# Mouse: P.I. for Hire
**Mouse: P.I. for Hire** is a single-player first-person shooter developed by the Polish studio Fumi Games and published by PlaySide, released digitally on April 16, 2026 for PC (Steam), [PlayStation 5](https://www.edgepedia.org/playstation-5), [Nintendo Switch 2](https://www.edgepedia.org/nintendo-switch-2), and Xbox Series X|S.[1](https://store.steampowered.com/app/2416450/MOUSE_PI_For_Hire/) • [2](https://www.mousethegame.com/faq) The game presents its noir detective story through black-and-white, hand-drawn rubber hose animation in the style of 1930s cartoons, combined with fast-paced, movement-driven combat in the tradition of 1990s shooters.[1](https://store.steampowered.com/app/2416450/MOUSE_PI_For_Hire/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Developer / publisher | Fumi Games (Poland) / PlaySide[1](https://store.steampowered.com/app/2416450/MOUSE_PI_For_Hire/) |
| Release | April 16, 2026, digital, on PC (Steam), PS5, Switch 2, and Xbox Series X|S; delayed from a planned 2025 window[2](https://www.mousethegame.com/faq) • [3](https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/steamboat-willy-with-a-machine-gun-fps-mouse-pi-delayed-to-2026/) |
| Premise | Private investigator Jack Pepper, a former war hero, works cases in the rodent city of Mouseburg[1](https://store.steampowered.com/app/2416450/MOUSE_PI_For_Hire/) |
| Visual style | Black-and-white rubber hose animation drawn by hand, frame by frame, on the Unity engine[2](https://www.mousethegame.com/faq) |
| Content | Over 20 noir-infused levels, more than ten weapons, 12 to 20 hours of gameplay[2](https://www.mousethegame.com/faq) |
| Price | USD $29.99 standard; $39.99 Digital Deluxe with the first story DLC, soundtrack, and a digital comic[2](https://www.mousethegame.com/faq) |
| Reception | Metacritic 80; 93% of 9,336 English Steam reviews positive (Very Positive)[1](https://store.steampowered.com/app/2416450/MOUSE_PI_For_Hire/) |
| Rating | ESRB T for Teen (Violence, Blood, Mild Language); single-player only[2](https://www.mousethegame.com/faq) |
## Premise and story
The player controls Jack Pepper, a private investigator and former war hero in Mouseburg, a city populated by mice, rats, and shrews in a stylized pre-war America recovering from the Great War.[1](https://store.steampowered.com/app/2416450/MOUSE_PI_For_Hire/) • [4](https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/mouse-pi-for-hire-review/) A missing persons case escalates into a conspiracy involving corruption, kidnapping, and murder, with Pepper battling heavily armed gangs and crooked cops.[1](https://store.steampowered.com/app/2416450/MOUSE_PI_For_Hire/)
Reviewers noted that the story plays its noir conventions both straight and for parody, with hardboiled first-person narration that critics compared to the early *Max Payne* games.[5](https://as.com/meristation/analisis/analisis-de-mouse-pi-for-hire-mucho-pero-muchisimo-mas-que-un-shooter-a-lo-cuphead-f202604-n/) The writing also carries serious themes: police corruption and racism within Mouseburg, where the smallest rodents, the shrews, face persecution by a rising political party with fascist aesthetics, a parallel several critics likened to [Art Spiegelman](https://www.edgepedia.org/art-spiegelman)'s graphic novel *Maus*.[5](https://as.com/meristation/analisis/analisis-de-mouse-pi-for-hire-mucho-pero-muchisimo-mas-que-un-shooter-a-lo-cuphead-f202604-n/) • [6](https://mobilesyrup.com/2026/04/16/mouse-pi-for-hire-pc-review/) Jack Pepper is voiced by [Troy Baker](https://www.edgepedia.org/troy-baker) in a grizzled Brooklyn accent, a performance widely singled out in reviews.[6](https://mobilesyrup.com/2026/04/16/mouse-pi-for-hire-pc-review/)
