WARDOGS
WARDOGS
Game
Game2026
MOUSE: P.I. For Hire
Developer Fumi Games
Mouse: P.I. for Hire is a first-person shooter game developed by Fumi Games and published by PlaySide Studios. The game was released April 16, 2026 for Nintendo Switch 2, PlayStation 5, Windows, and Xbox Series X/S platforms. Set in a world inhabited by anthropomorphic mice in the 1930s, players control Jack Pepper (Troy Baker) who must investigate a mysterious case across the fictional town of Mouseburg. The game… From Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)
569 reactions from 4 sources (Steam reviews, Bluesky, Lemmy, Mastodon) · newest Nov 5, 2026 · last updated Nov 5, 2026 · How this works
Audience score
86
LovedLoved
343 positive · 55 negative
95% range 82–89%
| Source | + | − | = |
|---|---|---|---|
| Steam reviews | 343 | 55 | 0 |
| Bluesky * | 14 | 2 | 136 |
| Lemmy * | 0 | 0 | 11 |
| Mastodon * | 0 | 0 | 8 |
* shown, not counted in the score (label accuracy below our 85% bar or not yet audited).
Steam's own rating
Very Positive
9,221 of 9,840 reviews positive (all languages, per Valve)
What players are saying
85% recommend · 253 yes, 44 no
Counted from the reviewers’ own thumbs up/down on the 297 English Steam reviews we collected, not by the AI. Valve’s all-language rating: Very Positive (15,033 of 16,026 positive).
Players praise the game's unique 1930s cartoon art style and atmosphere. [1][2][3] Many reviewers recommend ignoring IGN's negative review, calling the game excellent. [4][5][6][7] Some players find the gameplay repetitive and the story forgettable after the initial novelty. [8][9][10][11]
Liked
Representative posts
- [8]
TL;DR I just wanted it to end. Enjoyment peaks after a few hours. Ugh... So, I get that people defended this game against unwanted hate. I would too. And this is rare for a bad review, but I can tell they put a lot of time and effort into this game. But this is one of those games I just couldnt wait for it to end. I beat it solely to get my moneys worth and give it a fair shake. You would think growing up with …
- [1]
I love this game. It's like being in an old cartoon and it's just fun. The early Popeye cartoons would be good with this treatment. I'm 71 years old.
- [2]
So cool. I’m not very far into the game yet, but I’m already loving it. The atmosphere, the 1930s vintage cartoon style, the humor, the voice acting and the jazz soundtrack... everything blends together perfectly. The gameplay is a fairly basic shooter, but the artistic direction and the private detective theme make it a blast to play.
- [3]
Mouse: P.I. For Hire stands out right away thanks to its black and white, hand drawn 1930s cartoon style. The rubber hose animation gives it a lot of personality, nostalgic but still feeling fresh. The audio work is a big plus. The original jazz soundtrack perfectly sets the tone, blending noir atmosphere with playful cartoon energy, and small details like the vinyl scratch when opening the pause menu add a lot of …
- [4]
I have not beaten the game yet but im 7.5 hours in and I'm loving it. So, I'm really just leaving a positive review because F IGN.
Summarised from 34 of the 336 public posts collected about this game; every point cites the posts behind it ([n] opens the post) and the split is counted from the posts’ own ratings. Updated Oct 11, 2026. How summaries are made
RottenBot@rottenbot · automated account
MOUSE: P.I. For Hire sits at 86% positive across 398 opinionated reactions from 4 sources. Fresh or rotten — where do you land?
Critics, per Wikipedia
Mouse: P.I. for Hire received "generally favorable" reviews, according to review aggregator website Metacritic. OpenCritic reported that 85% of critics recommended it. By May 2026, the game had sold 730,000 copies worldwide. The game was nominated for "Action and Adventure Game" at the TIGA Games Industry Awards 2026. It was also nominated for "Best Game Trailer" and "Best Indie Game" at the 2026 Golden Joystick Awards; and won the award for "Visual Art" at the 2026 CEEGA Awards. Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or {{efn}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} template or {{notelist}} template (see the help page).
