Mousebusters Review – Haunted Mouse – Indie Game Reviewer – The Best Indie Games

Mousebusters by Odencat

At first glance, Mousebusters appears to be lighthearted and silly. I mean…you play as a mouse hunting ghosts in a charming pixelated world alongside lovable characters.

However, everyone has hardships lying beneath the surface.

Mousebuster revealed emotions I didn’t expect to feel and turned a seemingly cheerful experience into something dark with a punch in the gut from reality.

If You Give a Mouse a Cookie

Developed by Odencat, Mousebuster’s appeal immediately stems from the colorful pixelated style that always revives a sense of nostalgia in me. Players take on the role of a young man who just moved into a run-down apartment building. As he’s unpacking his boxes, a mouse appears, prompting the choice of whether or not to give him a cookie.

I’m not heartless, so I handed a cookie to the mouse. He retreated back to his hole, and the lights began flickering, but the man shrugged it off and went to bed. When he awakened the next morning, he had taken the form of a mouse.

Little does he know, his role as a Mousebuster will change the lives of many individuals forever.

Rodent Rituals

The gameplay is very straightforward – you point and click your way around environments, sometimes being prompted to respond with a dialogue option. Responses don’t influence the story one way or the other but can provoke varied reactions from your boss and/or mouse friend, Chief.

Chief promises that once all the ghosts have been eliminated, the man will be human once again. Exorcising ghosts as a mouse was not on my radar this year, but I quite enjoyed it.

Even so, Mousebusters feels almost too relaxed. You really can’t fail unless you try. The endearing story elements, though, help balance the lack of effort put into obliterating demons.

As you abolish ghosts from the tenants’ rooms, moments of their happenstance meetings with each other are unlocked on a mouse-sized laptop. Viewing these two-minute clips brought joy to my heart. Little nuggets of flourishing relationships between neighbors build the foundation of Mousebusters.

The mini-puzzles sprinkled in each room also capture the personalities and insecurities of each tenant, which comes into play later on.

One complaint: I have no idea when Mousebusters autosaves. There is no feature to save your progress, which I can sort of understand. However, video games typically have a symbol pop up on the screen when your progress is being saved. It’s not like Mousebuster is a complex game. I just want to know if I can take a quick snack break without having to repeat an entire exorcism.

The Verdict:

Mousebusters was a joyous experience from start to finish. The laid-back atmosphere at the beginning establishes a cozy tone throughout, even when the mood became a tad bleak. Mousebusters, though cute and comical, reveals a daunting truth: everyone is fighting their own internal demons. Things simply won’t get better unless the conflict is solved. You’re also taught the importance of being neighborly and lending a helping hand.

I’ll be honest, I didn’t venture into the pixelated world of Mousebusters expecting to learn a life lesson. Nonetheless, it was an experience that will stay with me for quite some time.

Mousebusters is available via the Nintendo eShop, the Apple App Store, Google Play, and Steam.

Watch the official trailer for Mousebusters:

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