I’ve never seen an episode of Peaky Blinders, the Netflix series about a gang of Birmingham criminals set at the tail end of World War I. Hell, until I looked it up just now I assumed the name was some obscure rhyming slang, but it turns out they were named for their fashionable peaked flat caps. To get to the point, three years ago Peaky Blinders was turned into a top-down heist puzzle game in the vein of Commandos or Shadow Tactics called Peaky Tactics: Mastermind and now you can get it for free.
That’s surprising, because Peaky Blinders: Mastermind was delisted from Steam on December 30 of last year, presumably because the license expired. It’s still not available to buy on PC, though it is also one of the current free games you get with an Amazon Prime (opens in new tab) subscription as well as being given away by Fanatical (opens in new tab). Maybe it’s about to be relisted? The Xbox One version seems to be available to buy again, though the Steam page (opens in new tab) notes only that it’s “no longer available”.
At any rate, you’ve got until April 27 to claim a free Steam key from Fanatical (opens in new tab), which you’ll have to activate before May 11, when it’ll expire. Keys are valid everywhere except China, and if you have trouble with the website I find trying again from a different browser usually does the trick. You’re welcome.
As with other real-time stealth games, each member of the crew in Peaky Blinders: Mastermind has special abilities in Mastermind. Polly can bribe guards and pick locks, John’s good at brawling and arson, Arthur’s also good at brawling with a side of kicking doors to bits, Ada’s talent lies in distractions, while young Finn is the pickpocketing and sneaking expert of the group. Tommy, the mastermind of the family, plans the heists and apparently is so gifted at looking ahead that it’s represented by an ability to rewind each level until you get it right.
Unlikely as a crime drama set in the early 20th century seems as a subject for videogame adaptations, there’s another Peaky Blinders game as well. Peaky Blinders: The King’s Ransom is a VR game set years later, in 1928, and seems to have a much more action-first vibe. It’s currently available on Meta Quest 2 (opens in new tab) and PICO 4 (opens in new tab), and “coming soon” to Steam (opens in new tab).
