10 Best Games Like Mouse: P.I. for Hire

If you’ve ever wanted to play a boomer shooter, a Steamboat Willie-themed game, then Mouse: P.I. for Hire is for you. It features the 1920s to 1930s rubberhose animation aesthetic, in full black-and-white glory, that induces retro-nostalgia, and merges it with a laidback detective cartoon campaign.

Although Mouseburg, the city you’ll be helping bring to peace, is populated by mice, and they never stop cheesing about every single thing, they are pretty villainous. Corrupt cops, crocodiles, robots, all need neutralizing in merciless ways, leaving thousands of conquests in your wake.

But what are the best games like Mouse: P.I. for Hire you can jump into once your playthrough is complete?

10. L.A. Noire

Where Mouse: P.I. for Hire’s crime noir story might lack, L.A. Noire makes up for it with compelling drama and twisted plot threads. It’s set during the post-war ‘Golden Age’ of Hollywood. Rather than 1947 Los Angeles thriving, the underground criminal world grows more rampant with corruption, drug trade, and spiking murder rates.

You’re an LAPD detective chasing clues and solving murder mysteries. Your efforts count toward your rising through the ranks, but it may come with making tough decisions, even within your own police department.

9. MadWorld

Can’t get enough of Mouse: P.I. for Hire’s black-and-white aesthetic? Then check out MadWorld. Even though all the story and action are in monochrome, it still evokes strong emotion throughout your playthrough, thanks to the pumped-up chaos and brutality.

Bones break, blood spills all over. On top of the mayhem is a welcome touch of humor. In the game’s dystopian setting, your beat ‘em up hack-and-slash fighting screams mad, mad world every which way. 

8. World of Horror

Another close contender for top place among the best games like Mouse: P.I. for Hire is World of Horror, particularly in black-and-white visual styling. It uses one-bit cosmic horror vibes to tell a point-and-click RPG roguelite story. 

You engage in turn-based combat and solve puzzles, running into Lovecraftian-inspired cosmic dread and Junji Ito-style body horror. There are shocking discoveries, too, that drain your sanity, and collecting items that prove useful in future twisted events.

7. Killer Bean

Alternatively, play a rogue assassin called Killer Bean. Yup, a literal coffee bean, with a knack for violence. The game has a neat twist, where the story changes with every fresh run. Otherwise, it’s a solely combat-focused experience, destroying every last member of the Shadow Agency (also coffee beans, but the bad guys).

6. BioShock

BioShock might not be the first franchise that comes to mind for the best games like Mouse: P.I. for Hire. Yet, its mystery-ridden campaign is one for the books, featuring a detective story set in a dystopian underwater city of Rapture. 

It’s a much bigger world to explore, featuring a retro-futuristic aesthetic. After surviving BioShock, you can try out BioShock 2 and BioShock Infinite, all with remastered versions, and packaged into one collection. 

5. Ghost of Tsushima (Kurosawa Mode)

Purely optional, but one of those mustn’t-miss-out-on experiences, Ghost of Tsushima (Kurosawa Mode) lets you re-experience your entire journey in black-and-white visuals. It evokes lots of emotions of playing through a classic Samurai film. 

Even though the original colored version is still too beautiful not to play through at least once, the black-and-white alternative is just as much an impressive contrast of monochrome colors, with details that pop effortlessly, and overall, a visual feast.

A plus is that the difficulty spikes. So, it doesn’t feel like a replay.

4. Limbo

Keen to dial down on grimdark settings? Try out Limbo. It’s exactly how I imagine being stuck in Limbo being like, with seemingly eternal darkness and only a speck of light keeping you somewhat hopeful of escape.

The visuals are definitely strange and will linger in the mind post-play. You have a weird contrast of black and grey colors and shapes that make you feel uneasy. Yet, possibly the most eerily striking 2D puzzle-platformer you’ll experience and remember.

There’s a lot of trial and error in navigating this distressing world. You’re almost expected to fail on the first try, relying on expert timing and utilizing physics-based platforming.

3. Contrast

Did you know that there was a puzzle-adventure game whose core mechanic is switching between 2D and 3D? Specifically, the main character in Contrast, called Dawn, explores the world in 3D but can transform into a shadow of herself and thus is able to explore the world in 2D. 

Effectively, the lights in the world determine when you can transform into shadows. But the lights can also cast shadows on objects in the environment and create shapes you can walk on. It’s quite a unique concept of exploration and puzzle-solving that does wreck the brain. At least the 1920s to 1940s ‘French’ film noir aesthetic is a delight.

2. Tunic

For a dreamlike, fantasy experience, you can try out Tunic. It features a small fox adventuring across a mystical land. You come by lost legends, ancient powers, and deadly beasts. There’s no set path for exploration, with the isometric world free to comb through however you want.

Rest assured, there’ll almost always be an interesting activity or item you’ll run into, whether it’s discovering lost secrets, collecting powerful items, or engaging in flashy battles against mighty bosses. 

A manual also helps you make sense of this world, though it needs reconstructing to reveal tips and hints about where to go next.

1. Cuphead

Try out Cuphead among the best games like Mouse: P.I. for Hire. It has gorgeous 1930s Disney cartoon aesthetics that use hand-drawn cel animation and watercolor backgrounds. It’s the gameplay, however, that has been the most praised, particularly the boss fights. 

It’s intentionally difficult to beat, needing you to learn attack patterns. Not that the attack patterns are predictable. You often need to concentrate and anticipate moves you never see coming. It’s even more exciting that all the bosses are unique in their design and attack phases.