From the “Reception” section of Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. Critic context only — not part of the audience score.
Reactions
60 of 569 · most liked firstIt's my very greatest pleasure to announce the project I've been working on the past year: Tascots! The Make-Your-Own Desktop Pet Game! Say hello to our little queen, Button the Mouse.
neutral · AI labelView post →I love this game. It's like being in an old cartoon and it's just fun. The early Popeye cartoons would be good with this treatment. I'm 71 years old.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Pro Gamer Mouse that drags you to game conventions and FGC tournaments
neutral · AI labelView post →'MOUSE: P.I. For Hire' releases March 19, 2026 🎮🐭 • Game is inspired by 1930s cartoons • Protagonist is voiced by Troy Baker
neutral · AI labelView post →This game has one of the most useless features, the "skip cutscene" button. You can not bring yourself to skipping a cutscene, because they are that good.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Get ready to squeak with delight as we unveil Mouse Work! A 1-4 player party game for Switch 2 using mouse controls! Control adorable mice working various jobs in their desire to earn some extra cheddar. Coming Soon! #MouseWork #Nitrome #NintendoSwitch2
neutral · AI labelView post →I have not beaten the game yet but im 7.5 hours in and I'm loving it. So, I'm really just leaving a positive review because F IGN.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →dont trust IGN's word. They dont know spit from polish. This game is a grand and fun time that pays homage to not just Crime Noir, but as well as other in jokes and references. The game itself feels fair to play and even if i ended up lost, id find my way back on track. A fair and fun game thats a lot more than i expected~
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Sound Fantasy was a cancelled SNES game that would have used the SNES Mouse to draw pictures to turn into sound, like a musical Mario Paint. A prototype of it surfaced in 2015. One of the sample images is this unique illustration of Mario that plays the Happy Birthday song.
neutral · AI labelView post →If the IGN review is bad then that usually means the game is peak, and what do you know! This game is infact PEAK
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →That one mf at IGN really saw all these excellent visuals, hand-drawn animations, voice acting, ambient sounds, music, diverse locations, weapons, bosses, and a runtime of a proper noir TV series and really was like “nah too many cheese jokes game sucks” Listen here you are really incompetent at your job and should go back to McDonalds and put the fries in the bag because HOW do you look at one of the most stylistically unique shooters in years and your biggest complaint is “the mouse says…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →IGN has poor taste in cheeses. Fantastic game. Any future DLC is a Day 1 buy from me.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →So cool. I’m not very far into the game yet, but I’m already loving it. The atmosphere, the 1930s vintage cartoon style, the humor, the voice acting and the jazz soundtrack... everything blends together perfectly. The gameplay is a fairly basic shooter, but the artistic direction and the private detective theme make it a blast to play.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Commission for @erakir.bsky.social! Finished it just in time for Mouse Game lol
neutral · AI labelView post →TL;DR I just wanted it to end. Enjoyment peaks after a few hours. Ugh... So, I get that people defended this game against unwanted hate. I would too. And this is rare for a bad review, but I can tell they put a lot of time and effort into this game. But this is one of those games I just couldnt wait for it to end. I beat it solely to get my moneys worth and give it a fair shake. You would think growing up with Wolfenstien, Doom... going through the progress of Duke3D,…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This is almost a perfect 10/10 for me but going for 100% is a pain in the side, please add the ability to replay levels for completion clean up.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Despite what the minimum specs on the page says, you don't need 6gigs of V-ram to run this, the fact it can run on a steam deck means it can run on much less just fine.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →IGN's review was similar to a Braindead Geriatric Senior Citizen. That is to say nothing was going on in the brain of the person who did the review,. The game is amazing, ♥♥♥♥ IGN to the max.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →iOS Deep Dive 🪐NMS on iPhone + iPad! 👉Rebuilt for Touch 🎮Controller Support 🖱️Mouse + Keys Support 😮iPhone 11 and up 💰10 Years of Updates 🕵️♀️4GB Download 🚽Play Anywhere 🌍The Whole Game 🪄Metal FX 🖥️M class support 😍Console Graphics 🦸Free to Try apps.apple.com/app/id1615755735
