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MOUSE: P.I. For Hire

MOUSE: P.I. For Hire Game Cover
94%Game Brain Score
story, gameplay
stability, replayability
94% User Score Based on 6,980 reviews

Platforms

Nintendo SwitchPlaystation 5Playstation 4Xbox Cloud GamingXboxSteam DeckWindowsPlayStationXbox Series X|SPCCloudXbox OneNintendo Switch 2
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MOUSE: P.I. For Hire Game Cover

About

MOUSE: P.I. For Hire is a single player shooter game with violence and science fiction themes. It was developed by Fumi Games and was released on April 16, 2026. It received very positive reviews from players.

Join private investigator Jack Pepper on a guns blazing, jazz-fueled adventure in MOUSE: P.I. For Hire. MOUSE combines the charm of hand-drawn rubber hose animation inspired by the classic cartoons of the 1930’s with the adrenaline and action of an explosive first person shooter.

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MOUSE: P.I. For Hire screenshot
MOUSE: P.I. For Hire screenshot
MOUSE: P.I. For Hire screenshot
MOUSE: P.I. For Hire screenshot
MOUSE: P.I. For Hire screenshot
MOUSE: P.I. For Hire screenshot
MOUSE: P.I. For Hire screenshot
MOUSE: P.I. For Hire screenshot
MOUSE: P.I. For Hire screenshot
MOUSE: P.I. For Hire screenshot
MOUSE: P.I. For Hire screenshot
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94%
Audience ScoreBased on 6,980 reviews
story825 positive mentions
stability55 negative mentions
  • Outstanding hand-drawn 1930s rubber hose animation art style with seamless 2D characters in 3D environments.
  • Fast-paced, smooth boomer shooter combat with a satisfying variety of weapons and mobility mechanics.
  • Engaging noir-inspired story with witty writing, cheesy humor, and excellent voice acting including Troy Baker.
  • Rich and immersive jazz soundtrack that perfectly complements the atmosphere and gameplay.
  • Well-designed levels filled with secrets, collectibles, and interesting boss fights that add variety.
  • Stable performance across platforms including Steam Deck and Linux with minimal bugs affecting progress.
  • Gameplay can become repetitive due to limited enemy variety and combat scenarios mostly involving combat arenas.
  • Later weapons are often outclassed by a few early unlocks, reducing the incentive to experiment with all guns.
  • No level replay or new game plus mode prevents players from collecting missed collectibles without replaying entire campaign.
  • Some annoyances with invisible walls blocking exploration and backtracking, sometimes forcing reloads.
  • The baseball card minigame can be tedious and is necessary for unlocking a mediocre weapon.
  • Occasional bugs and soft locks although mostly fixable by reloading save files.
  • story
    1,979 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The story of "Mouse P.I. For Hire" is a well-crafted noir detective narrative set in a 1930s-inspired cartoon world, blending humor, intrigue, and serious themes such as corruption and social issues. While not groundbreaking, it effectively engages players through compelling characters, twists, and strong voice acting, particularly by Troy Baker. However, the story’s tone can be inconsistent due to cheesy puns and shifts between comedy and seriousness, and its linear, guided progression with no mission replays may frustrate completionists. Overall, the story enhances the unique aesthetic and gameplay, making it a highlight for fans of narrative-driven shooters.

    • “The story is very well written and the characters are absolutely stellar (along side a super talented voice cast who all have done such an amazing job as well).”
    • “The story is absolutely amazing from start to finish, keeping you part of the whole story, and you really feel like you're Jack Pepper!”
    • “Unlike what some "big name reviewers" say about this game, I absolutely love the effort and care that has been put into this wonderful take on the boomer shooter genre, from the simple lead to get the ball rolling, the amazing and lively 1920s rubber hose animation style, the fast paced in your face boomer shooter gameplay, and the wacky out of this world plot that will leave you glued to your seat for hours on end.”
    • “The lack of mission replay on mission completion, coupled with no backtracking during missions as doors lock behind you, means if you miss a collectible, you must restart the mission before completion or lose the chance to go back, making it frustrating for completionists.”
    • “The story is uninteresting and sometimes nonsensical, with few characters introduced properly; some disappear without explanation, and the main narrative feels disorganized and hard to follow towards the end.”
    • “While the game presents itself as a noir detective story, the gameplay interrupts the narrative frequently, and the story fails to engage, offering little mystery or player involvement beyond collecting clues that the game solves for you.”
  • gameplay
    1,585 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The gameplay is a fast-paced, Doom-inspired boomer shooter with smooth, satisfying gunplay and movement mechanics, offering a variety of weapons and abilities that keep the combat engaging and rewarding. While some find the gameplay repetitive and lacking in enemy variety or depth, the overall experience is solid, accessible, and complemented well by exploration, collectibles, and unique traversal mechanics. The blend of classic shooter action with a distinctive 1930s cartoon aesthetic and jazzy soundtrack creates a fun, stylish atmosphere that many players enjoy, though some wish for deeper detective mechanics and more gameplay innovation.

