Lessons from Mouse P.I. For Hire

It’s quite easy to stream against…

That is one of my favorite insights that Hilary Goldstein brought to the table when we discussed the success of Mouse P.I. for hire earlier this summer. Sophie Artemigi, Hilary and I had assembled to record a pilot for a Deconstructor of Fun segment where we discussed the biggest indie through AA games of the month.

From his work marketing in this segment, Hilary talks to a lot of streamers. And one thing that unites viral friendslop games like RV There Yet, the evergreen appeal of Minecraft streamers and the striking, rubber-hose visuals of Mouse P.I. For Hire is that the screens are relatively clean. There’s not a lot of flashy effects, tons of particles, and overwhelming juice. This appeals to streamers since it’s easy for their viewers to both see the streamer, and see what is going on in the game. Pushing the visual limit may appeal to our instincts as players (especially if we’re the type to invest in high-end gaming PCs), but in this streamer centric era, less may be more when it comes to visuals.

As a boots-on-the-ground indie developer, Sophie talked about how the success of Mouse P.I. filled her and her peers with Copium™, which was the moment we learned we do not live on the same internet. It was delightful to play the Old as my young, hip friend explained the importance of Copium to your mental well being as a modern indie developer.

Overall, this was an incredibly fun pilot to record. Unfortunately it didn’t fit into the DoF schedule, but I still wanted to share the laughs and lessons with you.