neutral · AI labelView post →Finally Mina the hollower is OUT!!!! 🐭🌕🦇 I am not immune to mouse propaganda, doesn't help the game is fun!! so here's my fanart for the celebration #digitalart #fanart #minathehollower #mouse #anthro
neutral · AI labelView post →Mouse Game Mouse Game Mouse Game 🐭⚔️ #sp-art #furry #furryart #mina #minathehollower
neutral · AI labelView post →I was kinda skeptical at first when I heard it’s a Doom like game since i don't like doom games, then I saw IGN gave it a 6/10 and i instantly pre purchased it. at this point, if IGN gives something a 6, I already know it’s about to be top tier. Finished the game and yes I was right, its a 9.5/10 game for me
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Mina the Hollower from the new game that came out (Not my fault she is so adorb) #minathehollower #fanart #indiegaming #digitalart #mouse
neutral · AI labelView post →I don't know what kinda cheesy shmuck wouldn't love this game. But so far, this isn't squeaking by in second best. This here is THE BIG CHEESE -- number one contender for game of the year in my books. I got still-ton s of story to get through but you chedder be kidding me if you think I'm not gonna finish every last slice.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Max Payne meets Cup Head. Great game, incredible graphics, incredible story, incredible overall.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →THE SILLY GAUNTLET MOUSE CURSOR. oh I already love this game (This will be a BG3 blind playthrough thread)
neutral · AI labelView post →If you're lookin for a silly and kinky Halloween adventure, check out Mouse In Manse! It's a browser game that I released last year. Runs on phones too! You can even tame a werewolf, it's pretty epic: zyyphelze.itch.io/mouse-in-manse [ #ZyyphGames #Vore NSFW/Adult ]
neutral · AI labelView post →I love Mina Game good Mouse girl
neutral · AI labelView post →Cuphead + L.A Noire + Leon S. Kennedy one liners = Mouse: P.I. For Hire Very fun game
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Solid gameplay and enjoyable story. Returned due to the game causing me to get motion sickness.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This game is great, If you like boomer shooters and the art style just get it. I would give this game a solid 8/10, most of the game is great but there are some negatives. PROS: Good story, Great art, Great gameplay and gunplay, actual well hidden secrets, good level design, great music, voice acting and sound design. CONS: Most of the cons here are solvable, which is great and the dev team will fix most of these with time I'm sure 1. Some softlock bugs that stop side and main quest…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Mouse: P.I. For Hire makes a fantastic first impression. The hand-drawn, 1930s cartoon-inspired art style is gorgeous, packed with personality, and easily the game's biggest strength. Unfortunately, once the visual novelty starts to wear off, there's very little underneath to keep me invested. I have no desire to finish the game because i'm just not having any fun anymore. The story never managed to hook me, with the characters and plot feeling forgettable, and the gameplay is incredibly…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →---{Graphics}--- ☐ You forget what reality is ☐ Beautiful ☑ Good ☐ Decent ☐ Bad ☐ Don‘t look too long at it ☐ Free Fire ---{Gameplay}--- ☐ Very good ☑ Good ☐ It‘s just gameplay ☐ Mehh ☐ Watch paint dry instead ☐ Just don't ---{Audio}--- ☐ Eargasm ☑ Very good ☐ Good ☐ Not too bad ☐ Bad ☐ I'm now deaf ---{Audience}--- ☐ Kids ☑ Teens ☑ Adults ☐ All ---{PC Requirements}--- ☐ Check if you can run paint ☐ Potato ☑ Decent ☐ Fast ☐ Rich boi ☐ Ask NASA if they have a spare computer…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Not a boomer-shooter by any measure, it's a modern corridor-platforming-arena shooter à la Doom 2016 except the gun play is nowhere near as good. Not really a detective game either. The only deducing that you'll do in this game is trying to deduce what the hell some of the cheese puns are supposed to mean. I think "hit or miss" is the best way to describe this game. The combat is hit or miss; often in the moment-to-moment gameplay it feels good to jump around