Last updated on December 1st, 2025 at 09:52 am
Restoration Games – Board Game Review
Restoration Games is a Board/Family game from Restoration Games, LLC, first launched in 4th August 2017.
It’s rated 4+ and currently has 32+ ratings on the App Store.
What Makes Restoration Games Stand Out
This is the companion app for Restoration Games. We are a developer of tabletop games, including "hybrid" games that use an app and physical components together to create a unique experience at the table. The app features modules for different games, including the 1979 classic game of audio deduction, Stop Thief! This app is required to play Stop Thief!
In the game, players are investigators, trying to track down an invisible thief on the board. The app keeps track of how and where the thief moves and plays sound clues and animations indicating the type of space they move into, such as window, door, corridor, and so forth. By listening to the clues, players try to figure out where the thief is and move there to attempt an arrest. Punch in the number of the space, and the app will tell you if you succeeded or not. The app features alternate play styles, such as an intermediate level, where the clues are harder, and even a retro mode that emulates the sounds of the original device. You can even get a private tip: Pick up the device and get information about the thief's location that's only for you. Additional modes of play, such as solo and cooperative, are coming soon, along with even more challenging difficulty levels.
New content will be added to the app all the time, including modules for new games, updated content for existing modules, new play modes or difficulty levels, and more.
This Board game offers engaging gameplay and regular updates for mobile players.
Player Feedback
As a newer release, Restoration Games is building its player community. Early feedback suggests .
Recent Updates & Development
Latest Update: 22nd September 2024
Recent improvements include:
Added new sounds for Carnival of Chaos to the Thunder Road SoundFX board.
Download & Availability
Restoration Games is available through the official App Store for iOS devices.
Get Restoration Games on App Store
Requirements: Requires iPhone 5s / iPad Air / iPad Air (Cellular) / iPad Mini 2 (Retina) / iPad Mini 2 (Retina, Cellular) / iPhone 6 / iPhone 6 Plus / iPad Air 2 / iPad Air 2 (Cellular) / iPad Mini 3 or later.
Compatible with iPhone and iPad devices.
Player Experience Highlights
Community Insight:
Sound board does not work on iOS.
The sound fxs dont seem to work. Also part of the rules state that the first tile should always be the parking lot but this app doesnt take that into account.
The app is giving false info. One instance told us our guess was incorrect costing us the game when during the replay, our guess was correct. Then tonight we tried playing again and the replay after we lost showed a completely different trail of clues that what we got during our game play. How can this be fixed. Cause other that the app fail, we really love the concept of the game.
Theres no way to record the second bet for the savvy power card in the app. Also theres no way to easily review your bets after you make them. Adding these two options would make us raise our review from 4 to 5 stars.
Maybe Im playing the game incorrectly but we couldnt get a single crime thwarted! It seems like the thieves just started teleporting all over the room. Like they would be confirmed to be in room 423 but 3 turns later with no hubbub sound playing they would teleport to room 327.
Excellent remake! Our family use to play this all the time when us and our brothers were growing up in the 70s. The quality is very good, cards are very sturdy, love the additional content, and the app works flawlessly. Our 5 year old daughter absolutely loves the coop version and we play it at least 4 or 5 times every weekend. Great job.
We dont have the other games but if there is good as fireball island is we might buy them! Im looking forward to playing using this app. Great randomization for placement of tokens and first player. The soundtrack is awesome! We dont know what the other one is and would like to be able to unlock it.
The thief in the app moves contrary to what the rules say he will do. The rules say that when he goes to a window or door that he always goes through it, but in the app he opens a door and then walks away from it. You can see it on the replay even. Also, in coop mode, it says you lose when you run out of money, but the app says you lose suddenly out of nowhere. We think they did an excellent job restoring this gem of a game, but they needed to hire a better algorithm programmer, tester, and overall details manager to get this to 100%.
We got stop thief and the app was great for playing it but then we downloaded the game to play again and this update got us really confused because it doesnt go along with the board game at all because there are gangs and the crimes are committed and we dont know where and the private tips dont help at all they only tell the first number and thats it. The older version was great and was fun to play but this new update just isnt fun at all if you have no clue what is going on or what to do.
The Downforce score sheet is welcome, if a bit spartan. The Fireball Island contents hold much promise. But it feels very much a cross platform app and doesnt size properly on iPhone X devices. Hoping for additional polish when FI module drops.
How long until you add stop thief 'other ways to play'? We grew up playing this as our favorite band, you did a great job, thank you.
First, the app has both Downforce and Stop Thief, both of which are great games and Restoration Games did an excellent job with the remakes. Would love more functionality for Downforce to allow all players to keep score on the same phone, but that would just be a bonus. As far as Stop Thief, it starts out ok. But, somewhere in the middle of the game, the clue that is given isn't correct and the only way to get the actual clue that was supposed to be given is to hit the "replay clue" button and replay the most recent one. That's a huge buzzkill and we had to figure that out the hard way after no one could figure out how in the world the thief ended up where they were. Once that is fixed, this will be a great app. Again, would like that additional usage for multiple players for Downforce too.
We tried the game 4 times and each time, the app froze at various functions and different durations. Because of the freezing app, we were unable to get more than 3 turns into the game. This was on the latest IOS. We are not sure the app was ready for prime time even though the game + app seems interesting.
The clues dont always match from Get a Clue and the replay. Found that out the hard way and it ruined a game. Only playable if you check the replay after every single move. Cant isolate when it happens. Replay is always the correct movement.
30+ years ago we remember playing Stop Thief as a child. The new version of the board game replaces an electronic device with this app. The app works great and the board game is fantastic. Our wife and we loved the attention to details on the board game, our 8-yo was the perfect age to play, and our 5-yo was able to play with relaxed rules (we just let her move where she wanted.) our only wish for the app is that the name of the app was actually Stop Thief so that it could be found easier.
Just played "Stop, Thief!" With the family and had a great time. IMPORTANT: the app works with the physical board game, and can't be played on its own. But we highly recommend the new board game / app combo. Played with adults, 11 and 9-year old, and had a blast.
User feedback from Apple App Store
App Details
- Version: 1.5.0
- Size: 137.40 MB
- iOS: 12.0 or later
- Languages: EN
- Content Advisory:
- Developer: Restoration Games, LLC
Last updated: 22nd September 2024 | Genre: Board, Family | Developer: Restoration Games, LLC