Mouse: P.I. for Hire Went from Viral TikTok Demo to One of 2026's Most Stylish Shooters

Three years ago, a Polish game developer posted a short clip of a black-and-white cartoon FPS on TikTok. The video went viral. Today, that tech demo is a fully voiced, multi-platform game with Troy Baker in the lead role. Mouse: P.I. for Hire is out now on PC, PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and Nintendo Switch 2 for $29.99.

The game follows Jack Pepper, a war hero turned private investigator who takes on dangerous cases to pay off his debts. The setting is Mouseburg, a noir city dripping with corruption, jazz clubs, and cartoon violence. Every character is an animal. Every frame is hand-drawn.

40,000 Hand-Drawn Frames

The art is the headline. Developer Fumi Games, a studio based in Warsaw, hand-drew every single animation frame and composited them in 3D. No AI generation. 40,000 individual drawings bring the 1930s rubber hose style to life in a way that feels handmade because it literally is.

The result sits somewhere between Cuphead and Doom Eternal. The visuals channel Steamboat Willie and Betty Boop. The gameplay channels arena shooters with weapon variety, power-ups, and environmental destruction. Critics have called it “a stylistic experiment” that is also “pure entertainment from start to finish.”

Troy Baker and a Full Voice Cast

The cast is stacked for an indie game. Troy Baker (The Last of Us, God of War) voices Jack Pepper. Fred Tatasciore (known for hulking characters in everything from Halo to Marvel) plays John Brown, the local pub owner. Camryn Grimes voices Tammy Tumbler, Jack’s resourceful inventor sidekick. Frank Todaro rounds out the cast as corrupt politician Cornelius Stilton.

The game is fully voiced throughout, which gives the noir detective story a weight that most indie FPS games cannot match.

What Critics Are Saying

Reviews landed with a Metacritic 81 and OpenCritic 83, with 93% of critics recommending it. For a game that started as a viral tech demo, that is a remarkable result.

DualShockers gave it a 9.5/10, calling the gameplay “fast, responsive, and fun as all get out.” Gaming Boulevard matched that score, describing it as “a character study, a stylistic experiment” that delivers on every front. PC Gamer scored it 8.6/10, praising Mouseburg’s cast of “slimy politicians, jaded film stars and bizarro cultists.” GameSpot gave it 8/10, noting there are “rarely frames that aren’t bursting with style and creativity.” GamingTrend’s 9/10 called it “exactly the kind of game I wanted.”

The only consistent critique is difficulty. Some reviewers found it too forgiving, even on the hardest setting. If you are looking for a punishing challenge, temper your expectations. But if you want to feel like a cartoon action hero blasting gangsters to jazz music for 8 to 10 hours, this nails it.

From Tech Demo to Multi-Platform Launch

The trajectory here is worth noting. Fumi Games started with a TikTok clip in 2023. PlaySide Studios picked it up as publisher. The game expanded from a visual experiment into a full narrative FPS with multiple weapon types, investigation sequences, and a story DLC already confirmed for after launch.

It launched simultaneously on four platforms including Nintendo Switch 2, which makes it one of the earliest indie titles on the new hardware.

The Details

Developer: Fumi Games (Warsaw, Poland) Publisher: PlaySide Studios Platforms: PC (Steam), PS5, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch 2 Price: $29.99 (Standard), $39.99 (Deluxe) Playtime: Approximately 8 to 10 hours

If the rubber hose art style caught your eye before with Escape By Spoon, Mouse: P.I. for Hire takes that aesthetic and wraps a full FPS campaign around it. Style and substance, with just enough noir bite to keep things interesting.