MOUSE: P.I. For Hire dropped on April 16, 2026 across PS5, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch 2, and PC. Developed by Polish indie studio Fumi Games and published by Australia’s PlaySide Studios, it’s a first-person shooter set in Mouseburg, a 1930s noir city built entirely around anthropomorphic mice.
You play as Jack Pepper, voiced by Troy Baker who commits completely to the role, a war veteran turned private investigator whose missing-persons case spirals into organized crime, crooked politicians, kidnapping, and a faction that looks uncomfortable. The story gets darker than the art style suggests it has any right to.
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MOUSE: P.I. For Hire: A World That Doesn’t Let You Look Away
Every frame is hand-drawn rubber hose animation, the same technique used in early Fleischer cartoons, rendered in black and white with lighting that actively directs your eye through each combat arena. I stopped moving twice during the opera house level just to look at the background detail. The level design team put real effort into moments most players will sprint right past. That’s the kind of game this is.
Combat is fast, loud, and arena-based. Over ten weapons, tommy guns, a double-barrel shotgun, something called the Devarnisher that fires turpentine rounds and literally melts ink off enemy bones, plus consumable power-ups from vending machines called Fantastic-o-Matics. Weapons upgrade at B.A.N.G. terminals using blueprints scattered through levels.
The loop clicks once it opens up. The first hour, with just a basic pistol and restricted movement, is rough enough that I’ve already seen players on Steam’s discussion boards asking “does it get better?” It does. Give it time.
My Actual Take: And the Contrarian One
MOUSE: P.I. For Hire is not a mechanically exceptional FPS. I’ll say it plainly. If you’re coming from Doom Eternal or Ultrakill expecting moment-to-moment combat that rewires your brain, this isn’t that.
What it is , and I mean this without hedging , is the most fully committed aesthetic vision in a shooter since Dishonored. The Metroidvania layer adds real texture: you revisit old levels with newly unlocked traversal abilities, and those levels have genuinely changed. The opera house gets renovated after you trash it. That kind of detail doesn’t happen in games at this price point.
Here’s the take most reviewers are getting wrong: everyone’s framing the art as a “bonus on top of the gameplay.” That framing is backwards. The art is the game. The shooting is the vehicle for moving through one of the best-looking interactive worlds released this year. Judge it on those terms, and it’s an easy recommendation.
I do have one real criticism, and it’s not the one you’ll see most often. The late-game pacing doesn’t just slow , it structurally collapses. Around mission 18 or 19, narrative threads that were carefully developed start getting resolved too fast, and the tone shifts in a way that feels like a different writer stepped in. The earlier acts earn their noir atmosphere; the ending wants to be a big action climax the story hasn’t quite built toward. I’m not sure whether the Deluxe Edition’s story DLC addresses this or just adds a side chapter around the gap. I genuinely don’t know yet, and I haven’t seen a clear answer from anyone who’s finished it either.
The Insider Move
Don’t treat the baseball card mini-game at the dive bar as flavor. It’s not. The cards you collect between missions unlock passive combat bonuses that carry into levels , things that noticeably change how combat feels mid-campaign. Most players ignore it for the first third of the game and then spend two hours backtracking to find what they missed. Check the bar after every single mission. This took me an embarrassingly long time to work out, and I’m a person who reads item descriptions.
Two Predictions I’ll Stand Behind
Fumi Games patches the late-game difficulty spike on PS5 and PC within six weeks of launch. The spike in mission 20 isn’t intentional design , it’s a playtesting gap. PlaySide Studios’ earlier projects followed the same pattern: reviewers flag balance issues at launch, the studio responds with targeted patches within the first two months. They listen. It gets fixed.
And this one is worth tracking: MOUSE follows the same arc as Cuphead. Viral visual concept, years of development, warm-but-not-universal critical reception at launch, then a real audience that builds through word of mouth over the following months. Cuphead’s Steam reviews climbed steadily after launch. MOUSE is already at 96% positive across nearly 3,000 reviews. That momentum doesn’t plateau , it accelerates. The community wave is just starting.
How to Get MOUSE: P.I. For Hire with ARPAY
- Steam: Open Steam → Username → Account Details → “Add funds to your Steam Wallet” → “Redeem a Steam Gift Card or Wallet Code” → enter code → confirm.
- PlayStation Store: PS Store → scroll to bottom → “Redeem Codes” → enter your 12-digit code → funds appear immediately.
- Nintendo eShop: Open the eShop on Switch 2 → select your account icon → “Enter Code” → input the 16-character code → funds added instantly.
Conclusion
Buy it. PC is the optimal version , the frame rate makes the hand-drawn animation noticeably better than the Switch 2 version at default settings, which I also played for comparison. It’s a $29.99 game that plays like a passion project and looks like nothing else released this year.
The story earns its noir credentials through the first three acts, the aesthetic commitment is the kind of thing you still remember two years later, and the Metroidvania structure gives it more replay texture than the price suggests.
The gameplay is not the reason to play this. The experience is. Those are different things, and the gap between them is where MOUSE lives.
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FAQ
How long is MOUSE: P.I. For Hire?
Roughly 10–13 hours for the main campaign. Completionists chasing every clue, collectible, and baseball card will stretch it past 15.
Is MOUSE: P.I. For Hire on Game Pass or PS Plus?
No. As of April 2026, it’s a standalone purchase at $29.99. No subscription inclusion has been announced.
Does the Switch 2 version support handheld mode?
Yes, TV, tabletop, and handheld are all supported. The art style benefits from a larger screen, but handheld works fine.
Is there multiplayer or co-op?
No. Single-player campaign only. No online or local co-op at launch.
Hager Hesham
Content Writer and your go-to gaming expert. I'm here to share my best practices, valuable strategies, and professional gamer guidance. Also, I'm a gem hunter for the best deals and gift cards, just to enjoy games at almost zero cost with AR-pay.
