Thief The Dark Project All Missions: Complete Mission List and Guide
A complete guide to Thief The Dark Project all missions, covering the original 1998 campaign, the three Thief Gold additions, difficulty changes, and where to play today.
Thief The Dark Project All Missions: Overview
Looking Glass Studios' 1998 classic Thief: The Dark Project sends master thief Garrett through a series of large, lightly scripted stealth levels in a medieval steampunk metropolis known as The City. The original release contains 12 gameplay levels plus the training mission, while the 1999 expanded re-release, Thief Gold, adds three brand-new missions and a bonus Blooper Reel. If you are looking up Thief The Dark Project All Missions details before starting a playthrough, this guide lists every mission in order for both versions and explains how they differ.
| Version | Missions | Extras |
|---|---|---|
| Thief: The Dark Project (1998) | 12 levels + training mission | None |
| Thief Gold (1999) | 15 levels + training mission | Blooper Reel bonus mission, DromEd level editor |
| Thief: The Dark Project Remastered (Nightdive) | Includes all Thief Gold missions | KEX Engine rebuild with updated content |
For more background on the game itself, see Thief Wiki's Thief: The Dark Project page.
Missions in the Original Thief: The Dark Project (1998)
The original campaign unfolds in story order across mansions, prisons, catacombs, and cursed ruins. Descriptions below are kept deliberately spoiler-light.
| # | Mission | Objective Snapshot |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | A Keeper's Training | Interactive tutorial covering sneaking, the blackjack, the bow, and pickpocketing |
| 2 | Lord Bafford's Manor | A classic first heist: break into a nobleman's manor and steal his scepter |
| 3 | Assassins | Turn the tables on the hired blades who attacked Garrett and trace the contract |
| 4 | Down in the Bonehoard | Loot ancient burial catacombs guarded by undead and traps |
| 5 | Break Into Cragscleft Prison | Infiltrate the Hammerites' prison to reach the fence Cutty and free Basso the Boxman |
| 6 | The Sword | Steal Constantine's Sword from his mansion of gravity-defying rooms |
| 7 | The Haunted Cathedral | Recover a strange artifact from a ruin crawling with zombies |
| 8 | The Lost City | Descend into a buried civilization during the elemental Talisman hunt |
| 9 | Undercover | Pose as a Hammerite novice inside their temple to gather intelligence |
| 10 | Return to the Cathedral | Sneak back into the half-rebuilt cathedral for the remaining Talismans |
| 11 | Escape! | A high-tension getaway once the Hammerites are fully alerted |
| 12 | Strange Bedfellows | Escape hostile tunnels and learn the truth behind Garrett's employer |
| 13 | Into the Maw of Chaos | The finale: deliver the Talismans and confront the source of the darkness |
Note that in the original game, two missions each held two of the four elemental Talismans. Thief Gold later spread the Talisman quest across four separate missions.
Thief Gold: New Missions and Reworked Levels
Thief Gold is widely considered the definitive version of the first game, adding more than four hours of gameplay, three full missions, and new enemies with full voice acting. Details below come from Thief Wiki's Thief Gold page.
| New Mission | What You Do |
|---|---|
| Thieves' Guild | Raid the Downwind Thieves' Guild's sewer hideout, proving Garrett outclasses an entire organization of thieves |
| The Mage Towers | Infiltrate the towers of the Hand Brotherhood, a reclusive sect of elemental mages |
| Song of the Caverns | Delve into vast underground caverns as part of the expanded Talisman quest |
Existing missions also changed in Thief Gold:
- Down in the Bonehoard received a full retexture and a new Fire Shadow enemy guarding the Mystic's Soul.
- The Haunted Cathedral gained a second Fire Shadow in a small basement area.
- The Lost City saw a major gameplay and storyline rework.
- Undercover was tweaked, and The Sword gained a huge add-on area roughly the size of the original mission.
- The Hand Brotherhood mages appear in four elemental variants, backed by Mage Bow Guards and Mage Sword Guards found only in The Mage Towers.
- The Blooper Reel, an interactive set in Bafford's Manor, pokes fun at beta bugs from development.
Complete Thief Gold Mission Order
Because GOG and Steam sell the game as Thief Gold, most new players will experience this full sequence of 15 story missions, plus training and the bonus reel.
- A Keeper's Training
- Lord Bafford's Manor
- Assassins
- Down in the Bonehoard (retextured in Gold)
- Thieves' Guild (new in Gold)
- Break Into Cragscleft Prison
- The Sword (huge new area in Gold)
- The Haunted Cathedral (new enemy in Gold)
- The Lost City (reworked in Gold)
- Undercover (tweaked in Gold)
- Return to the Cathedral
- Escape!
- Strange Bedfellows
- Song of the Caverns (new in Gold)
- The Mage Towers (new in Gold)
- Into the Maw of Chaos
- Blooper Reel (bonus mission)
How Difficulty Settings Change Every Mission
Each mission includes three difficulty settings with different objectives, which gives the campaign strong replay value. According to Thief Wiki, harder settings increase the number of enemies and make certain paths inaccessible, so an Expert run is a genuinely different experience than a playthrough on the easiest tier.
A few habits that pay off in every mission:
- Watch the visibility gem on the HUD and stay in deep shadows.
- Listen to surface noise: gravel and ceramic tiles are loud, while carpets are nearly silent.
- Favor the blackjack over the sword; Garrett's combat skills and damage resistance are deliberately limited.
- Use Water Arrows to douse torches and Rope Arrows to reach unexpected routes.
- Hide unconscious or dead bodies, because guards can notice missing patrols and disturbed environments and raise the alarm.
Where to Play Thief Today
The game is currently available for purchase on GOG and Steam as Thief Gold, which contains every mission listed above. A full remaster is also on the way: as of June 2026, Nightdive Studios is developing Thief: The Dark Project Remastered using its KEX Engine. Per Nightdive's official page, the release includes both the original game and all additional missions and content from the 1999 Thief Gold re-release, with unscripted, maze-like levels and the same three-difficulty structure per mission. You can wishlist it now on Steam and GOG.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many missions are in Thief: The Dark Project?
The original 1998 game features 12 gameplay levels plus the A Keeper's Training tutorial. Thief Gold adds three missions, bringing the total to 15 story missions plus training and the Blooper Reel bonus.
Should I play the original or Thief Gold?
Play Thief Gold. It is the definitive cut of the game, with bug fixes, reworked levels, three extra missions, and new enemies. It is also the version sold on GOG and Steam, and the upcoming Nightdive remaster includes its content.
What are the three new missions in Thief Gold?
Thieves' Guild, The Mage Towers, and Song of the Caverns. The first expands Garrett's freelance career, while the other two spread the elemental Talisman quest across four missions instead of two.
Can you fight your way through missions?
Poorly. The game is designed around stealth and evasion, and direct combat is intentionally weak. Zombies cannot be killed by normal weapons at all and require holy water, Fire Arrows, or flash bombs.
Does the Nightdive remaster include all missions?
Yes. Thief: The Dark Project Remastered bundles the original campaign together with the extra missions, content, and updates from Thief Gold, rebuilt in the KEX Engine.
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