15 years before Dishonored, Thief devs considered letting Garrett shrink himself rat-sized so he could scurry through drains and mouse holes
The idea was ultimately dropped, for good reasons.
Scurry is an action indie game for PC that launched in April 2026. Recent coverage has surfaced a curious piece of design history: the original Thief developers once entertained the notion of giving protagonist Garrett the ability to shrink to rat size, allowing him to navigate through drains and small openings. The concept was ultimately abandoned, though the coverage suggests there were valid reasons for shelving it. The comparison offers an interesting window into how stealth-game design evolves and which mechanical ideas prove viable versus those that complicate a game's core vision.
The idea was ultimately dropped, for good reasons.