Mouse: P.I. For Hire Locks In March 19, 2026—Noir FPS Confirmed For Switch & Switch 2

30 October 2025
Nintendo Switch 2Nintendo Switch
10 min.
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Mouse: P.I. For Hire Locks In March 19, 2026—Noir FPS Confirmed For Switch & Switch 2

Summary:

Mouse: P.I. For Hire is bringing a black-and-white, jazz-soaked spin on the first-person shooter to Nintendo Switch and Switch 2 on March 19, 2026. Created by Fumi Games and published by PlaySide Studios, it blends 1930s-style rubber hose animation with a gritty detective story starring Jack Pepper, a battle-scarred hero who now makes a living solving cases in Mouseburg. Expect non-linear maps, collectibles, and cheeky power-ups that push you to experiment—think grappling hooks, canned “spinach” boosts, and aerial extensions that change how you approach each skirmish. Weapons lean into the era and the humor, from crackling tommy guns to exaggerated cartoon mayhem, with enemies behaving like animated foils who fold under pressure in theatrical ways. The team has shared new footage and a behind-the-scenes documentary, setting the stage for a stylish shooter with personality to spare. If you’ve been waiting for a noir world with bite-sized missions, smart traversal, and a distinctive hand-drawn look, this case file is worth keeping close.

The case opens: Mouse: P.I. For Hire

Mouse: P.I. For Hire is a first-person shooter with a hardboiled heart and ink-black soul, built by Fumi Games and published by PlaySide Studios. The hook is instant: a monochrome 1930s cartoon come to life, but with the snap and kick of a modern shooter. You’re not just pulling a trigger—you’re flipping through a pulpy case file in a city that smiles with one side of its face and hides a switchblade with the other. The date’s set: March 19, 2026. Platforms? Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Switch 2, and the usual console and PC lineup, so you can take the mystery on the go or dock up for a longer stakeout. Trailers and studio updates point to a focus on movement, momentum, and cleverly staged encounters that let you improvise with traversal tools and playful upgrades. If you like your action fast and your world stylized, this is the kind of gig that pays off in moments, not just missions.

Why the art style matters: 1930s rubber hose brought to life

Rubber hose animation is more than a visual gag—it’s the bones of the world. Limbs stretch, props squish, and the camera dances with a rhythm that feels hand-played. That choice changes how every scene reads. Muzzle flashes look like popped camera bulbs, smoke curls like ink in water, and characters emote with bold, readable silhouettes. The team leans on hand-drawn techniques and a monochrome palette to echo film stock of the era, but the style isn’t a museum piece; it’s kinetic, mischievous, and useful for gameplay clarity when chaos erupts. Shots land with stagey flair, enemies tumble like stunt performers, and environmental cues—neon signs, spotlight cones, hazard stripes—stand out without color noise. The result is a shooter that’s easy to parse and hard to forget, using nostalgia as a springboard rather than a crutch. It sets a mood that feels smoky and wry, like a trumpet solo in a rain-slick alley.

Meet Jack Pepper: the war hero turned private eye

Jack Pepper is your lens on Mouseburg—steady hands, tired eyes, and a stubborn streak that gets him into trouble. Once a war hero, now a gumshoe who can read a room by the scuffs on the floor, he’s drawn into a classic setup: a damsel with a problem that’s a little too neat. Scratch the paint and everything underneath is rusted—crooked officials, jittery gunmen, and old debts that never quite got paid. Jack’s no saint, but he’s got a compass that still points north, and that gives the story ballast when the bullets start flying. His voice work brings grit and warmth, the sort of cadence that makes you picture a dangling cigarette and a desk lamp with a bent shade. You play as the kind of protagonist who can make a wry remark while reloading, but who still stops to pocket a clue because it might matter later. He’s not indestructible; he’s persistent. And that’s more interesting.

How the city plays back: Mouseburg’s districts and secrets

Mouseburg isn’t just a backdrop—it’s a machine with gears you can poke. One moment you’re weaving through backstreets under a blinking marquee; the next you’re sneaking across a film studio lot where the fake walls hide real problems. Casinos hum with jazz and bad intentions, the marina creaks with ropes and rival crews, and the sewers mutter to themselves like a city’s bad memories. Each district has its own rhythm, both in how enemies patrol and how traversal lines thread across rooftops, scaffolds, and signage. Find a collectible here, a mini-game there, and you start seeing routes that weren’t obvious before: a grappling anchor just in reach, a vent that deposits you behind a grinning tough, a prop elevator that becomes an escape hatch. The more you nose around, the more the place answers back, because Mouseburg rewards curiosity with shortcuts, stashes, and sight gags that make you smirk as you plan your next move.