machine-gunning mafia goons while…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I really wish I liked this game, and I did for the first few hours, but after a while it just felt like a chore to get through the game. I'll start with the positive, which is actually quite a lot. The aesthetics definitely carried this game for me. I love the black & grey visuals they go with and the cartoony animations they came up with. It's initially what drew me to the game and I still stand by it, it's great visual design. The game also offers a lot of collectibles for those who enjoy…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Mouse: P.I. For Hire stands out right away thanks to its black and white, hand drawn 1930s cartoon style. The rubber hose animation gives it a lot of personality, nostalgic but still feeling fresh. The audio work is a big plus. The original jazz soundtrack perfectly sets the tone, blending noir atmosphere with playful cartoon energy, and small details like the vinyl scratch when opening the pause menu add a lot of charm. Voice acting is solid too, with Troy Baker giving Jack Pepper a…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Look, I really like this game because I'm a huge rubber hose animation fan. It's a good game with some issues, but it's better than most triple-A-style games. The only thing I would say is that the experimental weapons outside of the turpentine weapon need work. The Cold Stream Gun is more of a tool than a weapon, and it taking up a slot in your arsenal seems like a waste. A better weapon could have been something cartoony, like a Big Iron revolver that only shoots one oversized, massive…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →New Mouse OC just dropped! And her game is so cool :) @uglycoal.bsky.social hope you don't mind but I needed to draw her as soon as I had the time store.steampowered.com/app/4984870/...
neutral · AI labelView post →I don't get the hype, sorry. It's "style over substance" type of game: great visuals, music and Troy Baker's voiceover VS boring and dull gameplay. Gunplay has no impact and feels unsatisfying while constant picking up stuff, lockpicking, and using typewriters every 5 minutes gets old pretty fast. Also, why is the game's performance so bad? It microstutters constantly dropping frames from 140 to 30 on any settings.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Doom + Cuphead Super fun with really nice stylized graphics, definitely recommend
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →IGN review doesn't do this game justice. Mouse p.i is meant to be a silly cartoon style shooter, and it works really well. btw Don't buy rust
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I really wish Steam allowed users to leave mixed reviews instead of forcing everything into either positive or negative. That's exactly how I feel about MOUSE: P.I. For Hire. I actually agree with IGN's 6/10 score, though for very different reasons. There's genuinely excellent work here, but there's just as much holding it back. The presentation is easily the game's strongest aspect. The art direction is phenomenal, with a distinct visual identity that's consistently realized from…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →What personal information do they collect? -your name -your contact info, such as mobile phone number, home address, email address -your date of birth -geolocation -payment information -hardware config -console ID -software products played -survey data -purchases -IP Address -the systems you played on Nahhhh, not for some black and white game. Feel free to comment below that I've already given away this info on other platforms, doesn't make it right.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →All sizzle and no steak kind of game. The rubber-hose graphics in the vein of old Disney cartoons are neat and all; the rest of the package, however... Gameplay itself is very poorly balanced. The game is a total cinch even on highest difficulty. The ammo is everywhere in huge amounts, to the point where you almost never need to switch weapons or care about ammo conservation; same goes for health and armour, and you even get to carry up to 9 consumable health packs with you. Damage is…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This is what happens when Walt Disney meets DooM meets Cup Head. It creates possibly one of the coolest and smoothest shooters I have ever played. I only have 7 hours in right now but so far the game feels amazing and I am absolutely obsessed with the level of detail in dialog, story, and environment. This is an easy 10/10 for me!!
