Mouse: P.I. For Hire is a stylish rubberhose-style FPS set in a noir-inspired Mouseburg. It blends fast-paced boomer shooter action with light exploration, weapon upgrades, a baseball card minigame, and collectibles. The game features 24 main jobs (story missions) and 14 side jobs, with no New Game+ mode and limited backtracking once you advance (doors lock behind you in many levels).
How Long Does It Take to Beat Mouse: P.I. For Hire?
Completion times vary based on playstyle, difficulty, and how much side content you tackle:
- Main Story Only: 7–9 hours (straight rush through the 24 main jobs on lower difficulty, skipping most collectibles and side jobs).
- Main Story + Some Exploration/Side Jobs: 10–14 hours (typical first playthrough for most players, including some collectibles and 5+ side jobs).
- 100% Completion / Platinum Trophy: Around 15–20 hours (full collectibles, all 14 side jobs, weapon upgrades, and minigame wins). Trophy guides estimate approximately 20 hours for platinum on average.
The developers officially state 12–20 hours depending on how thoroughly you play. A full no-commentary playthrough on hardest difficulty (Supersleuth) with all cutscenes can exceed 11 hours, while completionist runs with backtracking for misses push toward the higher end.
Factors Affecting Playtime:
- Exploring for collectibles (201 total across newspapers, comics, baseball cards, schematics, and secret figurines) adds significant time.
- Side jobs are missable and tied to specific main jobs.
- Combat arenas and boss fights reward movement and upgrades, so learning the flow speeds things up on replays.
- No level select — be thorough before progressing, especially after starting later missions like “Jack Squat.”
All Achievements / Trophies List in Mouse: P.I. For Hire
The game has 35 PlayStation trophies (1 Platinum, 3 Gold, 18 Silver, 13 Bronze) or 34 Xbox achievements worth 1,000 Gamerscore. Trophy difficulty is rated low (3/10), with most unlocking naturally through story progress, but many are missable due to no chapter replay.
Platinum Trophy: The Platinum Falcon – Acquire all trophies. “The stuff that dreams are made of.”
Here is a categorized overview of key trophies/achievements (full detailed guides are available on sites like PowerPyx for exact steps):
Story-Related (Unmissable if you finish the game):
- Smoked Cheese and Mirrors – Wrap up the Missing Magician case.
- Misfortunes of the Missing Magician – Find key clues in the Missing Magician case.
- Tricks of the Trade – Unlock all special abilities.
Combat & Gameplay:
- Guns, Lots of Guns – Collect all non-corporate-locked weapons.
- We’ll B.A.N.G., ok? – Upgrade every weapon to Tier 3.
- Boom Town – Kill 20 enemies in a single playthrough by shooting/thrown/kicked explosive barrels.
- Goud’em! – Kill 5 enemies within 10 seconds.
- Hole-y Trinity – Kill 3 enemies with one shot.
- Firestarter – Blast 20 enemies by shooting explosive barrels.
- This is my Boomstick! – Upgrade one weapon to Tier 3.
Collectibles:
- Paper Person – Collect 5 issues of the Mouseburg Herald (newspapers).
- Extra! Extra! – Collect all newspapers (38 total; many can be bought if missed).
- Comic Relief – Collect 5 comic strips.
- The Prequel – Collect all comic strips (29 total).
- Starter Deck – Collect 5 baseball cards.
- Babe Got Bat – Collect 10 baseball cards.
- Card Shark – Collect all baseball cards (41 total; some from side jobs are unique and missable).
- Quint’s Delight (or similar) – Related to secret Jack Pepper figurines (10 total, not required for any trophy but tracked on office shelf).
Side Content & Minigame:
- Dime Novel Sleuth – Complete 5 side jobs.
- Real Deal Gumshoe (Silver) – Complete every side job (14 total). “Dot those i’s, detective.” (Some reports note potential glitches with “Behind the Nuts”.)
- S’all in the Cards – Win 30 baseball card matches.
Other Notable Trophies:
- Our Lesser Brothers (potentially glitched in some reports).
- Various combat multipliers, upgrade milestones, and exploration-based ones (e.g., using abilities creatively).
Tips for Platinum / 100%:
- Follow a collectibles guide while playing — there are 38 newspapers, 41 baseball cards, 29 comics, 83 schematics (63 needed for full weapon upgrades), and 10 secret figurines.
- Accept and complete side jobs at the P.I. Office (talk to NPCs like Tammy, Wanda, John Brown) before starting associated main jobs. Two side jobs occur during “To Catch a Mockingmouse.”
- Upgrade weapons at Tammy’s B.A.N.G. system using schematics.
- Play on any difficulty; Supersleuth is hardest but not required for trophies.
- Save manually before advancing, as many trophies are missable with no chapter select.
- Some glitches reported at launch (e.g., certain side jobs or trophies); check for patches.
If you’re aiming for 100%, combine main progression with thorough exploration and side job checks. Rewards from collectibles and side jobs help with upgrades and the baseball card minigame.
If you need a detailed guide for specific trophies (like Real Deal Gumshoe or collectible locations in a particular mission), weapon upgrade paths, or help with a stuck side job, provide more details for targeted advice!
Mouse: P.I. For Hire delivers a charming, action-packed noir adventure that’s satisfying for both casual runs (around 8–10 hours) and completionists (15–20+ hours). Grab your badge, tail, and cheese — happy sleuthing in Mouseburg!