    • “This game has a lot of gameplay mechanics but never capitalize on them leading to mediocre gameplay.”
    • “The gameplay keeps you hooked and coming back for more.”
    • “The gameplay is fast-paced and super addictive.”
    • “The gameplay and mechanics are a real mess.”
    • “Gameplay gets a little repetitive and some guns are way worse than others so a bit of balancing would make things great.”
    • “The gameplay loop and mechanics become quite boring.”
  • graphics
    1,574 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game's standout feature is its unique and meticulously crafted 1930s rubber hose cartoon art style, which blends hand-drawn characters with stylized 3D environments and is often compared to Cuphead's visuals. The black-and-white noir aesthetic, combined with smooth animations and a fitting jazz soundtrack, creates an immersive atmosphere praised as both charming and fresh. While the gameplay and story receive mixed reviews, the graphics consistently receive high acclaim for their originality, detail, and ability to carry the overall experience.

    • “For hire is one of the most visually striking indie shooters in recent memory, blending a gritty noir detective story with a 1930s rubber-hose cartoon aesthetic.”
    • “The vintage, rubber-hose animation aesthetic isn’t just a gimmick—it’s executed with incredible care and attention to detail, making every scene feel alive and dripping with personality.”
    • “From the moment you step into its world, the striking, hand-crafted art style steals the show.”
    • “Almost the entire game is exclusively in black and white, and the game almost manages to use its art style and environmental variety to keep the game from getting too stale, but in the end it does lose that battle.”
    • “But worst of all, the black and white art style absolutely outstays its welcome by the end of the game.”
    • “Aside from the art style it's actually very mid.”
  • music
    832 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The music in this game is widely praised for its exceptional jazz, big band, and electro-swing soundtrack that perfectly complements the 1930s noir aesthetic and hand-drawn rubber hose animation style. Reviewers highlight how the dynamic and immersive score elevates the atmosphere, enhances combat intensity, and contributes significantly to the game's overall charm and identity. While some note occasional repetition and slight gaps in music during gameplay, the soundtrack remains a standout feature, often cited as a key reason for the game's appeal and memorability.

    • “Composer Patryk Scelina recorded the big band swing soundtrack live across sessions in Georgia and Poland, pairing perfectly with Troy Baker's performance as the cynical detective Jack Pepper.”
    • “The jazz soundtrack fits the time period and overall mood of the game perfectly, constantly reinforcing that noir atmosphere without ever feeling overbearing.”
    • “The soundtrack leans into big band, swing, and jazz, syncing beautifully with the chaos and action in a way that almost feels like an old-school musical at times—like those classic cartoons where everything moved to the beat.”
    • “The story was boring, the dialogue was drivel, the music was the same pretty much the entire game and not in a clever way, and the gameplay became extremely repetitive very fast.”
    • “Something that irked me quite a bit is how repetitive the music is.”
    • “My only complaint is that there is a lot of sections where music is completely absent.”
  • humor
    392 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game's humor is a distinctive blend of cheesy puns, noir-inspired wit, and slapstick cartoon antics that many find charming and fitting to its 1930s rubber hose animation style. While some players appreciate the clever writing, voice acting, and playful references, others feel the humor can become repetitive, overly reliant on meta-jokes, and occasionally clash with the serious tones of the story. Overall, the humor effectively complements the game's quirky aesthetic and lively gameplay, though its appeal may vary depending on players' taste for corny, referential, and sometimes cringe-worthy jokes.

    • “The story is well put together with the blend of serious topics in the story with funny light-hearted jokes spread out for comic relief.”
    • “The humor is excellent, both visual slapstick and dialogue-driven jokes are executed brilliantly.”
    • “For me, the devs delivered exactly what they set out to make: a beautifully animated, smooth, funny, non-serious shooter with a unique aesthetic and a ton of personality.”
    • “It takes itself more seriously than I hoped it would, so much that I am sort of disappointed at how unfunny this game actually is.”
    • “At the halfway point, the writer just could no longer contain the Tumblr writing anymore and the game turned into one unfunny mess.”
    • “It's unfunny cheese puns half of the time and blatant references to other media with no joke attached the other half.”
  • optimization
    173 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game's optimization is generally praised for delivering smooth, stable performance across various platforms, including Linux, Steam Deck, and mid-range PCs, often maintaining high frame rates without major issues. Some users report occasional stutters, frame drops, or minor glitches, especially in later levels or specific areas, suggesting room for improvement. Overall, it is well-optimized given its style and scope, providing a mostly seamless experience with few critical bugs.

