The rain is coming down over Mouseburg. A jazz horn wails somewhere in the distance. You’ve got a case to crack, a city full of crooks, and a cartoon arsenal that makes absolutely no apologies for what it is. Somewhere between a hardboiled detective story and a guns-blazing boomer shooter, MOUSE: P.I. For Hire has been quietly building anticipation for years. With a release date finally locked in for April 16, 2026, it’s time to get acquainted.
MOUSE: P.I. For Hire is a first-person shooter from indie developer Fumi Games, published by PlaySide Studios. You play as Jack Pepper, a former war hero turned private investigator navigating the seedy underbelly of Mouseburg. What starts as a simple missing persons case spirals fast into a web of corruption, kidnapping and murder. It’s noir through and through, and it wears that identity with a lot of style.
Hand-Drawn, Frame by Frame, and Completely Committed
The first thing anyone notices about MOUSE is the art. Every frame of animation is hand-drawn in a black and white rubber hose style, the kind of look that defined cartoons in the 1930s. Think the frantic, bendy energy of early animation but reconstructed as a first-person shooter, with enemies that squash and stretch as they come at you and weapons that feel pulled straight out of a cartoon prop closet.
It’s a distinctive aesthetic in a space that already has some strong competition. Cuphead proved there was a real appetite for lovingly crafted retro animation in games, and MOUSE is taking that same spirit into a very different genre. Where Cuphead was a run-and-gun platformer, MOUSE is a fast, chaotic FPS with movement mechanics, a full story campaign, and a jazz soundtrack recorded by a live big band ensemble.
Move Fast, Shoot Everything
In essence, MOUSE: P.I. For Hire is a boomer shooter. That means fast movement, constant aggression, and a generous arsenal of things to point at your enemies. Jack Pepper can wall-run, grapple-hook and double-jump his way through over 20 noir-soaked levels, and the game rewards players who keep moving rather than those who try to play it like a cover shooter.
The weapon lineup stretches to over a dozen options, each with a cartoon twist that fits the world. One of the standouts is the Turpentine Gun, a tool that quite literally erases enemies from existence, which is a very on-brand way to handle violence when your game looks like an old cartoon. Consumable power-ups can turn the tide of a fight, and unlockable movement abilities give the traversal a Metroidvania-style sense of progression as you work deeper into the campaign. Hands-on previews have compared the feel to classics like DOOM and Quake, with a modern sensibility layered on top. And that’s a good sign.
A Case Worth Following
The campaign spans more than 20 levels and builds toward a full noir mystery, complete with unique NPCs, investigation sections where Jack hunts for clues and solves puzzles, and a cast of characters that goes well beyond generic mobsters. Jack Pepper himself is voiced by Troy Baker, which signals a level of production ambition you don’t always see in indie FPS titles.
The city of Mouseburg is built to be explored as much as it is to be shot through. Collectibles are scattered across levels, side cases add texture to the main story, and the variety in level design keeps things moving across what the developers estimate is a 12 to 20 hour campaign depending on how thoroughly you play.
One Worth Watching
Fumi Games has been developing MOUSE for several years, and everything that’s been shown suggests a team that knows exactly what they’re making and why. The animation alone would be enough to make it interesting. The fact that the shooting reportedly feels great too makes it genuinely exciting.
MOUSE: P.I. For Hire launches April 16, 2026 on PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S and Nintendo Switch 2 for $29.99. If your wishlist has room for one more, this one earns its spot.
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