We stumbled across this cute browser offering on the wonderful Web thing today. Ric Rococo: International Art Thief sounds a bit like a cheap knockoff of a certain other indie game that we’re thinking about (and the gameplay isn’t nearly as deep), but on the other hand … well, it’s a Flash game, it’s reasonably simple to pick up and play, and it has the most adorable graphics in, like, the world. Kinda like “essence of kitten” strained into a paint brush.

Oh, and speaking of graphics, the graphics that you steal inside the game itself (referred to as “art” by most normal people) are notable for being based on actual famous paintings by actual famous painters. After every level (each themed around a different art style or era), you get to view a gallery of the pics that you’ve just stolen, accompanied by their titles and the names of the artists who originally scribbled them out. So the game is cultural – neato!

Developer’s blog here.