## Gameplay
Mouse is a boomer shooter, a retro-styled first-person shooter in which constant movement is central to combat, with echoes of Doom in its health-and-armor model and arena-style shootouts.[1](https://store.steampowered.com/app/2416450/MOUSE_PI_For_Hire/) • [5](https://as.com/meristation/analisis/analisis-de-mouse-pi-for-hire-mucho-pero-muchisimo-mas-que-un-shooter-a-lo-cuphead-f202604-n/) The arsenal includes more than ten weapons with secondary fire, and consumable power-ups such as spinach that temporarily bulk the player up in a nod to Popeye.[1](https://store.steampowered.com/app/2416450/MOUSE_PI_For_Hire/) • [7](https://www.gamespot.com/reviews/mouse-p-i-for-hire-review-rodent-noir/1900-6418481/) Movement abilities unlock over the campaign, including double jump, wall-running, and a grapple-hook tail, supporting Metroidvania-inspired traversal between levels.[1](https://store.steampowered.com/app/2416450/MOUSE_PI_For_Hire/)
**Structure beyond shooting.** The campaign runs 12 to 20 hours depending on play style, across more than 20 levels set in locations including film studios, opera buildings, swamps, sewers, a haunted cemetery, the Wild West, and a medieval setting.[2](https://www.mousethegame.com/faq) • [5](https://as.com/meristation/analisis/analisis-de-mouse-pi-for-hire-mucho-pero-muchisimo-mas-que-un-shooter-a-lo-cuphead-f202604-n/) Between missions Pepper returns to a hub neighborhood with a weapon upgrade shop, an ammunition store, and a bar, and pins collected clues to a corkboard in his office to solve cases, a mechanic compared to Saga's board in *Alan Wake 2*.[5](https://as.com/meristation/analisis/analisis-de-mouse-pi-for-hire-mucho-pero-muchisimo-mas-que-un-shooter-a-lo-cuphead-f202604-n/) The game also includes lock-picking minigames, a drivable overworld map, and a collectible baseball card minigame playable in the bar.[5](https://as.com/meristation/analisis/analisis-de-mouse-pi-for-hire-mucho-pero-muchisimo-mas-que-un-shooter-a-lo-cuphead-f202604-n/) • [4](https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/mouse-pi-for-hire-review/)
## Art and sound
Every character, weapon, and effect is animated by hand, frame by frame, in the rubber hose style standardized in early 20th-century American animation, while environments are rendered in 3D; the game runs on Unity.[2](https://www.mousethegame.com/faq) • [5](https://as.com/meristation/analisis/analisis-de-mouse-pi-for-hire-mucho-pero-muchisimo-mas-que-un-shooter-a-lo-cuphead-f202604-n/) The monochrome palette doubles as visual guidance, since hand-drawn doors and interactive objects stand out against the softer 3D backgrounds.[5](https://as.com/meristation/analisis/analisis-de-mouse-pi-for-hire-mucho-pero-muchisimo-mas-que-un-shooter-a-lo-cuphead-f202604-n/) The game offers extensive options to degrade the image and audio for period effect, including audio filters that mimic vinyl, cellulose disc, and wax cylinder playback.[5](https://as.com/meristation/analisis/analisis-de-mouse-pi-for-hire-mucho-pero-muchisimo-mas-que-un-shooter-a-lo-cuphead-f202604-n/)
The original soundtrack was composed by Patryk Scelina for a big band orchestral ensemble, with an additional track, "Good Mouse", by the French jazz group [Caravan Palace](https://www.edgepedia.org/caravan-palace).[2](https://www.mousethegame.com/faq) An in-game setting lets players disable the licensed track for streaming.[2](https://www.mousethegame.com/faq)
## Development and release
The project began as a tech demo that went viral in 2023, which convinced Fumi Games that the art style had commercial potential as a full game.[7](https://www.gamespot.com/reviews/mouse-p-i-for-hire-review-rodent-noir/1900-6418481/) • [8](https://mousepiforhire.com/making-of/) Rather than 3D models with cartoon shaders, the team committed to hand-drawn, frame-by-frame animation for every character and effect.[8](https://mousepiforhire.com/making-of/)
