneak Out FAQ
Is Sneak Out Available on Mobile and Consoles?
At the moment, Sneak Out is only available on PC via Steam.
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Sneak Out Product Information
 |
|
| Title | SNEAK OUT |
|---|---|
| Release Date | June 6, 2024 |
| Developer | Kinguin Studios |
| Publisher | Kinguin |
| Supported Platforms | PC (Steam), PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch |
| Genre | Indie, Casual, Action, Multiplayer |
| Number of Players | 1-6 (Online Multiplayer) |
| ESRB Rating | RP |
| Official Website | Sneak Out Website |