Tools of the trade: weapons with a playful twist

There’s bite behind the banter. Tommy guns chatter like a typewriter run amok, revolvers kick with theatrical recoil, and explosives bloom into perfect white-hot circles that would make a cartoon pyrotechnician proud. What sells it is the personality: every weapon has a little stage presence, from the click-clack foley to the way enemies sell a hit with rag-doll vaudeville. The arsenal balances the familiar and the absurd, letting you snap between precision and spectacle as a fight unfolds. Boss encounters push those contrasts even harder, forcing you to juggle crowd control, weak-spot timing, and the geography of the arena—catwalks, ladders, dangling lights—so battles feel like set-pieces rather than damage races. The designers use the art style to telegraph states cleanly: wind-ups are exaggerated, tells are readable, and big swings feel fair to dodge. It’s not just shooting; it’s choreography with a punchline.

Make your move: power-ups and traversal that change the rules

The funniest power-ups are also the most practical. A can of spinach hardens your strikes, the grappling hook turns vertical walls into suggestions, and airborne extensions let you string movement together like a drummer rolling through a fill. These toys aren’t throwaway gimmicks; they alter how you think. You stop asking “How do I get through that door?” and start asking “What if I go over it?” When routes open up, combat turns into a sandbox. You might swing behind a guard line to flip a switch, or chain a double jump, wall-run, and stomp to land in the perfect flanking spot. The best part is how these systems support improvisation: a missed hook becomes a daring dive; a mid-air boost saves a sloppy line and turns it into a stylish one. Mouse rewards momentum, and momentum rewards nerve. That loop makes even small arenas feel like playgrounds with sharp edges.

Non-linear maps and progression: find clues, loot, and routes

Levels play like compact neighborhoods, not corridors. You’ll find multiple entries into the same space, each with its own risks and perks. Maybe a side alley leads past a vending contraption with a useful upgrade; maybe a rooftop path trades stealth for a dramatic drop-in. Clues and collectibles push you off the critical path, and when you circle back with a new tool, old problems crack open in satisfying ways. That sense of return-and-reveal gives the campaign a detective texture: you’re not only clearing rooms; you’re building an understanding of how Mouseburg fits together. Secrets aren’t just prizes; they’re perspective. And because enemies respond like cartoon thugs—loud, showy, a bit overconfident—you can re-run encounters to test different builds and routes without the grind getting stale. The goal is less about checking boxes and more about crafting cleaner runs that feel yours.

Combat rhythm: speed, timing, and enemy behavior

Fights snap from quiet to loud and back again, with short, punchy exchanges that reward decisive movement. Hang back too long and you’ll get boxed in; press too hard and you’ll whiff into a slapstick stumble. The sweet spot sits in controlled aggression—dodge through a swing, tag a weak point, then reposition with a hook or a vault. Enemies telegraph like stage actors, which makes the dance readable even when bullets fly. Health readouts and status cues are stylized enough to fit the fiction but clear enough to prevent cheap shots. Bosses up the ante with layered patterns and prop-driven arenas that change mid-fight, pushing you to stay light on your feet. And because the arsenal covers ranges and roles, you naturally build a loadout that suits how you like to flow, whether that’s surgical or showboating. Either way, the game nudges you to keep the tempo up.

Platforms and date: Switch, Switch 2, and more on March 19, 2026

The launch plan is locked: March 19, 2026 for Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Switch 2, PlayStation, Xbox, and PC. That’s a clean runway for a stylized shooter with broad appeal, and it means Switch owners—new generation and current—get the noir treatment day and date. Official pages and reporting line up on the date and platforms, so planning your queue is straightforward. While the studio’s messaging centers on art, pacing, and the detective fantasy, it also points to a feature-complete release across systems rather than a staggered rollout. If you’ve been tracking the project since its earlier reveals, the move to 2026 lines up with the team’s push for quality and polish. For players, the takeaway is simple: mark the calendar, check your backlog, and save a slot for a monochrome caper with a lot of character.

