"I win! I always win!" —Mr. Big
"Ocean City. This used to be a nice place... but then Mr. Big came to town. Now the whole city answers to one person: the big man at the top. Even the cops are paid off — now they're just his enforcers in uniform. Well, my crew and I know a good mark when we see one, and he's the biggest fish in Ocean City!
Yeah, this job's gonna be fun."
Yeah, this job's gonna be fun."
—Maggie Machado's Opening Monologue
Heist! is a Physical Pinball Table module for the P3 pinball platform, designed by Stephen Silver with art by Jose Fernandez. Released in 2020, this was the third fully-featured pinball game from Multimorphic after Lexy Lightspeed and Cosmic Cart Racing.
Ocean City was once a tranquil seaside town until it caught the eye of the ruthless business mogul Frank Bigalow. With swift efficiency, "Mr. Big" took over the city's various institutions, corrupting the police into becoming his personal enforcers on the hapless citizenry. Opposing him is criminal mastermind Maggie Machado, who's got him in her sights and wants to taken him down so she can help herself to his ill-gotten fortunes. The player must help Maggie assemble her crew, ditch the cops, bash the swinging crane, and teach Mr. Big a long-overdue lesson.
Heist! contains examples of:
- 2D Visuals, 3D Effects: The cutscene at the start of Willie Burnett's recruitment mode depicts Mr. Big's car in cel-shaded CGI, whereas everything else is shown in limited 2D animation.
- Alphabet News Network: A billboard can be seen advertising "BNN" (Big News Network).
- Anti-Hero Team: Maggie's crew are all thieves, con-artists, and other less-than-reputable types. However, they're all working to undermine the influence of a Corrupt Corporate Executive who's far worse than they are.
- Big Bad: Frank "Mr. Big" Bigelow is a crooked kingpin who's taken control of Ocean City. The protagonists' main goal is to unseat him from his position of power.
- Caper Crew: The protagonists are a group of criminals who work to undermine Mr. Big's power through various capers. They're all identified by their roles in the game's introduction: Maggie Machado is the mastermind, Katherine "Kat" Burgess is a Classy Cat-Burglar, Willie Burnett is The Driver, Franklin Cooper cracks into safes, Leonid "Leo" Myshkin is the Demolitions Expert, and Liz Sterling hacks into Mr. Big's computer system.
- Colour-Coded for Your Convenience: Each member of the crew has a color assigned to indicate their roles and relevant targets to shoot during gameplay. Maggie Machado is blue, Katherine Burgess is green, Willie Burnett is yellow, Franklin Cooper is purple, Leonid Myshkin is orange, and Liz Sterling is red.
- Corrupt Corporate Executive: Frank "Mr. Big" Bigelow is an extraordinarily rich executive who seizes control of Ocean City before the game begins. Local businesses and institutions are renamed after him (ranging from banks to shops to soda), while he bribes the police into serving his own interests.
- The Cracker: Liz Sterling is a heroic example, using her hacking skills to take down Mr. Big's criminal empire.
- Dirty Cop: The police of Ocean City unlawfully serve two separate parties.
- In the backstory, the cops have been paid off by Mr. Big and are effectively tools he uses to enforce his control of the town.
- The protagonists (who are all criminals) can exploit their corruption by bribing them with donuts to get out of an arrest.
- Donut Mess with a Cop: If the player collects enough donuts, they can bribe the police to get out of an arrest should they fail a recruitment mode.
- Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep": Although all of the protagonists have full names (which are shown at the start of the game), in-game messages always refer to them by their role (e.g., "Hacker has been arrested!").
- Evil Laugh: If a member of Maggie's team gets arrested, the Big Bad Frank Bigalow laughs afterward before taunting them.
- Exact Progress Bar: Downplayed during Liz's recruitment mode. Her laptop displays a gigantic progress bar precisely indicating her progress in downloading all of Mr. Big's computer files, but the nature of the mode's rulesnote means that it only increases in increments of 25%.
- Gender-Equal Ensemble: Maggie's team consists of three men and three women.
- Great Escape: Bashing the jail cell repeatedly starts a jail break to rescue any crew members captured by the police.
- Hassle-Free Hotwire: Willie Burnett steals a car simply by connecting two wires together.
- It's All About Me: Everything Mr. Big does serves to either glorify himself or ensure that he remains in control of Ocean City. This includes bribing the police for his own ends and plastering his name on every industry and billboard in the area.
- Laser Hallway: Kat's recruitment mode involves her stealing gear from an office protected by a laser security net.
- Losing Horns: If any member of the Caper Crew gets arrested, the game plays stock "wah-wah" horns in response.
- Mad Bomber: Downplayed with "Leo" Myshkin. He's a professional demolitions expert who seems relatively mentally stable, but he tends to be eager to blow things up and sometimes laughs heartily when they do.
- Night-Vision Goggles: Kat wears a pair of three-lens night vision goggles when she breaks into Mr. Big's office.
- Password Slot Machine: During her recruitment mode, Liz cracks the password to Mr. Big's computer account one character at a time. Each digit rapidly cycles between various possible characters before she lands on the right one.
- Safecracking: Franklin Cooper, fittingly billed as "the Safecracker," cracks safes with nimble fingers and a stethoscope.
- Shout-Out: Liz's side job is titled "Hack the Planet," referencing the name of a Show Within a Show in Hackers.
- Sidequest: In addition to modes that advance the main storyline, the characters can start "Side Jobs" for extra points.
- Stock Scream: In the game's opening, Mr. Big's Dirty Cops are shown throwing a random man in jail. While he falls, he makes a Wilhelm scream.
- Token Minority: Franklin Cooper is the only black character in the game.
- Vanity License Plate: The start of "Wheelman" Willie Burnett's recruitment mode shows him stealing Mr. Big's car, which has a license plate reading "B1GB0Y01."
- Villain No Longer Idle: Mr. Big spends most of the game opposing the protagonists through various proxies (such as the police in his pocket). However, at the start of Crane Multiball, he throws the operator out of the cab so he can personally steer the crane against the player.