    • “Performance was excellent in my experience.”
    • “For a game launching day 1 that is this well optimized and has next to zero issues already peaks my interest and the fact that all the animations are hand drawn warrants my attention even more and I don't regret it at all.”
    • “The game runs great and I have not had any performance dips so far.”
    • “Played 2/3 of the game on Steam Deck and it ran well but towards the end I started to get lots of stuttering and freezing and ended up finishing it on my PC.”
    • “Performance is also terrible for such a visually simple game, especially on Deck.”
    • “Another issue is that the optimization on PC can be spotty at certain points where it can drop to 40 fps consistently after going a clean 100fps-160fps.”
  • atmosphere
    172 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game excels in creating a rich, immersive atmosphere that blends 1930s noir detective themes with vintage rubber-hose cartoon aesthetics, enhanced by standout hand-drawn animations and a jazzy, period-appropriate soundtrack. This distinctive style, complemented by strong voice acting and sound design, consistently draws players into its unique world, making atmosphere the standout strength that carries much of the experience. While the story and some writing elements are occasionally criticized, the game's art direction and audio fully realize its nostalgic, stylish setting, offering a fresh and memorable vibe unlike most modern titles.

    • “The hand-drawn rubber hose animation is incredibly charming, and the 1930s cartoon atmosphere is so well realized that it pulls you right into its world.”
    • “For hire delivers a highly unique and enjoyable experience for fans of fast-paced FPS games, combining classic boomer shooter mechanics with a distinctive black-and-white art style inspired by 1930s cartoons, giving it a standout visual identity unlike most modern titles, while the jazzy soundtrack perfectly complements the noir detective atmosphere and enhances immersion throughout the gameplay.”
    • “The noir detective atmosphere combined with a classic 1930s cartoon art style is absolutely stunning and the fact that it’s all in black and white makes the experience even more immersive; it truly lets you live the vibe 100%, especially with the music, sound effects, and most importantly for me personally detective Jack’s voice and his dialogues with the characters—everything is dialed in perfectly.”
    • “The game's noir atmosphere is brought to ruin by the obnoxious and unrelenting millennial writing.”
    • “Instead of reinforcing the noir atmosphere, the writing frequently breaks it.”
    • “I'll probably end up finishing the game because I am interested in the story, but I really don't understand why so many people seem to love the game or why it's currently overwhelmingly positive; it's not bad, but the only things I feel they did really well are the art style and atmosphere.”
  • stability
    87 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game generally runs smoothly and is well-optimized across various platforms, including low-end hardware like Steam Deck and Linux. While many players report minor bugs and occasional glitches—such as soft locks, clipping issues, or rare game-breaking moments—these seldom significantly impact gameplay and are often fixable by reloading saves. Despite some instability and annoying quirks, the overall experience is stable and enjoyable for most users.

    • “Fun little shooter, relatively bug free and smooth on lower mid PC specs.”
    • “The game is bug free and well optimized for low to mid-range PCs like mine.”
    • “Game is super optimized, runs great on Linux and Windows with high and low power hardware, with settings for distortion in graphics and audio.”
    • “Buggy as hell, had to reload saves because I got stuck multiple times.”
    • “Incredibly buggy, sounds randomly spam play, doors don't open, falling through floors, rooms where the flashlight is supposed to be available but isn't so you end up having to reload a save because you can't see anything...”
    • “No any major game breaking bugs or glitches from my current walkthrough so far.”
  • replayability
    70 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    Replayability is widely criticized due to the inability to replay levels or access a level select feature, which forces players to restart the entire game to collect missed collectibles or complete side quests. This limitation hampers completionist goals and diminishes the value of upgrades and secrets, despite the game's generally enjoyable gameplay and content. Many suggest that adding new game+ modes, replayable missions, or post-game content would significantly improve the replay value.

    • “Some of my favorite boomer shooters, like Prodeus, heavily encourage replayability by hiding collectibles all over the map, many of which can only be accessed once you return to the level with abilities gained later in the game.”
    • “Huge replay value with all the secrets and items to find – just an amazing game all around!”
    • “With how many enemy variations there are in this game and a player's constant need for more challenges, I feel like a New Game+ would be just what this game needs to further improve its replay value.”
    • “The inability to replay levels after beating the game really affects replayability, as it forces the player to replay the entire game to collect any collectibles they missed.”
    • “The game tries to mitigate it by making some collectibles buyable in the game's shop, but others are outright missable, such as secret collectibles and sidequests, which would've been easily solved by making levels replayable in some way.”
    • “My major gripe is the inability to replay certain levels or areas, as is common with other boomer shooters, to have some level of replayability without restarting the game from the beginning; it makes it difficult to collect cards, newspapers, or comic strips when unable to return to almost all areas of the game.”
  • grinding
    44 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    Grinding in the game is widely criticized for feeling tedious and repetitive, with many players finding minigames—especially the baseball card game—frustratingly time-consuming and lacking rewarding payoff. Combat and exploration also become monotonous over time, and the inability to easily replay levels for collectibles or progress exacerbates the sense of grind, making 100% completion a chore rather than an enjoyable challenge.