What the trailers show: tone, pacing, and set-pieces

Footage highlights the showman’s streak at the game’s core. Camera sweeps frame chases through alleyways, shootouts whip-pan between perches, and boss intros play like stage curtains parting. You see Jack Pepper reading a room, tracing a route, and then cutting loose—swing, slide, blast, smirk. The humor lands in gestures as much as gags; a hat flies off just so, a marquee flickers at the worst time, a bad guy’s swan dive ends in a pratfall. Pacing stays brisk, with setups that resolve in seconds rather than minutes, keeping the loop fresh. And because the visual language is so tight—shadows, highlights, and big shapes—your eye knows where to go without HUD clutter. It’s confident work, the kind that says the team trusts the material to sell itself. The trailers don’t just advertise scenes; they establish a rhythm you want to fall into.

Audio and feel: jazz, foley, and the punch of each shot

The soundtrack has attitude—horns that sneer and swing, drums that tap like footsteps on wet pavement. Foley leans theatrical: slides squeak, springs boing, and gun mechanisms clack with stage-prop precision. It’s a tricky balance to keep the whimsy from undercutting the stakes, but the mix threads the needle by treating punchlines like accents, not punch-outs. A perfect tommy-gun burst sits under a snare flourish; a grappling swing lands with a cymbal kiss. Even UI audio commits to the bit, clicking like vintage machinery. Put together, it produces a tactile sensation that makes movement sticky and shots satisfying. You can almost smell the dusty velvet curtains and projector oil. In a genre that often leans on bombast, Mouse aims for swagger, and that choice sets it apart the moment you put on headphones.

Accessibility and comfort touches: options that help more people play

Stylized games shine when they pair flair with flexibility. Expect thoughtful toggles that respect different players: options for camera sensitivity and motion handling; readable interface elements that retain the aesthetic; audio sliders that separate music, effects, and voices so you can punch up the clues you want to hear. High-contrast visuals come baked in thanks to the monochrome palette, but the best implementations go further with clear outlines on interactables, subtitle sizing, and color-agnostic indicators for status effects. The goal is simple—even in a world of jokes and jazz, controls should feel dependable, and information should surface without clutter. That way the artistry stays front and center, not as a hurdle, but as a welcome mat.

What to watch next: documentary, previews, and next milestones

If you want more than a trailer, there’s a behind-the-scenes documentary that digs into the team’s process and shows where the style meets the tech. It’s a neat window into why the animation reads so cleanly and how the noir tone guides mission flow. Preview write-ups have also charted the timeline from earlier target windows to the current date, underlining the intent to ship something that looks and feels cohesive across platforms. Between official updates and steady community interest, momentum’s in a good place heading into the final stretch. Expect more peeks at specific districts and boss personalities as launch draws closer; they’re crowd-pleasers and they communicate the game’s identity faster than any feature list.

Why this noir shooter stands out

Plenty of shooters chase realism. Mouse: P.I. For Hire chases rhythm. The art style gives it shape; the movement systems give it oxygen; the cheeky weapons give it a grin. Jack Pepper’s story ties those parts together with just enough sting to keep you leaning in. What makes it exciting is how those pieces reinforce each other—mechanics that serve the fiction, fiction that clarifies the mechanics. On March 19, 2026, Switch and Switch 2 players get that cocktail on day one, alongside players on other systems. If you’ve been craving a fast, stylish caper that remembers games can be both sharp and playful, this one looks ready to earn a spot on your docket. Case open. See you in Mouseburg.

Conclusion

Mouse: P.I. For Hire locks its sights on March 19, 2026 with a bold premise: a noir shooter that moves like a platformer and performs like a stage show. The hand-drawn look isn’t window dressing—it informs how combat reads, how routes emerge, and how characters sell every beat. With Jack Pepper as your anchor and Mouseburg as your sandbox, the setup is primed for brisk, replayable chapters that reward curiosity and style. Add in weapons with character, power-ups that reshape movement, and a soundtrack that swings, and you’ve got a case worth reopening again and again. Keep the date circled and your fedora handy.

FAQs
  • When does Mouse: P.I. For Hire launch?
    • It’s scheduled for March 19, 2026, lining up for a simultaneous release across Nintendo platforms and other systems.
  • Which platforms are confirmed?
    • Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Switch 2, PlayStation, Xbox, and PC have been confirmed by official pages and reports.
  • Who is the main character?
    • You play as Private Investigator Jack Pepper, a former war hero turned detective navigating Mouseburg’s criminal underbelly.
  • What makes the visuals unique?
    • The game uses hand-drawn, monochrome rubber hose animation inspired by 1930s cartoons, paired with a jazzy soundtrack to amplify the noir tone.
  • What kind of gameplay can I expect?
    • Fast, movement-driven FPS action with non-linear maps, collectibles, power-ups like grappling hooks and strength boosts, and playful weapons ranging from tommy guns to explosive gadgets.
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