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This game rules! Amazing style and atmosphere. Reminds me of Bioshock games for some reason haha (I already saw somebody dub the game as "Biomouse" lol). Gameplay feels really good esp. with a controller. Most similar to Bioshock. Guns are plenty and they feel really satisfying to use. Lots of secrets and hidden rooms. Art is unique and the game is one of the best looking games of recent years. No AI ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ here, just good old professional animation. I love it. Bunch of references to modern…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Old image from a few years back. Mouse from Jagged Alliance 3. Cool game! Recommend.
neutral · AI labelView post →As someone who loves rubber hose style art and grew up playing Toontown, this is awesome to see. From the moment I heard about this game, I was eagerly following the development process and anticipating the release. The art style is well done, and it’s beautifully integrated into the first person 3d world. The video and audio filters are charming. It’s like nothing I’ve ever seen before. Unfortunately, the gameplay is just shallow and unsatisfying. If you’ve seen those “AAA Mario” memes, that…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Style over substance yeah it looks great but, the game is linear in both its narrative and level design to properly fit its cartoon noir aesthetic. By trying to hold on to being a good Doom-style game, it ends up being a bad detective game and vice versa. It’s a total style clash. The number of invisible walls and areas that instantly teleport you back is jarring. I thought I was supposed to be “exploring for clues” but instead I’m always walking in a straight line… boring. You also can’t…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →tl;dr very unique and charming noir boomer shooter with some rough edges Overview MOUSE: P.I. For Hire is a boomer shooter at its core, but wrapped in a layer of absurdity, cheese, and a very unique art style combining 30s cartoons and gritty noir fiction. The premise is simple. You play as Detective Jack Pepper doing Detective things: Solving cases and shooting bad guys. The Good Stuff Lets address the elephant in the room: it is safe to say that the art style served as a USP for this…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Mouse P.I. might be the best video game ever made I think
positive · AI labelView post →Wow, what a ride. As a huge fan of '30s-'60s cartoons, comics, and comic strips, it was always going to be easy for me to find things to like about this game, and thankfully it overshot those expectations by a good degree. To start with, I really wouldn't call this a boomer shooter even though it's frequently mentioned. It really reminds me a lot more of one of those top notch PS2 platformers like Sly Cooper, Jak & Daxter, and Ratchet & Clank where both the varied gameplay and attention to art…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →steam deck review updated Loving the story of the game and the vibe is cool its laid back and chill to play not to hard everything shows up well on the deck properly i had some minor glitches while playing restarting resolve it ..didnt happen alot.. the cartoon style it's different for sure there is alot to find and alot to do and alot to miss if you dont pay attention you will miss something 😉 Game play took about 18 hrs i wasn't rushing tge game but still missed some secrets and some…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Tammy Tumbler from Mouse PI for Hire. Of course they would put an adorable tomboy mechanic in this game... #mousepiforhire #Mouse #tickling #cute #cartoon
neutral · AI labelView post →Mouse: P.I. For Hire runs surprisingly well on the Steam Deck and ended up being a much better experience than I expected. The game defaults to medium settings with a 40 FPS cap, which makes sense for consistency. If you uncap it, performance usually sits between 60-85 FPS but can drop into the 40s, so the default setup is actually pretty well tuned. I personally preferred playing on medium with a 60 FPS cap. It’s not perfectly stable, but the added responsiveness makes it more enjoyable.…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The Spirit and the Mouse is game about mouse
neutral · AI labelView post →For someone struggling to play any games lately, this one is genuinely good, very engaging. Really hits the bar for story, simple progression, memorable characters, cheesy-one liners and just simple good fun. No loot boxes, no forced co-op, no seasons, everything the game has to offer FOR $30!! It's all delivered in a small package too, (12Gb installed, 6.6gb download). Real, hard work went into making this game and it seeps from every frame.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I hate writing negative reviews, especially for indie games, but this is a classic case of style over substance. Mouse PI is very, VERY stylish game. But it's a poor FPS. Guns are inaccurate and lack weight, explosive barrels sometimes won't hit an enemy close to them, and all the enemy encounters consist of some doors opening and a handful of enemies appearing. Take away the (wonderful!) cartoon-noir gloss and this would be a very, very boring game. The team made a boomer shooter where the…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →T-Mouse! A curious mouse companion for Caves Of Qud! available now on the workshop!! steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/...
neutral · AI labelView post →it is unfortunately ALL style over substance. The gun play should've been the main focus, everything else second. The gunplay feels so weak and unfocused compared to everything else. You get bombarded with way too many saves and health potions. Performance wise it runs amazing. Gameplay wise, it isnt as good as I thought it would be.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →
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