Anticipation was unusually high for an indie shooter: PlaySide reported that wishlists surpassed 1 million across platforms in mid-2025, when the game ranked 24th most wishlisted on Steam, and exceeded 1.5 million by April 2026.[9](https://investorpa.com/announcement-pdf/20250703/156859.pdf) • [10](https://investorpa.com/announcement-pdf/20260409/278836.pdf) The game supports Xbox Play Anywhere, is [Steam Deck](https://www.edgepedia.org/steam-deck) verified, and was not planned for [Xbox Game Pass](https://www.edgepedia.org/xbox-game-pass) at launch.[2](https://www.mousethegame.com/faq) A physical release followed on July 10, 2026 in two editions, a Standard Edition and a "Mouseburg Edition" with a vinyl record, poster, printed comic, trading cards, and postcards.[2](https://www.mousethegame.com/faq) A story DLC expansion, separate from the base campaign, is planned for all launch platforms.[2](https://www.mousethegame.com/faq)
## Reception
Critical reception was strongly positive. The Steam page aggregates a Metacritic score of 80, and 93% of 9,336 English user reviews are positive.[1](https://store.steampowered.com/app/2416450/MOUSE_PI_For_Hire/) GameSpot scored it 8/10, calling the hand-drawn cartoon world the star of the show while praising the punchy, varied arsenal.[7](https://www.gamespot.com/reviews/mouse-p-i-for-hire-review-rodent-noir/1900-6418481/) PCGamesN gave 9/10, and MeriStation's Spanish-language review scored it 8/10, calling it one of the great indies of 2026 while criticizing combat that becomes simple and repetitive over the long campaign.[11](https://www.pcgamesn.com/mouse-pi-for-hire/review) • [5](https://as.com/meristation/analisis/analisis-de-mouse-pi-for-hire-mucho-pero-muchisimo-mas-que-un-shooter-a-lo-cuphead-f202604-n/)
Platform performance varied. TechRadar's Switch 2 review found the game runs into too many technical issues on that platform and recommended playing on PS5, Xbox Series X, or PC instead.[12](https://www.techradar.com/gaming/mouse-pi-for-hire-review) An accessibility review by Can I Play That? noted that the black-and-white presentation can make depth harder to judge because of the lack of shadows, while praising separate volume controls for ambient sound, music, effects, and voice.[13](https://caniplaythat.com/2026/04/24/mouse-p-i-for-hire-accessibility-review/)
## References
1. [MOUSE: P.I. For Hire on Steam, Valve](https://store.steampowered.com/app/2416450/MOUSE_PI_For_Hire/)
2. [MOUSE: P.I. For Hire FAQ, official site](https://www.mousethegame.com/faq)
3. [Steamboat-Willy-with-a-machine-gun FPS Mouse PI delayed to 2026, PC Gamer](https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/steamboat-willy-with-a-machine-gun-fps-mouse-pi-delayed-to-2026/)
4. [Mouse: PI for Hire review, PC Gamer](https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/mouse-pi-for-hire-review/)
5. [Análisis de MOUSE: P.I. For Hire, MeriStation](https://as.com/meristation/analisis/analisis-de-mouse-pi-for-hire-mucho-pero-muchisimo-mas-que-un-shooter-a-lo-cuphead-f202604-n/)
6. [Mouse: P.I. For Hire is pretty gouda, but has some swiss-sized holes, MobileSyrup](https://mobilesyrup.com/2026/04/16/mouse-pi-for-hire-pc-review/)
7. [Mouse: P.I. For Hire Review – Rodent Noir, GameSpot](https://www.gamespot.com/reviews/mouse-p-i-for-hire-review-rodent-noir/1900-6418481/)
8. [How MOUSE: P.I. For Hire was made, Mouse PI Archive](https://mousepiforhire.com/making-of/)
9. [MOUSE P.I. FOR HIRE WISHLISTS EXCEED 1M, PlaySide investor announcement](https://investorpa.com/announcement-pdf/20250703/156859.pdf)
10. [MOUSE: P.I. For Hire Exceeds 1.5M Wishlists, PlaySide investor announcement](https://investorpa.com/announcement-pdf/20260409/278836.pdf)
11. [Mouse P.I. For Hire review, PCGamesN](https://www.pcgamesn.com/mouse-pi-for-hire/review)
12. [Mouse P.I. for Hire Switch 2 review, TechRadar](https://www.techradar.com/gaming/mouse-pi-for-hire-review)
13. [Mouse: P.I. For Hire accessibility review, Can I Play That?](https://caniplaythat.com/2026/04/24/mouse-p-i-for-hire-accessibility-review/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Sports, games, and recreation › Video games and digital play › Games and gameplay › Individual game titles › Individual PC and computer-platform game titles › Shooter game titles*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 21, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 21, 2026 · Last review: Oct 21, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license