    • “You'll need a second life for grinding.”
    • “You'll need a second life for grinding.”
    • “You'll need a second life for grinding.”
    • “The baseball card game is not fun at all, just grindy for getting all the tokens.”
    • “Mini-games are mindless with a card game being extremely tedious – for any reward you need to play the same game with the same strategy 20 times – take the highest number you have – win.”
    • “The weapon earned from the baseball game grind almost never has ammo available, and when used it is not deserving of a weapon earned through a grindy arcade game.”
  • character development
    30 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The character development aspect is praised primarily for its exceptional and charming character designs, which feature a vintage cartoon aesthetic with expressive, detailed art and fitting voice acting. However, some users note a lack of visual distinctness among characters, especially given the uniform mouse theme, and feel the game offers limited character growth due to its focus outside of narrative depth. Overall, the strong art direction and character portrayals significantly enhance the game's atmosphere and appeal.

    • “The character design is also fantastic, with so many excellent-looking NPCs and enemies; everyone is a character that someone in the art department poured a lot of love and detail into.”
    • “The developers flawlessly nailed the vintage cartoon aesthetic, and the attention to detail in the character designs is phenomenal.”
    • “Every detail helps sell the illusion, from the expressive character designs to the eerie detective-mystery tone.”
  • emotional
    24 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game delivers a unique emotional experience by blending quirky humor, noir-style storytelling, and heartfelt moments, enhanced by strong voice acting and atmospheric music. While some players found the emotional connection uneven—especially toward certain characters—the story’s deeper themes and charming style create an engaging and nostalgic mood that resonates without taking itself too seriously. Overall, it balances lighthearted fun with touches of meaningful drama, evoking a broad emotional spectrum.

    • “Mouse Pi for Hire is one of those rare indie gems that feels completely its own—quirky, stylish, and unexpectedly heartfelt.”
    • “The combination of visuals, cutscenes, and mood-setting music leaves just the right amount of space for characterization, while still allowing for one or two genuinely effective emotional beats.”
    • “The insane asylum is probably one of my favorite portions of a game ever, as so many different points of that area just made me feel a full range of the emotional spectrum, from somewhat uneasy to entirely thrilled.”
  • monetization
    16 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game features no microtransactions or ads, setting it apart from many current AAA titles that focus heavily on monetization. Despite a significant advertising campaign, it maintains a fair price point and avoids exploitative monetization practices, which users appreciate. Overall, its monetization approach is praised for being consumer-friendly and refreshing in today's market.

    • “And not only is the price point terrific, there's also no evil overlord megacorporation forcing nonsense microtransactions!”
    • “Indie games like this are 10x the fun with zero microtransactions and no weird political agenda!”
    • “No ads.”
    • “Seriously, I got ads for this game on YouTube, Reddit, the Steam front page.”
    • “Ever wonder why an indie game has had so much YouTube ads pushing for it, Funko Pops at EB Games on release date, a song made by Caravan Palace (I'm sure any indie game can get that deal and front that much cash) along with the countless positive reviews for a beyond mediocre game that brings nothing new to the table and feels like an early 2005 game.”
    • “I haven't followed the development and just seen a few concept arts before and expected it to be just a quick cash grab thanks to awesome Disney graphics.”
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11h Median play time
10h Average play time
4-20h Spent by most gamers
*Based on 42 analyzed playthroughs
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Frequently Asked Questions

MOUSE: P.I. For Hire is a shooter game with violence and science fiction themes.

MOUSE: P.I. For Hire is available on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Steam Deck and others.

On average players spend around 10 hours playing MOUSE: P.I. For Hire.

MOUSE: P.I. For Hire was released on April 16, 2026.

MOUSE: P.I. For Hire was developed by Fumi Games.

MOUSE: P.I. For Hire has received very positive reviews from players. Most players liked MOUSE: P.I. For Hire for its story but disliked it for its stability.

MOUSE: P.I. For Hire is a single player game.

Similar games include Mohrta, Turbo Overkill, Atomic Heart, Vertigo 2, Selaco and others.